Are Water Filters a Major Concern

[dalenoel]

Looking for info on water filters.

For 40+ years we’ve been primarily in MI and have not had problems with water quality. At times a smell but we now use bottled for drinking and cooking. I do remember using lake water and drinking from a hose and yet we are still alive. What I am concerned about is a trip to AZ on the southern route coming back through SLC, Rushmore, and I-90 on the northern route.

During my working life I ran across some city supplies that were not the best. My real concern is sediment in the tanks if we fill them or crud throughout the valves when on a FHU site. I did see the Culligan HF-150A 3/4-Inch mentioned but also can’t find the flow rate and I’m looking for that to be as high as possible and be economical. As a fluid power engineer I understand the dynamics of fluid flow. Concern for super-filtration is not there but damage to the TT systems is the main reason for looking at filters.

Is my concern of solids getting into the tank and lines justified or should I ignore the problem and go without a filter. As mentioned, in MI there has not been a need with state parks are private ones but I’m not sure of other states.

We will be going through IN, IL, AK, TX, NM, AZ, UT, WY, SD, and IA. The route follows the interstate system but we stay away from most major cities except Mesa and Lake Havasu City as family is there.

After returning from this trip I feel the camping in Michigan will show very little need for the filter system so I do not want one that is high maintenance with expensive filters. Yet, I don't want to go too cheap and not get the protection I need on our trip.


Thanks for the info.

[BarneyS]

Eight year old thread folks. I am sure the OP is back home in Michigan by now.
Barney

[valhalla360]

Assuming yo don't fill from a tap labeled "non-potable", the water is safe to drink. (even most non-potable taps come from a safe source but they wont' guarantee someone didn't stick it in their sewer hose and contaminate it). To my knowledge, campgrounds in every state are tested (or they are on municipal supplies).

A carbon filters will help with taste/odor.
Paper/cotton filters will help with silt (though that would be rare).

We've been to all the states you list (currently in Wyoming). We drink from the tank. All we have is one of the blue camco combo filters (both silt and odor) that attaches on the hose when we fill the tank.

[Bumpyroad]

S'more campers wrote:

Doubling up on your filters (parallel) would significantly increase the beta rating, reducing wait times at the fill station. Probably a bit of a pita to setup, but better than being 'that guy' at the fill station.

actually it was easy to set up and once set up I just left it intact and installed it like any single filter in the hose water supply. the only issue was getting a reversed wye connector with double input and single output.
bumpy

[myredracer]

down home wrote:
I'fe got one ceramic filter that .09 micron but doesn't flow great and is a bear to clean. So...I'm going to order a 10x4 ceramic off the net. They will get all the nasties and use the other filter for pre filtering sediment etc.

See what you think about the Doulton ceramic imperial sterasyl OBE:

Doulton USA
Doulton USA specs
waterfilters.net

The spec sheet in the 10" x 2.5" OBE one I bought says the flow rate is 2.3 gpm. I like the fact that you can clean and re-use this filter up to 50 times. I'm impressed with the flow rate in my test setup. It's bacteriostatic and has over 90% efficiency at 0.05 microns and 100% at 0.9 microns. Of course, you'll need a good sediment filter(s) ahead of it.

I am curious why you would use a 4" x 10" filter (aka Big Blue, or BB for short)? That housing is pretty darn big for an RV and you can decent flow rate with a 2.5" x 10" filter. Even after the UF ultrafiltration filter I have after the Doulton filter, I am getting really good flow from a 2.5x10" UF filter. I can't see the need for a 4" unless you want more like 10 gpm...

[S_more_campers]

Micron rating will indicate the filter's ability to capture particulate, but the rarely seen or heard of Beta rating is what determines flow through the filter at that micron rating - how much fluid will pass through the filter at that micron rating.

Doubling up on your filters (parallel) would significantly increase the beta rating, reducing wait times at the fill station. Probably a bit of a pita to setup, but better than being 'that guy' at the fill station.

[doxiemom11]

We just got a filter that goes on the water supply hose before it enters the RV. It does catch debris from well water. We spent the past 2 summers in MI in the Newaygo County/ Lake County area and that water contains a lot of lime and calcium. It tasted good, but that filter sure kept a lot of******out. We purchased ours at Menards for around $20 It's a blue canister with a filter inside.

[Bumpyroad]

down home wrote:
The blue filter from Cw for the 10x2.5 filter has very good specs but won't flow a much as we like. It does pretty well though.

that's why I put two of them in parallel.
bumpy

[down_home]

Yes, Filters are important. Some Campgrounds use well water and in the Midwest that means lots of dirt and not a little bit of stuff from agriculture.
A larger 10 inch x 4inch whole house filter will flow more water than the smaller 20x 2.5 inch filter, if it has effective filtration.
Some of the filters will get lead and so on and a bunch of biological nasties. The blue filter from Cw for the 10x2.5 filter has very good specs but won't flow a much as we like. It does pretty well though. The filter I was getting from Lowes has has been cheapened since, I bought the last one over two years ago. and only specs sediment and chlorine but it will last al ong time and flows great. It's only 25 microns.
I'fe got one ceramic filter that .09 micron but doesn't flow great and is a bear to clean. So...I'm going to order a 10x4 ceramic off the net. They will get all the nasties and use the other filter for pre filtering sediment etc.
When in La two or three years ago. The large filter got a lot of stuff including sulfur but the ceramic filter after that caught a lot of stuff that got through. It left the filter black and brown.
So the best filtering you can get is not too much. You can get by with less maybe. Look at all the older Folks, and some younger, from Michigan etc that drank well or even municipal water. Their teeth are horrible. That is from feretilzer and chemicals and natural things now in farm country water. And all those nasties that cause our bowels to explode and more.

[Gjac]

myredracer wrote:

Gjac wrote:
Remember each filter that you add will produce back pressure and slow the filling process.

Sorry, but that's not quite true. That can be the case but it depends entirely on the filter cartridge size and the specifications for the particular filter(s). Some have excellent flow rates and low pressure drop. I haven't measured it yet, but I am probably getting about 2 gpm after 4 filters despite the last filter being 0.2 microns (absolute). That is pretty dang good and waaay more than needed to fill a drinking glass (which the last filter is for).

When choosing a filter(s), it really pays to look closely at their specs.

It also depends a lot on the regulator you have. I've got a Watts 263A regulator good for up around 5 gpm, compared to the basic inline ones at around 1 gpm. You'll have higher pressure drop through an inline regulator too.

I was referring to filtering the water going into you your FW tank. At 2 gpm that would take 200 mins to fill a 100 gal FW tank. You would have a lot of folks waiting in line.

[myredracer]

Gjac wrote:
Remember each filter that you add will produce back pressure and slow the filling process.

Sorry, but that's not quite true. That can be the case but it depends entirely on the filter cartridge size and the specifications for the particular filter(s). Some have excellent flow rates and low pressure drop. I haven't measured it yet, but I am probably getting about 2 gpm after 4 filters despite the last filter being 0.2 microns (absolute). That is pretty dang good and waaay more than needed to fill a drinking glass (which the last filter is for).

When choosing a filter(s), it really pays to look closely at their specs.

It also depends a lot on the regulator you have. I've got a Watts 263A regulator good for up around 5 gpm, compared to the basic inline ones at around 1 gpm. You'll have higher pressure drop through an inline regulator too.

[Gjac]

mikestock wrote:
After years of filtering every drop of water I finally went with a under the counter filter for the kitchen cold water. That takes care of all of the water we use for cooking and drinking. I use bottled water in the bathroom for brushing teeth. The rest, I don't filter.

This is what I have evolved to also. Remember each filter that you add will produce back pressure and slow the filling process. I traveled with a guy that had 3 filters it took forever to fill his 100 gal tank while a line of people were waiting to fill and dump. Also if you stay at more remote CG's and try to use a "water thief" to fill, it will blow up like a balloon due to back pressure. I have used a filter while staying at lakes in Canada where the water is drawn from and they can clog up in a week or so, but have not had any problems with city water in any of the states you mentioned. But I'm old and still drink from and fill my tanks when home with a green garden hose.

[ralphnjoann]

Does anyone have any comments on a Brita filter as regards to taste?

[bcsslc]

Unless I'm filling the FW tank at home I all was filter the water between the hose and tank. Some times from spigot, filter, hose trailer some times spigot hose filter trailer. It takes a bit more time to fill but it will take way more time to flush out the tank or replace. I will usually buy a new filter before each trip and one to spare.

[dalenoel]

I'm going with sediment filter only so that there is little chance of needed to clean out the FW tank.