I have been warned by several fellow RVers not to drink the shore water, nor to make ice cubes with it, and certainly not pollute my gourmet French press coffee with campground water. Consequently, I am going nuts with all these small water bottles.
These bottles are expensive, so I started bringing them home to wash and refill. I have at least 40 empty bottles right now sitting in my den, waiting for washing and refilling.
Help me out here.
Well, is the problem with the quality of the water that comes out of the campground's spigot or the quality of the water after it passes through your camper? Many campgrounds are connected to public water supplies and those that have private water are required to have it tested.
Many people don't trust public drinking water supplies, but those that don't might be surprised where bottled water often comes from. Any guesses?
If your concern is the quality of the water after the water sits in your camper's tank, then do what I do. I chlorinate my camper's water system in the spring, flush it through all of the lines, let it sit overnight and drain it. Then refill with....public water. It tastes fine and I am totally comfortable with drinking it.
David
Between the shore hookup and my camper, I use a Culligan whole house water filter with a clear plastic housing, so that I can tell when the filter changes color and needs to be replaced. I sanitized my camper's plumbing system almost a year ago, and will do it again in about a month.
I cook with the shore water, wash dishes and shower. I think the main complaint is how the campground's water tastes.
try:
http://lifestraw.com/products/lifestraw-mission/
My family drinks the water most everywhere we go. No problems so far. The worst tasting water ironically came from a very expensive hotel Destin Florida. I don't think anything was wrong with it just very brackish tasting. I was expecting similar type water at St Joseph State Park, but I was wrong. The water at the campground was perfectly normal. Who knows?
I'm sure the campground water is safe and if you are filtering it before it goes in, you probably don't even have taste/odor problems. I use a simple Camco filter on all water that goes in the trailer, whether tank or shore. I also use a Brita faucet filter to remove any final taste/odor. We keep the water we drink directly in a Brita pitcher in the fridge, just because we like cold water. There may be a contamination risk from faucets/handles/hoses/connections because of other campers doing dumb things prior to my use, so I use a Clorox wipe on all those parts before I hook anything up or fill the tank.
We have a filter at the water supply and another at the faucet. Between that and an annual chlorine shock, I'm pretty confident the water at the tap is safe to drink, and do so.
Nevertheless, Mrs. P insists on bringing 1 gal/day from home for use in coffee, drinking water, and dog watering. Ice cubes come from home and/or bought in a bag. Whatever, it keeps her quiet.
Any dollar store will gladly sell you a gallon of Crystal Geyser for...actually less than a dollar. Go figure. Buy a few, use them, then reuse the jugs whenever you find water you find to be safe and good tasting.
I think I like Mrs. Pin.
Most places we stayed last year did not have a water hookup so we were filling the tank on the way in. Since this is our first rv camping experience I was reluctant to trust my sanitized system to be safe for our drinking water. Additionally we go through a lot of water while mountain biking and nothing is worse than grabbing the hose of your camelbak and taking a big swig of awful tasting water. It's fine to drink once you're used to the taste but, yuck. I also hate bottled water from the expense and waste aspect. So I bought a 5 gallon water jug and I fill it (or 1/2 full for short trips) with tap water at home and use it for our drinking and cooking water. I don't worry much about the dog's water source since he is known to drink anything without problem!
The one morning I made coffee with local water from our fw tank we could taste the difference. It was bad.
When I look back at previous trips, backpacking with only a Sawyer and some water bags, where you sometimes needed to take whatever came along for water sources, it amazes me just how terribly bad tasting water sources can be made safe to drink. The smell and taste stay the same as before filtering. It's like Gump's box of chocolates. You don't know what you'll get for flavor. Sometimes fishy, piney or dirty. Charcoal filters stay wet and add excess weight to a pack you see.
I'm with David on this one. No fear when shocked once per year. If I had to critique the water from the fresh tank it would be the plastic taste.
The only filters in our trailer are for the Melitta pour over.
Maybe its an ignorance is bliss type situation but I typically just drink the tap water when available. There have been some locations where the tap looked worse than others but none have been so bad that I felt like I shouldnt drink from it. I typically let the water run for a few seconds prior to filling my container but thats about it. We also tend to bring a few gallons of bottled water for use while on the road, or in case the tap water has a taste that we just cant stand. Yet I cant remember the last time we used them out of necessity.
What doesnt kill you makes you stronger...right ;)
We are in a Quicksilver since 2010 and have never hooked up the sink, preferring to camp as we always did when we were tenting. Over many years and hundreds of campgrounds we have encountered every type of water, from excellent to ew-I-think-they-got-this-from-the-beaver-pond. :P We got in the habit long ago of running the water from the hydrant for a few seconds to flush out the rust and the earwigs (not joking). We fill the same 2-1/2 gallon blue Reliance jug we've carried since we can't recall when. We use the camp water, but taste is often an issue, and precipitates such as iron and lime an even bigger issue, but bottled water is simply not an option. Too expensive, not always available, great weight at 8+ pounds per gallon... So a few years ago I bought a little Brita filter carafe. For us it's the solution. I just filter all the water we use. It tastes great and removes the precipitates. I admit I've been buying the Voldemart knockoff filters which are much cheaper and I can attest work just as well (sorry, Brita, but we're on a budget).
[a href="https://flic.kr/p/kjNuaZ"]
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/12683545443_8bb98b4f08.jpg)We don't like to use open flame inside the trailer so if it's not convenient to cook outdoors I added a simple boiler kettle (on the right). I can make instant coffee and soup inside. I've used it now for three years together with the filter, and since there is NO precipitate on the heating element of the boiler I think that proves that the filter at least removes all lime! And no matter where we are the water always tastes great.
[quote source="/post/16939/thread" timestamp="1449154148" author="@admin"]
What doesnt kill you makes you stronger...right ;) [/quote]There is a surprising number of studies that do support this. Having to do with kids that grew up in the dirt versus uber clean environments and their resistance to infection and illnesses. Pretty interesting but who knows?
Quote from: @whoofit" source="/post/16941/thread" timestamp="1449157175[quote timestamp="1449154148" author="@admin" source="/post/16939/thread"]What doesnt kill you makes you stronger...right ;)
There is a surprising number of studies that do support this. Having to do with kids that grew up in the dirt versus uber clean environments and their resistance to infection and illnesses. Pretty interesting but who knows?
[/quote]
All joking aside I would tend to agree. Being exposed to and thus building up the immune system to the environment is huge. Anecdotally I go to the example of the old saying "don't drink the water down in Mexico". The main reason for that is due to the bugs it contains that our systems didnt grow up on. Given enough time and exposure your system will adapt and you'll be fine.
The idea of growing up in the dirt is part of the reason I love having all the pets we do. Between the dogs, cats, chickens, and all the outside time my kid is exposed to so much that I really dont worry about her and allergies. That said, I also accept that moderation is key so I dont exactly plan on letting her dive head first into potentially harmful situations either.
What I find most interesting is that everybody does something different. I am enjoying these posts.
I agree. Hearing about other people's neuroses makes me feel a lot better about my own.
Cheap in line water filter from walmart
[font face="comic sans ms" size="3"]When we camp, we keep a stash of 1 gallon jugs of distilled water from the local grocery store under the bed for drinking and cooking. The rest of the water use comes from the tank water, so our bodies may get some benefit from the "cooties" in the water when we shower, wash dishes, etc.[/font]
I was vaccinated in the late 50's against cooties, at least thats what the government man told us.