Water Filter Advise

myredracer wrote:
That Camco filter is only 100 microns and will not filter out any bacteria. It will prevent bacteria from growing inside it though. Camco filter info.

Even if you have a low micron filter, you won't filter out all bacteria. Even if you had microfiltration at 0.05 microns, you'd only be filtering some of the bacteria. filtering bacteria

Hi myredracer,

I'm not disagreeing with you, just putting things in perspective. This is more pointed towards your 0.05 microns statement. For camper use, 0.05 microns is impracticable. The common water born organisms found in potable water systems are bigger than that. See this chart to help explain what is what size. This if from a large RO membrane manufacture.



To the rest of the folks, I'll add my thoughts as we seem to have found many who have also tried to figure out water in their campers and I can tell by the responses some have drilled down into this. I'm not a microbiologist and do not claim to be, however I do work on machinery for a living that has to keep microorganisms under control in water many times more clean then potable water.

0.1 micron is the size that some backpacking water purifiers have. Stick the hose in the lake, pump it and out comes clean water safe from the common water born organisms and virus's. However that fine a size can and will clog really fast trying to use it to filter a 38 gallon fresh tank. When you get something that fine for a camper, it is usually a point of use filter. You have filtered water in the fresh tank and then double filter with a 0.1 micron right before the sink. I have used these ceramic carbon and then pleated filters for backpacking. MSR makes them and so does Pur I think.

Now the camper. I myself would not leave a point of use filter full between trips if your trips are weeks or a month apart and then add summer temps that can get to 100F inside the camper. Us weekend warriors have different needs then the full timers.

When I fill my fresh tank at my own home, I do not filter the water as I know the source. After that... everything else is filtered. CG's can be a free for all. I use a 0.9 micron ceramic carbon filter. It is a Camco unit and may or may not be available any more. I have some spare filters for it and once they are gone I might have to find plan B. It is a love hate relationship with this filter. I like the action it gives, I can see the build up and I can clean it. It has KDF to keep the carbon biostatic (bugs don't grow) in it and I dry it out in the sun after each use.

Here is what one CG left me with 1 fill up of 38 gallons. Yummy. While it may be potable, I sure do not want that sediment in my camper.
Here they are after filling 1 tank


the cleaning process


all done


Here is another state park on full hook up. This was white when I started on Friday.


And the filter pulled out on Sunday


There is for sure a need to filter. The hate part of this filter is the fragile nature of it. You can crack off the top really easy. It may have been why Camco stopped pushing it.

On CG's with high iron, this 0.9 micron is not good. It will plug trying to get 15 gallons of water through it. In this case I use the 100 micron Camco blue filter shown by others and buy then in a 2 pack from various places. Wal-Mart and others.

As was said, carbon filters do strip out/reduce chlorine. A water tap that has 3.5ppm free chlorine in it will be reduced to approx. 1.0 ppm being filtered through the 0.9 micron ceramic carbon filter. Some CG's in the spring spike the chlorine up close to the limit to kill off the system when it first comes on line after the winter. During the summer it is not that high on the incoming water.

Point is, the carbon filter reduces the chlorine, how much gets through depends on what the level was when it started and the micron rating of the filter. Start out with 1.5ppm chlorine and pass through 0.9 micorn may end up 0.3 to 0.5 ppm chlorine in one pass.

I do measure system chlorine and spike it with unscented bleach as needed. This is not hard to do once you figure out your system. I target for 0.5 to 0.8 ppm range on a known clean system. I may be on the extreme end of the water curve but again this comes back to my background.

Something else not mentioned is draining the system. When we weekend camp, I drain the system after every campout including the HW heater and have it set up with a double filtration compressed air blow out system. Only takes me about 10 minutes as I unpack the camper. Drain HW heater at camp through a valved drain, have low point drains and faucets open while in route home and not much water left after to blow out. If we are on our 3 week camping trip, it stays full the whole time and I monitor chlorine every time I add more filtered fresh water.

Another tid bit of info, a 38 gallon fresh tank starting with 3.5ppm chlorine will flash off the chlorine close to 0ppm after 4 days with 85F temps during the day. The tank is vented, the water lowers with use so the air in the tank goes up so it flashes off even that much quicker. Chlorine is just dying to flash off into nothing from the time it leaves the bottle. Bleach that is old or the cap left off very long turns close to plain water.

Another must is to sanitize the system 1 or 2 times a year pending your use. Start with a clean system, only add known good potable water to it, filter incoming water if it is not your source, a chlorine check is a good thing to do and drain the system in periods of non use and drink from the camper without concerns.

Thanks for the tip on the whole house filter. Never thought of that. It may be my new source if I cannot get the Camco's any more.

John

Hmmmmm go to Lowe's and get the whole house filter cost $25 for filter and fittings needed. Filters for it are also cheap so change them couple times a year. A lot of campgrounds are on wells, and you'll get lots of sediment from them. Plus if you go to the shore most times the water on the ocean tastes terrible along with the sand. A good filter can make it taste lots better...

myredracer wrote:
What is the spec. on the 0.09 micron filter? Would like to read up on that. What is your flow rate like?

I think if you set up good filtration of your own, it's just as good as the filtered refill water they sell in stores. DW swears by that stuff and I can't convince her that our well water is okay to drink, let alone cg water.

We have a lot of calcium in our water at home. May be good for your bones, but it builds up on the screen assemblies on our faucets and we have to scrape it off once or twice a year. Wish there was a filter for calcium.

down home wrote:
We have a under counter cartridge for the ice maker and separate drinking faucet. It is change yearly because water sittin it with the contaminents it removed brew more of them. The silver in it destorys them but still needs to be replaced. We use one or up to three filters to the coach depending on the need. A heavy load of sediments hits the first coarse carbon block filter, and then the second carbon block with silver and other things to get metals etc ad both get chlorine. A third .09 micron filter if there is sulfur etc still getting through the other two. No bad water goes into the tank. It is filled with city water through the filter and gets rid of the chlorine and other chemicals and nasties before we leave. A good carbon block or ceramic filter with a carbon block will get a lot of lime, that is usspended in the water. Won't get the dissolved except as it goes around the trapped suspended particles it will cling to them. If the tanks go awry the under sink filter will get whatever. Save the planet and don't buy plastic bottled water and ours tast better.

It is one of the small ones that Camping World did sell but not now. It works well but is a pain to clean.
There are several ceramic cartridges for standard 10 inch filter housings on the net. Not too cheap though. Flow rate is only about 2.5 gallons per minute maybe. It's too far away to check. A big ten inch filter would flow more. the other filters flow 3 to 3.5 gal a minute. Sometimes when flow is low we turn on the pump which boost pressure and uses tank water too. Sometimes we just turn the valve and let the tank fill and use from it when water flow is really low at some campgrounds. The 25 micron carbon bloc big filter serves to get most of the sediments and they too remove chlorine and they catch some of the calcium that is suspended also. They load up with sediment and keep the other filter or filters clean. those little in line filters load up with sediment really fast and then bypass dirty water into your system.

That Camco filter is only 100 microns and will not filter out any bacteria. It will prevent bacteria from growing inside it though. Camco filter info.

Even if you have a low micron filter, you won't filter out all bacteria. Even if you had microfiltration at 0.05 microns, you'd only be filtering some of the bacteria. filtering bacteria

Hank MI wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
We bought one of these from our dealer when we purchased our Outback last September and then found out Wall Mart has them also. Wall Mart was cheaper, and you can buy just the filter without the hose, in 2 packs.

That's the filter we use, also purchased at Walmart.

beemerphile1 wrote:
I filter at the sink.

Municipal tap water contains chlorine/chloride which prevents algae and bacteria growth. The KDF/carbon filters remove chlorine/chloride.

If you filter before the tank you are removing the chloride which leaves your fresh water tank unprotected. Thus we filter at the sink just before consumption.

We use the filter when hooked up to water supply, not for filling the tank which is normally done at home. By using the inline filter you also keep a lot of sediment and bacteria out of the water heater which is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

What is the spec. on the 0.09 micron filter? Would like to read up on that. What is your flow rate like?

I think if you set up good filtration of your own, it's just as good as the filtered refill water they sell in stores. DW swears by that stuff and I can't convince her that our well water is okay to drink, let alone cg water.

We have a lot of calcium in our water at home. May be good for your bones, but it builds up on the screen assemblies on our faucets and we have to scrape it off once or twice a year. Wish there was a filter for calcium.

down home wrote:
We have a under counter cartridge for the ice maker and separate drinking faucet. It is change yearly because water sittin it with the contaminents it removed brew more of them. The silver in it destorys them but still needs to be replaced. We use one or up to three filters to the coach depending on the need. A heavy load of sediments hits the first coarse carbon block filter, and then the second carbon block with silver and other things to get metals etc ad both get chlorine. A third .09 micron filter if there is sulfur etc still getting through the other two. No bad water goes into the tank. It is filled with city water through the filter and gets rid of the chlorine and other chemicals and nasties before we leave. A good carbon block or ceramic filter with a carbon block will get a lot of lime, that is usspended in the water. Won't get the dissolved except as it goes around the trapped suspended particles it will cling to them. If the tanks go awry the under sink filter will get whatever. Save the planet and don't buy plastic bottled water and ours tast better.

DutchmenSport wrote:
We bought one of these from our dealer when we purchased our Outback last September and then found out Wall Mart has them also. Wall Mart was cheaper, and you can buy just the filter without the hose, in 2 packs.

That's the filter we use, also purchased at Walmart.

beemerphile1 wrote:
I filter at the sink.

Municipal tap water contains chlorine/chloride which prevents algae and bacteria growth. The KDF/carbon filters remove chlorine/chloride.

If you filter before the tank you are removing the chloride which leaves your fresh water tank unprotected. Thus we filter at the sink just before consumption.

We use the filter when hooked up to water supply, not for filling the tank which is normally done at home. By using the inline filter you also keep a lot of sediment and bacteria out of the water heater which is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

We have a under counter cartridge for the ice maker and separate drinking faucet. It is change yearly because water sittin it with the contaminents it removed brew more of them. The silver in it destorys them but still needs to be replaced. We use one or up to three filters to the coach depending on the need. A heavy load of sediments hits the first coarse carbon block filter, and then the second carbon block with silver and other things to get metals etc ad both get chlorine. A third .09 micron filter if there is sulfur etc still getting through the other two. No bad water goes into the tank. It is filled with city water through the filter and gets rid of the chlorine and other chemicals and nasties before we leave. A good carbon block or ceramic filter with a carbon block will get a lot of lime, that is usspended in the water. Won't get the dissolved except as it goes around the trapped suspended particles it will cling to them. If the tanks go awry the under sink filter will get whatever. Save the planet and don't buy plastic bottled water and ours tast better.

Filters have different filter media inside. Bacteria love some types and not others. You should do some research into them first. The different filter types also have different recommended replacement intervals. When choosing a filter, you want to know what is you want to filter out. For ex., you can filter just sediment, or you can filter micro-organisms or you can have a filter that removes chlorine odor and improves taste. And you can get one that is combined. You couldd even have filters in series. Do some googling.

Filters also have a micron rating. Sort of like coarse mesh versus fine mesh. They have filters as low as 0.5 micron or up to 100 microns. Finer is better but it can really reduce the flow rate and can plug up faster. The inline filters often used on your hose have a high micron rating - 100 IIRC. Some filter types are really bad for flow rate so you need to be careful on what you choose. If you install a filter, you should have it after a regulator.

After a lot of research, I just bought a Pentek FloPlus 10" whole house filter. It's 0.5 microns but has a high flow rate and low differential pressure drop and is a combination type filter. A whole house filter is nice, but not everyone can do it unless you have access to the interior side of the water inlet and space for the filter. You usually should have space for a filter under the kitchen sink and could go with a 5" filter housing which would give you more choices in a filter type.

If you want to install a filter inside your unit, go to a plumbing wholesale place. I bought a 10" filter housing at a wholesaler for $20, but a local RV dealer wanted $200 for the identical one.

After the end of the last camping season, I found the filter screen on the end of the hose was almost plugged right up with stuff. No way I will use water from a cg anymore without filtration. We have a well also and have a large whole house filter plus a sediment "spin down" pre-filter. It doesn't take long for both to get dirty looking. If you travel around, you don't know where the cg water can come from and how good the filtration is if it's groundwater.

I filter at the sink.

Municipal tap water contains chlorine/chloride which prevents algae and bacteria growth. The KDF/carbon filters remove chlorine/chloride.

If you filter before the tank you are removing the chloride which leaves your fresh water tank unprotected. Thus we filter at the sink just before consumption.

I use two to three separate filters depending on water quality, including one General Ecology that will take out viruses from http://generalecology.com however for general use there are a number of filter at http://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com