Water Quality

[becker]

We are planning a extended trip to Big Ben National Park in March 2014. I received a note from a friend who just came from there. They said "The resorts at Big Bend National Park have their own water wells and treatment plants which is fine for showers and dishwashing, however the RV hookups water have a very high mineral content. We do not drink or use the water for our coffee maker as the water minerals foul up the works including pressure regulators and filters. We also do not let our dogs drink this water."

We do not have a problem in our motorhome, and we do not want this to be the first time.

Can anyone who has experience at this location comment on this?

I appreciate your interest in this.

Thank you.

Becker

[rgatijnet1]

We have high mineral content water here in Florida. I use one of the inline filters when I fill our water tanks and then our coach has an additional under-counter water filter for all water that comes through the kitchen faucet.
Doing it this way, the water used in the bathroom and shower is filtered once and any water used for dish washing or cooking is filtered twice.
Our drinking water comes from bottles which is what we also use for the dog.
Judging by the lack of mineral deposits that form on our faucets, I would say that the filters are removing almost all of the mineral deposits that we run across as we have traveled in both the East and the West.

[LewBob]

Much of the water at Big Bend has relatively high mineral content. The only area of the park where I'd consider it a problem is at the Cottonwood Campground at Castolon on the west side of the park. The park provides drinking/cooking water in the campground via a reverse osmosis system. Other water supplies there can be used for cleaning but is not approved for consuming.

[wny_pat1]

becker wrote:
We are planning a extended trip to Big Ben National Park in March 2014. I received a note from a friend who just came from there. They said "The resorts at Big Bend National Park have their own water wells and treatment plants which is fine for showers and dishwashing, however the RV hookups water have a very high mineral content. We do not drink or use the water for our coffee maker as the water minerals foul up the works including pressure regulators and filters. We also do not let our dogs drink this water."

We do not have a problem in our motorhome, and we do not want this to be the first time.

Can anyone who has experience at this location comment on this?

I appreciate your interest in this.

Thank you.

Becker

I can't comment on the location, but I can comment on the hard water minerals. Hard water minerals can foul up the plumbing system of a RV!! That is the sole reason that we purchased a water softening unit for the motorhome. We have a older motorhome and the minerals just plugged up everything. Had to run lots of gallons of vinegar through the city water inlet in a attempt to clear it up, and still had problems until we started using the water softener. Have not had a problem since we started using the water softener. Been two years now.

We have hard water at home and have no problems drinking it or using it in the stick house, even in the coffee maker. But about every three years we have to drain the hot water tank, and have it vacuumed out. About a foot of that white stuff on the bottom of the 50 gallon tank.

[rk911]

when we camped at the Rio Grande Village a few years back (the only CG with RV hookups in the park) we hooked up to the water and did not notice any problems, taste or otherwise. if that's where you are planning to stay be advised that it is a blacktopped parking lot. march should be fine but it can get hot...very very hot. we were there in late September and left after 3-days as the AC was barely keeping the coach interior below 90.