Testing Drinking Water

Why not just install a good filtration setup and not have to worry about testing water and testing with a kit that is not even that worthwhile to start with and will miss a lot of contaminants. We have a 3 stage system with 3 different types of cartridges (10") - 5 micron, 0.9 micron (Doulton Ultracarb) and then 0.2 micron (Crystal Quest ultra-filtration). The Doulton Ultracarb ceramic filter removes micro-organisms, bacteria, lead and other heavy metals and VOCs.

Bad water is out there, including municipal systems. The photo shows a bacterial growth on our city water inlet filter screen after a weekend of camping at a private CG supplied by municipal water. That's when I decided to install filtration.

westernrvparkowner wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:
There is no DIY test kit that can test for all contaminants, a lab is needed for that.

garyemunson wrote:
Personally, I never trust my RV tank water for drinking. Some CG water can be sketchy, too. We always carry bottled water for drinking....

Public water systems are more highly regulated and tested than the bottling company that is filling those bottles.

Have you informed Flint, Michigan of those facts?

Actually, the water in Flint wasn't the problem, it was the old lead pipes that distributed the water. Flint officials hid the problem for years by simply running the taps for a few minutes before taking their samples for testing. The problem in Flint is the long term effects of excessive lead in the tap water. A glass full wouldn't kill you.
There aren't bodies lying in the streets of Flint because they sipped the water.
Hysteria sells and the media delivers. The situation in Flint isn't much different then when a kid brings some Mercury from an old Thermometer into school. We used to play with it for a few minutes until we got bored and moved on to the next deadly play toy, maybe even taking a break to take a drink out of a green garden hose. Today, they close down the school and bring in a hazmat crew. The situation in Flint is an infrastructure failure, not poison water.

"Public water systems are more highly regulated and tested than the bottling company that is filling those bottles."

This was the statement I was taking issue with. It does seem that perhaps some of these public water systems are not as well regulated as we are led to believe. All the hyperbole was in your post. Try to stick to the subject at hand.

I went to that site and checked that kit for water potability. That test kit cost over $31 and that's without shipping and it is only for testing two different things TWICE. I carry bottle water. When I saw that inquiring post, I wanted to see what others thought. I am going to continue my bottled water. I buy some in gallon bottles and some in 16 ounce bottles. Cheaper in the long run and I know it is safe.

fj12ryder wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:
There is no DIY test kit that can test for all contaminants, a lab is needed for that.

garyemunson wrote:
Personally, I never trust my RV tank water for drinking. Some CG water can be sketchy, too. We always carry bottled water for drinking....

Public water systems are more highly regulated and tested than the bottling company that is filling those bottles.

Have you informed Flint, Michigan of those facts?

Actually, the water in Flint wasn't the problem, it was the old lead pipes that distributed the water. Flint officials hid the problem for years by simply running the taps for a few minutes before taking their samples for testing. The problem in Flint is the long term effects of excessive lead in the tap water. A glass full wouldn't kill you.
There aren't bodies lying in the streets of Flint because they sipped the water.
Hysteria sells and the media delivers. The situation in Flint isn't much different then when a kid brings some Mercury from an old Thermometer into school. We used to play with it for a few minutes until we got bored and moved on to the next deadly play toy, maybe even taking a break to take a drink out of a green garden hose. Today, they close down the school and bring in a hazmat crew. The situation in Flint is an infrastructure failure, not poison water.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Skin is the largest organ human body has.
IF you shower in it, wash your hands/face in it, brush your teeth with it....you can drink it.

Same goes for dish washing, cooking with it.

Sounds wonderful, but simply not true. Many harmful organisms can be kept out by the skin, but if ingested can make you very ill. Giardia immediately comes to mind, also hepatitis.

beemerphile1 wrote:
There is no DIY test kit that can test for all contaminants, a lab is needed for that.

garyemunson wrote:
Personally, I never trust my RV tank water for drinking. Some CG water can be sketchy, too. We always carry bottled water for drinking....

Public water systems are more highly regulated and tested than the bottling company that is filling those bottles.

Have you informed Flint, Michigan of those facts?

Been full timing for 3 years now. Don't worry about the water at all. I have never done the bleach thing either, except for the one time when the rig was new. I use the common blue screw on filters when traveling and additionally set up one of the big canister types when sitting still for the winter. I get canister filters from the RV Water Filter Store guy (lots of good info on his site).

I DO buy gallons of spring water for drinking, but use CG water for ice, cooking, etc. And I generally don't carry water in the fiver tank.

I attach the blue filter to the inlet port in the RV as opposed to the CG faucet - I'm not convinced you can keep your water hose crud free unless you bleach it about once a week (which will radically decrease it's life anyway). Additionally, I carry two 50 footers and several smaller lengths, so water can become trapped in them for long periods, even though I screw on the little perforated caps so they can 'breathe'.

I just do not consider water purity to be something to worry too much about. CG water is probably going to be water from the nearest municipal supply anyway.

I always drink tap water.

I await the documentation that RV'ers get sick from drinking the water in their tanks, assuming the usual degree of tank care.

We have the cleanest water supply in the world. Flint is the exception, not the rule.

beemerphile1 wrote:
There is no DIY test kit that can test for all contaminants, a lab is needed for that.

garyemunson wrote:
Personally, I never trust my RV tank water for drinking. Some CG water can be sketchy, too. We always carry bottled water for drinking....

Public water systems are more highly regulated and tested than the bottling company that is filling those bottles.

Assuming the regulators are not corrupt. Hopefully some of those regulators will be going to prison here in Michigan, but sadly, they're just the scape goats - the folks at the top of the ladder don't have to worry.