Cooking and drinking water

[Crawfordville]

I've always wondered what everyone does regarding cooking and drinking water. When you stay at a campground that has water and electricity do you use the water that is connected to the campgrounds water supply for drinking and cooking? If so, do you use a filter? I'm assuming you don't fill your fresh water tank at your house and drive to your location. Or do you bring bottled water or one of those portable 5 gallon water jugs?

We seem to do a little bit of both but we don't have a filter. I have found though that some campgrounds water tastes different than what I'm used to. The last campground we stayed at it affected the way the noodles tasted.

Karen

[DiskDoctr]

wanderingbob wrote:
Apparently many people fell that the water in the TT water tanks is not safe .
We very seldom use campground water and fill before leaving home . Why do people feel that water in a clear plastic bottle is cleaner than water in a black plastic bottle-tank . Water should be stored away from sunlight . Why is a clear bottle that some person unknown to you and handled many times by strangers and transported at great expense by guys in a hurry be cleaner than water out of my 200 foot deep well ? One of the great mysteries of life .

For us it is a matter of effort vs return.

We sanitize before first use and usually not again until next spring. Of course, after flushing out the rv antifreeze from winterizing.

If we sanitized it before each trip or periodically, maybe.

Ours is definitely fine for exposure, like washing, showers, brushing teeth, etc. Butngiven we have some of the best spring water around, a way to carry it, and a super convenient place to put it on outside table, no need to ingest an unknown source/taste.

So for us it is less "no, it is unsafe" and more "why bother, we are already enjoying the best with almost no effort"

[wanderingbob]

Here in my area of north Florida there are several " springs " bottling plants . A lot of that water is hauled in by contract truckers from the many springs in the area . We see them driving down the road , sloshing water all over the place , probably not as sterile as most believe . Rural fire departments use the same springs to hard suction the woods trucks and locals swim alongside . They say that if you looked in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant then you would not eat there , me thinks spring water buyers should investigate the requirements to bottle water . Some states have no rules at all .

[sh410]

I not sure that anyone has measured the difference in mpg with the FW tank full vs empty. I not sure that it can be done unless someone has the sophisticated to do so.

[wanderingbob]

Apparently many people fell that the water in the TT water tanks is not safe .
We very seldom use campground water and fill before leaving home . Why do people feel that water in a clear plastic bottle is cleaner than water in a black plastic bottle-tank . Water should be stored away from sunlight . Why is a clear bottle that some person unknown to you and handled many times by strangers and transported at great expense by guys in a hurry be cleaner than water out of my 200 foot deep well ? One of the great mysteries of life .

[Drippin]

We always leave with a full FW tank. At the CG we tend to not hook up to the connection but run using the on board supply then just re-fill the tank at the site as needed or before we go to the next place. Using the pump it is easier to make sure the pump is off before we leave the TT for the day. Much less change of a flood if a pipe or valve fails.
Also we rarely have FHU sites.

[westend]

Crabbypatty wrote:
I do believe that as that's why are local codes require back-flo preventer's in our exterior faucets and irrigation so nothing goes back into the water supply. I usually squirt the water hookup with a bleach cleanup blast before I connect to it. I'm not a germo-phobe, but what Ive seen at campgrounds, you have no idea what the guy before you did on the hook up or at other sites.

Yes, back flow preventers are installed so water from an external source isn't introduced back into the supply. It's function relies on pressure differentials. It has nothing to do with germ removal from the outside faucet. In a campground setting, there is nothing that will pressurize the water on the outlet side of the campground supply so the backflow preventer is not functional. It is not a germ "filter", it is to protect the supply from contamination. Just because you don't see one on the faucet your hose is hooked to, doesn't mean the supply is contaminated.

You see back flow preventers with irrigation systems because there is sometimes a pressure pump installed. If the flow//pressure is misdirected back towards the supply, the BFP will be functional.

If you're worried that the campground supply is contaminated, run some water out of it before you attach your hose.

[sfd4sew]

I never fill my fresh water tank. I have a little bit in there like others have said for bathroom stops. I just cant see towing that much more weight for nothing. We usually always have water hookup at the campsite and I put a filter right at the inlet for the trailer. We use it for everything including drinking. After all we are camping, I would drink out of the lake if I had to. Its not like we are camping in mexico, I think we can pretty much trust the water.

[Go_Dogs]

We have several large, (4 to 7 gal) containers. We fill them at home and bring them along. I keep them in the shower while we are driving.
We travel with large dogs, and I have a compromised immune system. I have to be careful with unfamiliar water sources. We spent a week with a Great Dane that had Montezuma's revenge-not fun.

[Crabbypatty]

I do believe that as that's why are local codes require back-flo preventer's in our exterior faucets and irrigation so nothing goes back into the water supply. I usually squirt the water hookup with a bleach cleanup blast before I connect to it. I'm not a germo-phobe, but what Ive seen at campgrounds, you have no idea what the guy before you did on the hook up or at other sites.

[Majja13]

Yes! I always go with a full water tank as you never know what might happen on the way. If you have a breakdown you have full use of the TT. We also take some bottled water, and I have a 5 gallon jug that I keep on my food prep table outside so I don't have to keep going back and forth for water. I do have a filter, they are cheap like 20.00 at Walmart.

[westend]

Crabbypatty wrote:
When not boon-docking we only keep a few gallons in the tank, for toilet and hand washing. Why carry the extra weight at $4/gallon. Drinking water we always fill jugs and bring them from home. We take 4-6 gallons which is enough for us for a week of cooking/coffee. If we run out we go buy a gallon. I have a filter to, but why risk it. The whole rig is filter and I have watched people use the spickets for all kinds of things and with out back flush protectors all their germs just go back into the system.

I hope you believe me that those deadly germs you are afraid of can not get back into the system if the outlet was used under pressure. Also, a backflow preventer will only insure against transfer back into the source plumbing if the pressure is greater at the use end.

[tenbear]

Usually we use campground water the same as we use our water at home. We also carry about a quarter of a tank for on the road use. If we will be camping with no hookups we bring a full tank. Never use bottled water. Never had a problem in 14 years of RVing.

[Crabbypatty]

When not boon-docking we only keep a few gallons in the tank, for toilet and hand washing. Why carry the extra weight at $4/gallon. Drinking water we always fill jugs and bring them from home. We take 4-6 gallons which is enough for us for a week of cooking/coffee. If we run out we go buy a gallon. I have a filter to, but why risk it. The whole rig is filter and I have watched people use the spickets for all kinds of things and with out back flush protectors all their germs just go back into the system.

[owenssailor]

We traveled for 5 months last winter. Minimum water in the tank unless boondocking. At campgrounds with water hookup we used it for everything. We have an inline filter on the trailer.

Buying water in plastic bottles seems like an expensive waste. We also found in most places it was difficult to recycle plastic or other material.. That was very frustrating.

It is interesting to note that beside any concerns about the plastic containers there is also limited standards applying to bottled water. As well some companies simply bottle city water and label it "Spring Water from pure mountain streams"