Best Way To Treat/Filter Campground Well Water???

2gypsies wrote:
Visit this site and/or call - they are very helpful and can recommend anything you may need.

https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/

Thanks for the link. Interesting products available.

100-1 it's not bacteria. Wells are generally bacteria free as there normally isn't a source of nutrients and commercial wells get regular testing. They would be shut down if there was a bacterial problem.

Rotten egg is typically sulfur in the water. It won't hurt you but will taste & smell nasty. Hot water heaters intensify the smell.

No real good solutions. You can mess around with charcoal filters and water softeners but they usually only make it slightly less objectionable.

lawrosa wrote:
Being a plumber you need bleach injection of some sort. Since that will be expensive and you need room for bleach tank, mixing tank etc, its not feasible.

So its sounds like bacterial iron in the water..

I would disconnect from the source and use the fresh water tank onboard. add like 5 teaspoons bleach 6% only to a 50 gallon tank.

Like a pool you want to keep chlorine levels low. 2 ppm <

Remember you are not sanitizing you are just treating. Sanitizing requires large amounts of bleach like 1 cup to 40 gallons..

Also not the bleach will oxidize the iron. And it will settle in the vessels. HWH and fresh tank. Flush these out once a month or so.

Thanks for the information, very helpful.

Being a plumber you need bleach injection of some sort. Since that will be expensive and you need room for bleach tank, mixing tank etc, its not feasible.

So its sounds like bacterial iron in the water..

I would disconnect from the source and use the fresh water tank onboard. add like 5 teaspoons bleach 6% only to a 50 gallon tank.

Like a pool you want to keep chlorine levels low. 2 ppm <

Remember you are not sanitizing you are just treating. Sanitizing requires large amounts of bleach like 1 cup to 40 gallons..

Also note the bleach will oxidize the iron. And it will settle in the vessels. HWH and fresh tank. Flush these out once a month or so.

Gdetrailer wrote:
Are you sure it is bacteria?

Water with high iron content can also cause rotten egg (sulfur) smell from water heaters which have a lined steel tank (Suburban brand) and a second anode rod.

As the anode rod wears out, the rotten egg or sulfur smell will get bad..

Not sure if aluminum water heat tanks (Attwood) have the same problem.

For Suburban tanks the fix is replacing the anode rod with a new on, do not cut off the rod and put the plug back in, doing so will drastically shorten the life of the tank.

Ideally, the way to fix high iron content water is through a iron removal system, in a pinch a decent water softener can be used although may not be totally effective.

Rather than guessing, I would recommend getting the water fully tested by a professional water testing service. Make sure the test checks for bacteria along with iron/mineral content. This way you KNOW FOR SURE what you are dealing with.

If bacteria is present in the water, then the campground should be held responsible for fixing the problem.. Either by treatment or new well and sanitizing their water system.

If they refuse to do so, I suggest you consider finding a different campground that values your well being..

Have had several mobile home courts around my area shut down due to bad water..

That is a fair statement. It could be high iron content. My camping neighbors are experiencing the same smell. We experienced the smell at the exact same time, so that is why we assumed it was a well water issue versus a singular camper issue. I had a Suburban water heater last season (with anode) with my old camper. My new to me camper has a Atwood brand aluminum water heater.

Basically, I am trying to get ahead of the problem before the start of this camping season. I will see if I can find the water health report for the county the campground is located.

Thanks for the feedback.

Second what Gdetrailer writes.

Why take the risk messing around with contaminated water? The United States is not a third world country.

You should contact the county / state health department and ask for a copy of the latest inspection report. In Michigan commercial drinking water wells are tested and licensed annually, I would expect the law to be similar in North Dakota.

On the other hand, if the state / county can provide record of inspection and testing for the well as passed, then it's a mechanical (particulate) or chemical (various metal salts in solution) problem. In that case it may be treatable with various filters. Removing metal salts usually requires ion-exchange treatment aka a water softener.

Visit this site and/or call - they are very helpful and can recommend anything you may need.

https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/

Are you sure it is bacteria?

Water with high iron content can also cause rotten egg (sulfur) smell from water heaters which have a lined steel tank (Suburban brand) and a second anode rod.

As the anode rod wears out, the rotten egg or sulfur smell will get bad..

Not sure if aluminum water heat tanks (Attwood) have the same problem.

For Suburban tanks the fix is replacing the anode rod with a new on, do not cut off the rod and put the plug back in, doing so will drastically shorten the life of the tank.

Ideally, the way to fix high iron content water is through a iron removal system, in a pinch a decent water softener can be used although may not be totally effective.

Rather than guessing, I would recommend getting the water fully tested by a professional water testing service. Make sure the test checks for bacteria along with iron/mineral content. This way you KNOW FOR SURE what you are dealing with.

If bacteria is present in the water, then the campground should be held responsible for fixing the problem.. Either by treatment or new well and sanitizing their water system.

If they refuse to do so, I suggest you consider finding a different campground that values your well being..

Have had several mobile home courts around my area shut down due to bad water..