Potable Water

[guygaland2newfs]

Our new MH (new to us) has a spigot on the kitchen sink for drinking water. Though I'd never use it for drinking, I'm wondering, since it's being filtered, could I use it to cook so long as I'm boiling it? And why would they put an ice maker in the freezer? Am I being overly cautious? The filter has been changed since we purchased it.
Thanks, Linda

[wa8yxm]

A reasonable filter, (I use a very simple charcoal filter) can often fix "Funny taste" and there are some filters out there which make my filter look like a piece of pipe (I'm saying they are way better), Some of the multi-stage carbon block filters can dang near distill it (Ok so I exaggerate slightly).

A Brita pitcher is very good at filtering what you drink.

Now I can see bottled water for some things... Mostly where a source of water is not easily found.. But when you have 50+ gallons in your fresh water tank, Or city water.. WHY.

About the only thing I have found my filters will not handle is the water where I park in the winter.. The city, I do believe, over chlorinates it. Cause it tastes a bit like bleach, even after filtering... THE SOLUTION...

Fill the on-board supply tank, let it sit even just a few minutes (Takes about 15 to fill the tank so by the time I get inside the water in the bottom has been sitting there at least 10,, I think the book says five is needed, (The book is on keeping pet fish alive by the way).. And by the time I pump it out.. It has dissipated.

[mlts22]

I take a middle ground. I sanitize my water system when de-winterizing, and call it done. In goes some bleach, it sits overnight, then I move the water to the black/grey tanks, then dump the tanks.

[pitch]

We bring bottled water for drinking and coffee, not because we have any worries about the source, but water we are not used to quite often tastes "funny" to us. I do sanitize my system at least once per season. I drain the tank and open the low point drain after each trip and flush well before I fill.

[wbwood]

Bumpyroad wrote:

wbwood wrote:
Use the spigot how ever you want to use. If your cautious, then your cautious. As someone who had cryptosporidium before, I am cautious myself.

would you share where/how you got this? was it drinking from a supposedly "potable" source?
bumpy

It is unknown how or where. The doctor could only say from a water source. I got sick on the first day going camping in a new pop up we had bought. Never drank the water there at the campground and became sick within a couple hours of being there. With it happening that quick, the campground was ruled out for sure. Still unsure and makes no difference. I always favor on the side of err and don't take chances where something could happen (meaning getting it from another unknown source or from sitting in the lines of the RV). It can happen anywhere. Are we overzealous about it? Perhaps, but that is something that neither one of us wants to go through again.I wil ltake food poisioning over it anytime.

[wny_pat1]

guygaland2newfs wrote:
And why would they put an ice maker in the freezer? Am I being overly cautious? The filter has been changed since we purchased it.
Thanks, Linda

I have a built in stand alone ice maker which seconds as a miniature freezer. And I also have a built in trash compactor. Would they build that stuff in? Because it is what people wanted to buy 20 years ago in high line motorhomes. Also have real Corian countertops and a cedar lined closet, just like at home.

[4x4van]

guygaland2newfs wrote:
Our new MH (new to us) has a spigot on the kitchen sink for drinking water. Though I'd never use it for drinking, I'm wondering, since it's being filtered, could I use it to cook so long as I'm boiling it...

Why are people so afraid of RV water systems? They're made specifically to hold and dispense drinking water.

We've been RVing since 1989, an average of 8-10 weekend trips (3 days) per year. Have ALWAYS used the on-board tank water (filled from home) for washing, cooking, and (gasp!) drinking. To make matters worse, I have only "sanitized" my system once, after the MH sat for 2 years un-used (financial issues at the time). I'm still alive, as is my wife and 3 kids, although my wife prefers bottled water for drinking just because of taste.

BTW, we also have the small filtered spigot on the counter; I use it for filling the ice trays, but that's about it.

[beemerphile1]

guygaland2newfs wrote:
Our new MH (new to us) has a spigot on the kitchen sink for drinking water. Though I'd never use it for drinking, I'm wondering, since it's being filtered, could I use it to cook so long as I'm boiling it...

Are you putting sewage in your fresh water system?

Providing your fresh water system is maintained correctly and you only connect to potable water it is no different than at home.

[bsinmich]

We have been drinking out of the faucet for 40+ years in CGs. We don't full time but we have lived through all of it. I will go along with the icemaker. We have a U-Line ice maker that I just gave up on. I prefer my ice cubes without some of the strange tastes of water from some sources. We carry bottled water for those cases.

[Bumpyroad]

wbwood wrote:
Use the spigot how ever you want to use. If your cautious, then your cautious. As someone who had cryptosporidium before, I am cautious myself.

would you share where/how you got this? was it drinking from a supposedly "potable" source?
bumpy

[wbwood]

Use the spigot how ever you want to use. If your cautious, then your cautious. As someone who had cryptosporidium before, I am cautious myself. We do not drink any of the water that comes out of the park lines or even the onboard water tank. Even when we put water in it from our own home. We use bottled water. But that's just us.

[Redsky]

If water sits in the holding tank bacteria can grow in it over time. I carry a 8oz bottle of household bleach (which straight from the bottle is already 95% water). A tank in regular use only needs 1/2 ounce of bleach for every 100 gallons of water. If the water is going to sit for months then the amount of bleach to add is 1.6 ounces per 100 gallons of water or about three times the concentration.

This is from the FEMA guidelines for using and storing drinking water. The treated water is safer to drink than any bottled water you can buy in the store and the cost is pennies instead of dollars per gallon.

[2gypsies1]

Here's a good source for RV filtering information.

RV Water Filtering

We've full-timed for 17 years and public parks are always our first choice (national, state, COE, county, city, forest service).

We have two filters and never hesitate using our onboard water holding tank. We don't buy water and have never had a problem with any water source we've used. We have never sanitized our holding tank.

[Shearwater]

Ajones42

You are correct. The system you describe should be excellent for purifying really bad water. Having a water treatment system using UV light at the end of the process should kill viruses and any bacteria that managed to slip through the earlier stages.

I was referring to the type of filtration systems that are commonly sold for home use.

[frankdamp]

I rarely drink plain water. Coffee, tea, cider, beer and wine are much better. On average, British people drink about 25% of the amount of plain water that Americans do. Bake in the late 1950's to mid 60's, when I was working in the UK, none of the companies I worked at had drinking fountains in their buildings. The cafeteria folks used to come through the factory and office buildings with tea twice a day.