drinking water

[parentals]

What do most of you do for drinking water in your RV's? We don't like the idea of drinking the water that has been sitting around in our fresh water tank, so we've kept containers of drinking water in the sinks while we travel and on the counter when we're parked. That's getting to be a nuisance, though. We've seen lots of filters for the water coming in, but then it would still sit in the tank.

[wbwood]

Us out West wrote:
We carry a case of individual water bottles.

Have a filter at the hose hookup but don't count on that for making the water drinkable.

Ditto

If you ever been sick with something like cryptosporidium, then you would choose to be more cautious.

[Lynnmor]

This is my tank water, campground water, and filtered campground water.



Filter was a new Culligan in line filter. I stayed at two other campgrounds this summer with similar results.

[stickdog]

We drink campground water, 26 states and more 1 campground per state be they State, Federal, private, we're still here with no ill effects.
We were at one NWR where they were installing a new filtration system and they supplied bottle water for drinking while under construction. We also fill our tank with campground water which we use while traveling. We do use those charcoal filters, makes DW happy.

[mlts22]

I can't see what's wrong with drinking water from the RV:

1: Pipes are pipes. PEX is rated for residential use.
2: The valves and faucets are the same.
3: A water pump is a water pump.
4: A FW tank is the same plastic for a 16 ounce water bottle versus 40 gallons.
5: A water heater is just a smaller version of the one at home.

Of course, one needs to sanitize the rig, but this is not too hard to do.

I guess I'm old then, although I do use bottled water for one main reason -- the bottles double as ice packs in the freezer when I switch the fridge off, but want to still keep stuff cold. I also use bottled water so I can hand those off to friends nearby.

[Grit_dog]

I wish I was the person who first thought up bottling and selling glorified tap water for what, now? Over $1 for 16-24oz at a quickie mart and still dollars per gallon in bulk cases!
Drives me nuts. Sure we drink plenty of bottled water for convienence, but never really thought twice about drinking from the tap, hose, camper, etc.

People are too pussiifed now. I bet most of the "we drink water from the tap in the camper" are older (read: tougher) folks on here and most of the "won't drink it unless it is fully krausened and bottled from pure artesion spring water" are younger folks.

Just recently my kids said one of their friends' mom's yelled at them for drinking out of the garden hose while they were over playing! She said it "wasn't safe"!! They were on city water!
Ridiculous.

If you're not using the water in the tank fast enough that it goes bad then you're either too lazy to drain it between trips, or a camel!

[pigman1]

Unbelievable. I bought this bus to use, and use it we do. All of it.Including the fresh water supply. One of the first things I did was to throw away the water filter. Better pressure without it. I rinsed and sanitized the fresh water tank and will probably never do it again. We taste the water taps we use to fill the fresh water tank and if the taste is OK we fill up and use it. If I have the rig sitting for a month or more, I might drain and refill the fresh water tank if I think about it. We will fill a half dozen water bottles at the tap and put them in the refrig to have cold water handy if we need it, but we reuse those bottles until they spring a leak.

Over 200,000 RVing miles and still going strong, using on board water systems so I don't intend to change now.

[Go_Dawgs1]

If you clean and sanitize your tank at least once a year why shouldn't you drink the water. That is what it is for. I do mine 2x per year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. Always tastes like the water at home and no issues.

[rfryer]

bikendan wrote:
all i got to say is that our forefathers would be shaking their heads at how our society has become so picky about drinking water.
so much for the American Pioneer spirit! some can't go very far if they don't have bottled water.
my goodness, the FW tank is designed to keep water clean and fresh. FW tanks have been safely used in the RV industry for decades.

by the way, there are numerous scientific taste test studies that have been done that show that most testees choose city water over bottled water.:S

maybe it's the old backpacker in me that just doesn't get all the finickyness about drinking water.
my grandparents would be shocked to find that we are willing to pay for drinking water when we all have perfectly good tap water for free.
in fact, we pay more for bottled water than we do for gasoline.

X2. I've been drinking local water, including campgrounds, for 50 years with no ill effects whatsoever. And I don't use any filters. The only time I've avoided the local water was when I worked along the southern border and make frequent trips there. Then for health reasons I was forced to rely on beer and tequila shots.:)

[GordonThree]

I poisoned myself somehow by refilling water bottles versus throwing them away and buying new. I must have not washed my hands before handling the bottles and something was transferred to it. Worst three days I have had in a while.

I'm not afraid to drink from my RV's holding tank, but I do sanitize it regularly.

[bikendan]

all i got to say is that our forefathers would be shaking their heads at how our society has become so picky about drinking water.
so much for the American Pioneer spirit! some can't go very far if they don't have bottled water.
my goodness, the FW tank is designed to keep water clean and fresh. FW tanks have been safely used in the RV industry for decades.

by the way, there are numerous scientific taste test studies that have been done that show that most testees choose city water over bottled water.:S

maybe it's the old backpacker in me that just doesn't get all the finickyness about drinking water.
my grandparents would be shocked to find that we are willing to pay for drinking water when we all have perfectly good tap water for free.
in fact, we pay more for bottled water than we do for gasoline.

[2gypsies1]

It seems most posters here are weekenders and carry jugs of water from home. As stated earlier, we are full-timers - our home is always with us - there's no way we'd be carrying water in jugs from 'home'.

For the past 16+ years we have filled our tank with water from many different sources. We use an excellent filter when filling the tank (not one of those WalMart cheapies). We also have an excellent filter at the kitchen sink. So ours is filtered twice. We have never sanitized our holding tank...filtered water goes into it and it's filtered again when we drink it.

If we bought all our water for the past 16 years, I can't imagine what it would have cost!!! As 'doxiemom11' stated, read the labels on your bottled water to see where it comes from...Better yet, drive to one of those fancy 'springs'.

[doxiemom11]

We use water directly from our faucet whether the source is a filled tank, or connection to the water supply where we are parked. We have a whole house water filter and if water sits in the tank for a period of time (a few months) we drain it, sanatize and refill. We do usually have water connections where we stay. Well water as provided by many places is probably better water than what you buy at the store, and I refuse to spend my money on water that is pumped into those bottles the same source as many taps have anyways. Research it!

[TnCamperMama]

We take bottled water to drink and I take a gallon or two with me to make a pitcher of tea or koolaide. I've used the water from the site filtered through the camper to make coffee with no trouble.
I'd planned to drink the water from the site faucet this year at Fall Creek Falls in Tn, but the water was rusty and dirty looking. I washed dishes with hot water that had been filtered through the camper and we brushed our teeth with it. Nobody got sick, but it was too nasty to drink and I'm glad I'd brought water with me.
Even filtered through the camper system I was worried about drinking it.
Lesson learned on taking extra water with me "just in case"

[JiminDenver]

We have six 5 gal jugs that augment the 30 gal FW tank. They can be used to refill it or fit in a dispenser in the TT. It's all the same water from our house but the dispenser allows me to get water at 5 am without turning on the pump a few feet under honeys head. The rest of the day it doesn't matter if the water comes from tank or jug.

[JamesBr]

I cook, wash, clean with the water. But for drinking I carrier 2 reusable 5 gallon jugs of filtered water from my local area for drinking. When traveling and using water from other areas I was having issues with my dogs getting an upset digestive track. Since I made that change no matter what state/area I stop in I no longer have issues with the dogs traveling, nor have I had any random digestive issues.