Forum Discussion

jawsthemeswimmi's avatar
Mar 03, 2017

Water Filter

Last year was our first year with our travel trailer and we are still trying to learn the best practices. We try to get out at least 4 times between May and October for long weekends. So, there are long amounts of time between that where the trailer is in the driveway at home. Last year, I just left the filter in without knowing that could be an issue with mold buildup.

After browsing this thread (http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29129676/gotomsg/29202090/p/1.cfm#29202090) , I feel like removing the filter, draining the water, and putting it in a ziploc bag in the freezer between trips is the best option. Any issues with this other than it being a pain?

This is my water filter. Because of the system used, I don't think I can use anything else.

http://www.flowpur.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FP&Product_Code=KW1FLTR&Category_Code=RVF
  • We do not use a water filter in our TT but we do use one when wilderness canoeing. We always take the filter out and let it dry between trips.

    I also drain the TT fresh water between trips if the TT is going sit for more than a few weeks.

    We will use a combination of campground or fresh water tank water, depending on the type of camp ground we stay at. On our southwestern trip, water hook ups were not always available.
  • I got tired of being locked into the FR1 filter so this summer I am swapping out the whole housing. This allows me unlimited choices of filters at far better prices than the KW1/FR1 version.

    For sure you can bag/freeze the filter between trips...just be careful to install it as one trip I left my FR1 filter out and the housing backed out under pressure and I lost all my water.
  • You are making yourself a lot of work. Mold needs air to grow. So if your filter and water lines are full there is no air to support mold growth. Also most municipal water systems have enough chlorine in them to keep mold at bay.
  • I use the Camco CX90 filter as part of a filtering system consisting a 17 gallon plastic tub and a RV water pump to filter fresh water into my holding tank. This way I can take water directly from the river or filter the water in the park, some campgrounds water is brownish and stains.

    When not boondocking this filter can be connected directly from the TT to a pressurized water system.

    I just let the filter dry out between uses, if the ceramic is stained I scrub it. I can easily get a full season from a single cartridge.
  • As a previous poster, we canoe camped and used a General Ecology filter NBC rated (nuclear biological chemical). W started out with a CX90 and graduated to a two or three filter system for all water going into our teardrop (16 gallons). The first is a Dalton ceramic particle filter and a carbon block good down to .5 micron. Both have silver embedded to prevent bacterial growth. If concerned I can add a General Ecology (that NBC thing). The Dalton gets scrubbed after use and can be dunked in a chlorine bath.
    The no filter thing, Filling up our 16 gallons at an Ohio state park, the ceramic filter turned brown, likely silt but would you want that in your water tank.
  • Wow that's some serious filtration.

    I keep my rv packed and loaded, with food clothes and water in case there is a fire or big earthquake and we have to move into the rv. . I thought all was well until my water tank fell off my trailer the other day due to a faulty design, it showed me a lot. The fresh water tank had algae growing in it. I could go on to talk about what filter we use when filling it up, but no amount of filtering before putting water into the tank would prevent algae from growing in the tank. Only chlorine will prevent that, which kind of all but defeats the purpose of filtering -- aside from the irradiated stuff and or other nasty stuff.

    Which brings me to this we bring water to drink and cook 5 gallon jugs, and we use the fresh water tank to bath and wash dishes. I haven't found a charcoal filter that will eliminate the chorine taste.

    So if you store water in your tank, make sure to put chorine in it as well.
  • We use a pur faucet filter on the galley sink. The filter came with several adapters that enable quick on/off connections to different faucets. One of the adapters fit the house and another fit the camper. We just transfer the filter between the two when we are home or away. As to the camper holding tank I sanitize it at the beginning of the season with household bleach. I flush the holding tank after sanitizing it but the filter removes the chlorine anyway. This system has worked well for us because the filter can be turned on or off depending on whether or not we actually need filtered water.