Water

You can't live with out it. You need to be serious about becoming your own water treatment company. Most of us take it for granted these days. That is a mistake. You need to know how to take care of your water system. Take time to learn. There are numerous sources available. Go to the local library and go online. You will find a plethora of information on water treatment. In fact, you may be overwhelmed. Pick a reputable company and go with it as long as it meets or exceeds treatment standards. I would rather err on the cautious side. Think it through. 

The AMWAY water filter was the easiest way to quickly add a filter system for drinking water to our RV before we left. There are numerous manufacturers of water filtering systems that can be adapted or is made to retrofit into an RV. It really depends on individual needs to determine what is right for you. We primarily wanted a good drinking water filtering system to start with and the Amway filter system was quick and easy. Later, we can investigate whole water tank treatment systems that some chose to install.

We choose the above counter method but it can easily be installed under counter with an extra kit that includes the hardware and faucet.  Here are some numbers and names for those so inclined to read the fine print. 

Remember, this is just the start for our system. It got us on the road with a minimal investment and safe drinking water. If you want one of the Amway system we can have one dropped shipped to you.

There are other systems that use ozone as well as charcoal filtering to cleanse the water. As I gather more information, I will add it to our web site.

Some RVer's choose to install a filter system on the water line in. This is OK for occasional use but when full-timing we feel it is better to add multiple layers of filtration to the system. External filters are just the 1st line of defense but may not get the results you want. Water sources vary across the country as does the quality. The water system needs to be flexible. Filtration is essential in maintaining safe drinking water. As we can afford it, we will continue to add more filtration to the drinking water. 

If you have been observant, you may notice that some people get external filters and install them in line from the water source. In most cases, this is good to use as a sediment filter but the 2nd filter, usually charcoal, clogs up fairly quickly. The design of the filter that has a solid carbon block my not have enough surface area to really do any good. Understand your filter. Basic filtration physics require as much surface area of carbon to water exposure as possible to be effective. The size of the particulates is important. The smaller the filtration the better but it still needs to let enough water into your system to be useful. Reverse osmosis systems are excellent but are expensive and require steady monitoring. Most RVer's are not going to spend that kind of money. To be honest, I can't afford it. So it is a trade off. We concentrate on the smaller amount of drinking water to be pure as possible and minimally filter the rest of the house water. There are filters you can put on your shower. If I'm not ingesting it then I'm not overly concerned unless the water source is questionable. 

Most part time RVer's only worry about filling the primary water tank prior to going boondocking for a few days. Of course, keeping the main water tank clean for potable water is important. Periodic treatment is the best maintenance method but remember those chemicals are mixed into the water and filtering out those chemicals is extremely important. Everybody uses chlorine but chlorine alone will not make your water safe. You now have to filter out the chlorine and a bunch of other chemicals that are added in municipal water treatment systems. This doesn't account for the areas in the country where PCB's have made their way into the water reservoirs.  Be sure your filter can remove these.

When living off the hook refilling the water tank becomes a bit more complicated than just hooking up to a faucet in a campground. With a large rig like ours, hooking up and running down to a water source isn't always convenient. It becomes much easier to refill the main water tank by carrying it in portable tanks to the RV. I tried the water bladder 1st but found that it will develop holes with use over time. I use it as a back up or when I want to carry as much water as possible in one trip. I acquired some barrels for transporting water. They are not as convenient to store and carry but are much more durable. The barrels were used for fruit juices and easily cleaned for carrying water. 

Our RV water tank holds around 80 gallons. I can fill it completely with both the 60 gallon and 20 gallon barrel. If the water source is a long distance away, I can fill the 40 gallon water bladder along with the barrels and reduce the number of trips to refill. 

I found out rather early that the rate of transfer with just gravity feeding the water into the RV was inadequate. I fabricated a water transfer system using a spare water pump. I ran a 12 volt wire connection point at the rear of the truck and used ½"  RV water hose to make the connections. This works quite well as it speeds the transfer process up to a realistic level.

coming....

photo of external water pump

photo of water pump hooked up

RV water hoses

External sediment filter

Berkey Light Gravity Water filter system