Freshwater in camper and drinking water

[super doody]

Based on my search of past posts, it seems like most people bring a separate container for drinking water and use the fresh water in the camper for washing and dogs and drinking water for emergencies only. This make sense but we have really good well water at house and rather not lug around another water container.

How many people use the camper water as drinking water?

It seems like a compromise is to put a filter on the camper water?

Also what bleach to water ratio are folks using? The ratio wildly differs on the internet and the FWC suggest 1 to 2 teaspoons.

Thanks.

Jim

 

[billharr]

I have taken water to drink, but only when I need to conserve my tank water. On our big trip we used bottle water for coffee so we could make Baltimore without needed to get water for the tank at a place I did not know. For the FWC rally we used the tank water for everything. I did flush out my tank before I installed it. I also do 1 tablespoon of bleach in the tank each spring, then flush twice. One note you said well water, you will not have chlorine in it as city water does. I have read some members saw some mold grow when using well water. You might need to to a bleach treatment more often.


Edit: be sure to run all your lines, sink, tank drain and hot water when you do the bleach and drain.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I usually only keep the fresh water tank about1/2 full.
For weight mainly 15 gallons is a lot of extra weight to carry around.. I carry two1/2 gallon and 2 gallon water containers.The 1/2 gal's are the juice bottles you get at the store and the gallons are store bought water.
I fill all bottles at home than use the 1/2s for cooking and such.
The tank water is usually for coffee or to wash with.We do drink it though.
Since we mostly camp where there is water it's not an issue.
If we were in a dry camp than we have the water tank to use.
As for bleach the 1/2 teaspoons works.
Frank

 

[buckland]

WELL. I agree ...I too have well water that is as sweet as can be. If I am gone for a week or more I fill the tank as I prefer my water. That said (I too have dog) I do not use it for showers... where I go I use a solar shower unit from streams or lake. So we just did a 5 day trip and were fine with the suit case 2 ½ gallon water ... and we did not use it all so I am buying a 2 gallon pax (real slim) tank that fits between my Engel MT27 fridge mounted where 3way fridge would go and the sink cabinet (on the other side fits my 2 12 packs of beer in a perfect fit). Happy campers. I am about to also retro fit a greywater tank (that can be removed) in the cabs below the roll over couch. This is for camping on National Seashore areas that have stiff regs. (we have a marine porta potty too). forgot to mention... we take a couple frozen well water ½ gallons for a separate cooler so that is also drinking water later.

 

[ski3pin]

Without hesitation we use the water that we put in our camper water tank.

 

[MarkBC]

Did you read this looonnnnggg thread on the subject from a couple months back?
Lots of people -- including me -- drink from the tank, and "green slime" be damned!

I spent 3 weeks drinking tank water on my recent Baja/SW trip and I haven't bleached the tank in a couple of years...all was well in my camper's plumbing and my own internal plumbing.

 

[DesertDave]

This is the third camper I have had that I drink from the water tank. It never occurred to me to take separate water in addition to the internal tank, unless I needed a larger quantity for the trip.

I do an annual drain and sanitize, fill the tank with chlorinated city water, and refill it after every trip.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

This is the third camper I have had that I drink from the water tank. It never occurred to me to take separate water in addition to the internal tank, unless I needed a larger quantity for the trip.
I do an annual drain and sanitize, fill the tank with chlorinated city water, and refill it after every trip.

Same here. I do run it through a Brita filter for better taste, but it's our primary watter supply.

 

[craig333]

I used to bring water for coffee before I installed a filter. Now its tank water for everything.

 

[super doody]

Same here. I do run it through a Brita filter for better taste, but it's our primary watter supply.

Do you have a brita filter on your camper faucet ?

 

[Flyfisher]

I have well water and put it in my tank and drink it. It tastes better than a lot of water. I drain my tank between uses and do the chlorine rinse (couple capefulls) once or maybe twice a year.
Gregg

 

[DonC]

I put in one gallon of bottled water in the tank for each day I'm going to be out - this meets all of my drinking, cooking and cleaning needs. I only add it for 3 - 5 days at a time to save weight.

 

[mib]

I only use the tank water, for everything. One of the first things to do though on the camper: install an under-the-sink water filter.

My wife has a fine nose when it comes to water taste, and this is the best we can get around here in CA (we're spoiled, growing up with European Alp tap water).
When filling the tank, I let it run through on of these 20$ in-line-filters that go to the end of the hose.

Best,
Michael

 

[JJ1]

It's interesting that some people inherently trust the water running through lines in their homes, but inherently distrust the same water running through the lines in their campers. Camper manufacturers are required to use approved materials, just like home builders.

 

[Cayuse]

Drink the water from the camper all the time. Fill my water bottles for days out hiking from the camper faucet as well, don't have any additional filters on board.

 

[super doody]

It's interesting that some people inherently trust the water running through lines in their homes, but inherently distrust the same water running through the lines in their campers. Camper manufacturers are required to use approved materials, just like home builders.

The difference is that most people don't have fresh water holding tanks. I should clarify - I live on small coast town where the city water is well water distribute to each household.

 

[Bill D]

It's interesting that some people inherently trust the water running through lines in their homes, but inherently distrust the same water running through the lines in their campers. Camper manufacturers are required to use approved materials, just like home builders.

Fresh water holding tanks need to be treated. It's not so much the water inside the camper's water tank that is in question, its whether or not the tank is harbouring bacteria.

Equally, I wouldn't drink the water from my untreated hot water tank at home.

 

[GroovyDad]

When I had a tank, I always drank from it without any problems whatsoever. I would flush the tank with a mild bleach solution at the beginning of the season and that was it. Now I just bring a 7 gallon jug with a spigot and use it for everything.

 

[JJ1]

I understand the holding tank part, but people will fill water bottles from the same home source as they fill their holding tank from, and then drink from the bottles but not drink from the tank. As long as you keep them clean, either should be fine for a trip. I've only been on RV forums for a few years but I've yet to find anyone who got sick because they drank from a holding tank filled with clean water. (Of course, I wouldn't let the water sit for months and then drink it...I drain after every trip.)

I hope I didn't come across as adversarial...I was just pointing out how similar the two systems are, and that both are regulated. Maybe someone hadn't thought of it that way before and this would put their minds more at ease.

No one ever worries about disinfecting their home pipes (unless there's a specific advisory about contaminated water). But not drinking the hot water is interesting...do you still trust it to clean your dishes and silverware, and face and hands? And shave with hot/warm water, risking introducing those bacteria into your bloodstream?

 

[MarkBC]

As can be seen from the responses in this thread, most folks here -- like me -- are fine drinking from the camper water tank. I'm not sure where someone got the idea that folks here fear their camper water (though I'm sure some do.)

I posted a link to the very-recent thread on the same subject early in this thread...