Most people think of tiny houses as tiny tents with just a space to survive. But that is absolutely a wrong idea. Tiny houses are like actual houses that can provide all the necessities with the minimum investment.
Living in a tiny house has become one of the safest and most economical options in the last few years. But when we talk about tiny houses, many question arises about their plumbing system. Most wonder whether tiny houses have plumbing systems or not or are they very complex, expensive, and completely different from usual.
Do tiny houses have plumbing? Yes. Tiny houses have plumbing. Plumbing in a tiny house can range from simple to complex, depending on the circumstances. However, it is not very different from the usual plumbing. Some tiny house plumbings are exactly like normal plumbing, and some require some alternatives for the demands of the situation.
Let us get into a detailed discussion to understand them better.
Plumbing in a tiny house
A tiny house can have plumbing in different ways. Most usually plumbing in a tiny house includes hookups, water tanks, drains, and pumps. But it depends on whether one plans to stay on-grid or off-grid.
On-grid plumbing system
When one builds a tiny house with a permanent foundation, plumbing becomes easy and simple. Here, the plumbing system is no different than usual plumbing in normal houses.
To have a plumbing system for a permanent tiny house, one needs to connect their pipelines to the municipal grid water supply system. Or one living in an RV park can connect to the water supply they provide. There is no need for extra tanks and storage when pipelines are connected to a water supply.
Also, for the wastewater or sewage, pipelines can be connected to the waste stations the community or the town provides. This will exclude the duty of dumping waste manually.
A tiny house will only require a freshwater hose and detachable water filter to allow clean water to come in. There is no need for a water pump because the pressure is already present in the city water system.
Off-grid plumbing system
When it comes to off-grid, plumbing is still possible. But here, a tiny house is not connected to the water supply or supply lines. Due to this reason, off-grid tiny houses make use of tanks to store water and waste.
There are usually three types of tanks required, freshwater, greywater, and blackwater. Freshwater tank stores the clean water that can be used for different purposes, greywater includes the wastewater from bathrooms, sinks, etc. And blackwater includes toilet wastes.
But in off-grid plumbing, there is one complexity. There is no pressure to draw the water from the tank to the sinks or toilets through pipelines. Therefore, it requires a water pump. And to operate the water pump, one will require adequate electricity and power systems. With the availability of both, an off-grid tiny house can easily have access to water through plumbing.
Sometimes people plan to adhere to both. When they are parked or stationed, they use the water supply connections, and when tiny houses are on wheels, they can use the tank water. This is actually a very convenient opinion. But then again, it will depend on the owner and the circumstances.
So, we see that tiny houses do have plumbing systems. And they are not very different or complex. They are an easy way to go once one gets acquainted with them.