Forum Discussion

bighatnohorse's avatar
bighatnohorse
Explorer II
Dec 14, 2013

Water treatment for RV fresh water?

What is the most effective, or at best, recommended method for treating the RV fresh water tank while in Mexico?

On edit: Not concerned about drinking water as that issue has already been answered in another post.
I'm just wanting to keep the bugs suppressed in the RV fresh water tank.

20 Replies

  • Bleach in the on board tank for showers, dishes & general cleaning. Bottle water for drinking & cooking. Another option is to fill the on board with bottle water / or drive to local bottle water plant and fill on board tank.

    rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
  • A truck, or a guy on a 3 wheel bicycle. Vehicles delivering 5 gallon jugs of water are a major part of this country. They are everywhere, all the time. And yes, it's clean water.
  • crandle wrote:
    Use bottled water for drinking. Mexicans use it, why wouldn't we? For the fresh water holding tank, we attach a cheap Walmart filter to the hose (replace at least every year) and add a quarter cup or so of bleach every time we fill. You should "just" be able to smell the bleach in the water. We do not drink this water or use it to make coffee or tea but we do brush our teeth with it.


    We have been doing the same except for the "cheap Walmart filter" for years. We have a three stage filter, we can use 1,2,or all three using increasing filtration up to a 1 micron ceramic filter. Unfortunately when you add filtration, in many places in Mexico there isn't enough water pressure to push the water through. We have our "spare" water pump available to help overcome this. In one campground there was so much sandy sediment we wrapped the first stage with paper towels then uses a relatively course charcoal filter after that.

    Where we are now we don't filter at all, just add a bit of bleach. Bottled water is delivered three times a week.

    The dogs too get bottled water.
  • Read through this recent thread for ideas: http://forums.woodalls.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27372031.cfm
  • This is one bit of 'common knowledge' I've heard for years.. don't drink the water. I guess it's really true.
  • Use bottled water for drinking. Mexicans use it, why wouldn't we? For the fresh water holding tank, we attach a cheap Walmart filter to the hose (replace at least every year) and add a quarter cup or so of bleach every time we fill. You should "just" be able to smell the bleach in the water. We do not drink this water or use it to make coffee or tea but we do brush our teeth with it.
  • Chlorine or peroxide. But don't drink it. That only stops odors in your hot water tank and offers some protection if you accidentally swallow while showering. Add a bit of chlorine to dish water.
  • Either drink bottled or get a filter system and drink that. Check earlier posts.