How many of you just use it for showering, washing hands, bathroom etc
I’m planning to filtering it either way, but to remain drinkable I will have to maintain it regularly. How do often do you do this?
What filters do you use? Kent told me about The RV Water Filter Store, they have good filters, I think you can order their products off Amazon too it seems
I do. Compared to others light filtering (there was a very good discussion on this maybe a year ago). I am on city water in a large metro area. I use the city water to sanitize the tanks (fresh and water heater) and lines a couple days before a trip. Then just before the trip I dump the water on the yard and hibiscus via the driveway (I live on the east coast with no water restrictions) and fill with the water I am going to use. I am more careful when on the road. The further from home the more I rely on bottled water to drink and brush teeth even when using the filter. I still cook with the tank water and use it for coffee and tea letting the tea kettle sing for a few minutes.
We have a high quality water filter from the RV Water Store, with its own deck mounted faucet.
It's used for all drinking water and cooking. For showering and washing dishes, water from the tank is used.
We mostly fill at home but do use campground water time too. Campgrounds usually have decent water and require a treatment plant and permit, in most states, if on well water.
Before filling, I check the water for color and smell, usually filling straight from the faucet. If the water has issues, I will pass on it, filling elsewhere. If all else fails, we do carry a small container of pool chorine for emergency sanitizing.
I do carry a small sediment filter but it doesn't remove the harmful stuff. That's what the water filter is for.
A few months go, I ran an endoscope into the water tank, when empty, and was happy to see very little sediment, just some sand. It's has been filled hundreds of times over the last 15 years.
I rarely sanitize the water system, well just about never. We use the rig regularly and always refill with city water as soon as we get home.
If the rig sat for long periods, a different strategy would be used, we travel year round .
This method has work fine for us over the last 23 years and 170,000 miles of LDing.
Larry
Oh goodie, I get to post what will probably be the only dissenting opinion.
We don't filter. We don't buy bottled water. [In fact, we snicker at people who think bottled water is "purer".]
I do add an ounce of Chlorine Dioxide every time I fill the tank. One brand name is Purogene.
In storage, I put in a cup Sodium Hypochlorite [Clorox] and fill the tank.
I use the water in fresh water tank for everything. Good water in is good water out 😁
Pretty much always, but we usually a filter the drinking water for taste purposes.
Pete
Since upgrading to the two stage water filter system (thanks Harold), I always filter the LD water coming in no mater where I am. We use the tank water for all our water needs, although we do carry Arrowhead bottles for other needs.
Recently there was a discussion about sanitizing the fresh water tank so I switched gears for about a week. After our trip to Zion, I fed the garden what filtered water was left in the tank and then filled with Long Beach tap pure and simple. We have a substantial chlorine content (or so it would appear 🤭) so I hoped it would help if there was a need.
Prior to heading up to Serrano Monday night, I fed the neighbors garden with my tank and then used the two stage filtration system to refill the LD.
Before all this “water filter chit chat” about a year ago, I had used the ol’ Camco Blue filter. Now I use that filter to wash the cars.
Waste not want not.
Kent
I filter all water on the way into the fresh water tank, using one of the blue Camco water filters. Then I drink and cook with and use that fresh water for all purposes. I'm not real picky about water. The only exception is when I'm in parts of Arizona where the tap water is so bad that even I can't stand it. In those cases, I go to a local "water store" to purchase their reverse osmosis water. I carry several collapsible 2.5 gallon containers for that purpose.
Thanks, Kent!
"Prior to heading up to Serrano Monday night, I fed the neighbors garden with my tank and then used the two stage filtration system to refill the LD."
Heads up all of you Northern Calif. residents... it's now been revealed where all of our water goes. Straight to Kent's house to keep his neighbors flowers happy. ;D ;) 8)
I am picky about the water I drink. Therefore I use spring water that I get direct from the spring.
Currently using Harding Spring in Sedona, Az. Some of the best water in the country.
When up in Oregon, I like Tub Springs outside of Ashland. Finding spring water is not hard.
Some sources are easier to access than others but it's worth it to me.
For all other water usage I just fill up when I dump and get propane with city water.
Thanks to all who responded I didn't want to find out in a year no one drank or used in cooking water from properly maintained LD tank.
I called Dave Brannam at the RV Water Filter Store and got a 2 stage filter, hoses, pressure regulator etc I saw Kent use
to keep his water safe. Told them Kent referred me and asked for and received a 15% discount #HappyCamper He told me the water hoses have a lifetime warranty
602 625-1875
We fill from the hose and drink / cook / wash from the tank. Bottled water is a waste of money and creates mountains of plastic for which there is no longer any market for recycling since China is no longer interested in importing our garbage.
I fill my tank at home and trust it for drinking and cooking. Actually trust it more than some water we have hooked up to in other locations. We have ran into some pretty funky tasting water. Where we have turned the hookup off and used our onboard water.
Cook with fresh water for sure including coffee. Rich traditions include Top Ramen. Water bottles for guzzling straight.
Keep in mind there are two primary methods for treating water - filtration and purification.
1) Filtration is normally used for water with suspended particles and can also filter out bacteria and protozoa.
2) Purification is the next logical step and can also disable viruses. They are much smaller and are not removed during filtration.
We drink and cook with LD tank water -- fill it at home before leaving with Tombstone city water, which comes straight from springs in the nearby Huachuca Mtns. Most trips are 2 or 3 nights long, so we have plenty of water, not needing refill on the road. But we also carry a pack of water bottles just in case.
A full tank of water can last us about a week, so a fill at home is good. It takes about an hour to slowly soften and mega filter the next tank full at a campground. DH has an elaborate set up for making as sure as possible that our water is clean and caliche free!
We carry distilled water for drinking and cooking. We have a large-ish distiller at home, so start out with about a week's worth of drinking water, and then replenish as we go. We recently bought a one-gallon sized distiller that is in the coach, but unused as yet. That should eliminate purchasing plastic containers of distilled water on trips.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
We do a fill at home - no filter. On the road we use a two stage filter system. We also disinfect with Lysol all the surface areas (water handle and threads) before we hook up the hoses. One never knows the previous users habits.
To answer your question directly we use the fresh water tank for drinking, showering, and cooking.
We use the fresh water tank for cooking and drinking, fill at home, dump everywhere as needed. With weekends we shower at home. Use camp ground showers when needed. Dry camp and rarely connect to city water and power. Leave the PC's at home, and leave the Lap top in the wardrobe closet until desperate to connect. Carry the camera and take pictures with the iPhone. Go figure!
Because we are an 30 IB, we do not fill up our water tank at home and travel with never more than a half tank. We use water from our reverse osmosis filter from home, carrying about 6 gallons. We use a gallon a day for coffee, drinking, and for the dog’s water bowl. We resupply on the road as needed. We have never had any issues with park water or accessing refill locations in our ten years of RVing.
You will find your path as with all things RVing. What works for one isn’t what works for all.
Happy Trails,
Jules and Sue
I only fill our fresh water tank with water filtered to 1/2 micron and lead, chlorine, etc. removed. We use this water for washing, showering, and occasionally for making coffee. I never connect the coach directly to city water. The water filter makes such nice, clean water that we don't buy drinking water anywhere. We just fill 1 gallon bottles from the filter and use this water for drinking.
The only water problems we have encountered, as I previously posted, was from water we got at Buena Vista KOA in Colorado. The water tasted very salty with a delicate bouquet of hydrogen sulfide. The one night there was terrible and at the next place, Cimarron RV and Campground, I dumped the tank and flushed the lines and refilled with their well water. We were back to clean, decent tasting water in the tanks.
Harold
We do a combination of all the mentioned solutions. After coming out of winter storage (tanks stored empty or they freeze) we sanitize the water system with a small amount of bleach, rinse all with fresh water. We live in a rural area so we have our own well. We trust our water so we fill fresh water before we leave. We mostly shower at campground showers so our water goes along way for cooking, drinking, teeth brushing and dog bowl. Pet Supplies : Lixit Waterboy Travel Water Bowl : Pet Travel Bowls : Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Lixit-Waterboy-Travel-Water-Bowl/dp/B0006BB78W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530198206&sr=8-1&keywords=waterboy+dog+bowl&dpID=41wEjJuCmyL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch) (best dog bowl ever IMHO) We will refill if needed after checking for odor and taste and it is a clean well maintained fill station. We have an inline cartridge filter for the fill hose but haven't needed to use it yet. Probably will when we are on the road for longer trips. We do have a small on faucet filter by Instapure you can select what micron filter you want to use. We keep some bottled water just in case.
So in the end you have to do what works best for you.
tlbh2o
I boon dock full time, have been for more than 11 years now.
My water usage isn't too bad. I quit using my shower years ago and joined a gym.
I picked Anytime Fitness because they have locations just about anywhere I would likely to be camped near.
Now, I go to a private bathroom, have a nice long hot shower with good pressure and if I choose, use the other facilities.
It isn't cheap, but the money I save on not paying to stay allows me to have such luxuries.
So, how you live in your Lazy Daze has much to do with how you deal with your water.
"...and joined a gym. I picked Anytime Fitness because..."
Sounds like you've been reading the play-book from Tioga & George! ;) :)
We use filtered water except shower and hand washing. We have a high bar faucet in the bathroom with a snap-on PUR filter. We fill a 2-liter thermos with boiling filtered water every morning for all cleaning and washing-up for the day. We mix it about 1 part to 3 parts cold tap water for comfort, or directly from the thermos for evening tea.
Steve
We’ve kept a quart Thermos of hot distilled water in the bathroom for years, but this year I’m changing it out for a half-gallon one. This works out really well for not needing to keep the water heater fired up.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
I am a fulltimer, staying primarily in State Park and State or National Forest campgrounds. Most have water drawn from a well. Those wells are periodically tested for safety and quality. Case in point - two weeks ago, I was at Atherton Creek when the campground host knocked on my door. He asked if I needed water, and advised that they were about to dose the well with chlorine, because they found algae in it. Once they dosed it, it would tase strongly of chlorine for a few days. I thanked him for the notice.
Basically, the well water I have been getting for 10 years goes into my tank with no filtration, and is used until the tank is low, when I refill it. My pump filter is ten years old and has yet to gather any debris. If I were using city water or any water taken from a surface water system I would be more concerned. If I were not fulltiming, so that water sat in my tank and lines for an extended period of time, I would be more concerned.
I know there are friends here with whom I have disagreed. Some treat, such as Don and Dorothy. Some filter like Jan. We each believe our way works, and it does, for each of us. My view is, if you feel safe drinking water from a drinking fountain, if you feel safe drinking water in a restaurant, why should you feel unsafe using water from the same sources where they are getting that water?
Ken F in WY
I trust the city water in most cases, unless it makes my tea taste funny - then I use bottled water or my Britta filter. I wouldn't drink water that's been sitting in the tank. Regarding keeping a thermos of hot water around - why? The water stays hot in our tank nearly all day. I turn it on if I'm going to wash dishes at night or before my shower in the am. Then turn it off.
"Regarding keeping a thermos of hot water around - why? The water stays hot in our tank nearly all day."
One reason could be that the water in the thermos is hot right when you pour it, while the water from the water heater takes time to get to the faucet. Unless you religiously catch and save that water every time you run the hot faucet, that's water down the drain.
"I trust the city water in most cases,... I wouldn't drink water that's been sitting in the tank."
Can you tell us where the water in your tank came from? Was it the city water you trust?
Since many of us utilize the water in our tanks we are careful to sanitize those tanks so the fresh water stays fresh. Most of that 'fresh' water will be expended in a short time, probably no more than a long week or so. I grew up in a house that had no running water. We had to depend on a cistern that was filled by rain water. I'm supposing that I wasn't harmed by that consumption since I've seen over seven decades go under my feet. ::)
When I was a preschooler in Mercer County along the Iowa line my mom got typhoid, and I remember later discussions about the family DR telling my dad to dump Chlorox in the well periodically, & Mother's parents did the same with the cistern that caught the roof-runoff. As an adult, & knowing a bit more about infectious diseases, I'm not sure why Mother was the only one who got sick, but Chlorox remained a staple
We moved to town when I started school, so I had chlorinated city water until I married my kids' dad & moved back to a farm with well water after grad school. He had grown up with unfiltered well water, but I had the plumber install a filter on the line into the house--later realizing it was only filtering sediment, I dumped Chlorox in the well...the poor farmer screamed bloody murder that I was poisoning him & his hogs (the livestock water came from the same well)--nobody died.
With the LD, even though I fill the tank from my city water at the house, I tend to keep drinking H2O+ice in Dad's gallon farm Thermos with a push spigot...saves opening the fridge for cold drinks.
Lynne
We had to depend on a cistern that was filled by rain water. I'm supposing that I wasn't harmed by that consumption since I've seen over seven decades go under my feet. ::)
I grew up on a cistern also. Dad cleaned it regularly. We did boil and refrigerate our water for drinking and in later years Dad installed a distiller for drinking water. But brushing teeth was done straight from the cistern. So we learned how to be water conservators as kids. Keep a clean system. And know your water source.
I do wonder if those with so much concern for the purity of their water have the same level of concern for what gets on their toothbrush? The distance between the toothbrush and the toilet is not much. Think you are safe?
We try to wipe down the counters in the bath and kitchen every day or so with hydrogen peroxide. Toothbrushes are stored in a cabinet that allows them to dry but protects them from exposure - somewhat. They also get dipped in hydrogen peroxide.
Regarding keeping a thermos of hot water around - why?
Our thermos is an expensive little Japanese model that comes with 'specs'. It will keep water that starts at 207F hot to 140F after 24 hours. As a result, a small amount added to cold water makes a hot basin-full for washing dishes several times a day, washing ourselves up, and enough left over for evening tea. The water heater is on the other side of the rig with at least 8' of plumbing to get to the kitchen faucet, probably 22' to get to the bathroom sink. As Andy pointed out, that's a lot of wasted water, not to mention the added propane used to heat 6 gallons, as opposed to 2 quarts. If you boondock a lot, efficiency at conserving your resources = fewer trips to replenish.
Of course, this doesn't work for showers - then the water heater comes on...
Steve
Speaking of water heaters, this might be a good time to mention that I have a page of water heater fix-it tips (http://www.andybaird.com/Eureka/pages/water-heater.htm) and another page on how to shower with minimal water and propane use (http://www.andybaird.com/Eureka/pages/showering.htm) on my website. :-)
"Our thermos is an expensive little Japanese model"
Steve, I'd be interested in knowing the maker and model (or perhaps a link?) - I might want to get one.
I have one from Zojirushi that has been very good at keeping it's contents hot.
I carried it on my motorcycle on my RTW ride.
Vacuum Insulated Mugs & Bottles | zojirushi.com (https://www.zojirushi.com/app/category/vacuum-insulated-mugs-bottles)
"Our thermos is an expensive little Japanese model"
Steve, I'd be interested in knowing the maker and model (or perhaps a link?) - I might want to get one.
Andy, this is the model we have. We only keep filtered water in it. We first boil and fill to make 12cups coffee in another thermos, via Melitta, then boil and fill it again for hot water for the day:
Amazon.com: Zojirushi AFFB-19S, Premium Thermal 1.85 liter Carafe, Brushed... (https://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-AFFB-19S-Premium-Thermal-Stainless/dp/B00004S56W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530299707&sr=8-1&keywords=zojirushi+affb-19s)
Steve
I've had excellent service from our multiple Nissan/Thermos (not just plain Thermos) units. Have not tried the Zojirushi brand, but it is probably similar.
My main coffee "sipper" is a Nissan that is pushing thirty years old, and seems to be the same as when I got it. I use it daily to hold my "second cuppa" for afternoon consumption.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
I really like the Thermos idea. My DW has several water bottles that maintain hot/cold liquids hot/cold for nearly 12 hours. Nice to have them on board already.
Andy...Thanks for the Atwood tip. I just placed my order for the NTE8096. Getting two for less than $5.00 and free shipping.
Kent
"We fill a 2-liter thermos with boiling filtered water every morning for all cleaning and washing-up for the day."
After having read this thread the other day, I commenced a bench test with my 48-oz. Nissan-Thermos vacuum bottle. I put in 122° water from the tap at about nine o'clock on Saturday morning. It is now five o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and the water is at 107°. Granted it is still full; would expect a more drastic temperature drop as the level drops, but this limited exposure was pretty heartening.
The unit has a pour-through top, which helps retain heat. The one-quart sized one that we have used for many years also had a pour-through top, but was NOT a Nissan-Thermos. But even that one retained heat overnight. DH used it in the morning first thing, and then I heated extra water when making coffee, and we started all over again.
It's pretty amazing how little water it takes to do a task when you know that the supply is pretty limited! ;->
Virtual hugs,
Judie