Water and air was one of the main reasons why Ram added a primary filter and fuel/water separator. Its primary job is to protect the engine(secondary) filter that also captures particles and is a fuel/water separator. It differs from most other filters because it is a depth coalescer which means it collects water within its multiple layers after the particles are filtered out instead of on its surface like most filters which degrades its water removal ability as the filter's surface gets plugged up with more and more contaminants.
I would wager if GM would have added a filter like this and a lift pump in the first place, then they probably would have had less issues.