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Options on filtering drinking water

4K views 47 replies 13 participants last post by  Pat-H  
#1 ·
Currently we add Aqua sol to our fresh water tank to keep it germ free but carry separate drinking water in 5L containers.

Looking at adding a separate drinking faucet with filters off the main water tank.

This sort of thing:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Luxury-3...Water-Under-Sink-Filter-Kit/162671534997?hash=item25dffaa395:g:H98AAOSwbD9ZuDAX

It suggests new filters every 6 months But I suspect that would be ok for a MH season of April till Nov and its around £15 for a filter set.

What do people think?
 
#6 · (Edited)
We have a built in filter and separate tap NaturePure by General Ecology system but I don't think the same system is available now.

The current one from them is like this;

https://www.grasshopperleisure.co.u...isure.co.uk/general-ecology-nature-pure-rs2qc-drinking-water-system-27799-p.asp

This seems the closest from the current range;

https://www.grasshopperleisure.co.u...general-ecology-nature-pure-rs2qc-drinking-water-system-with-faucet-27798-p.asp

That one includes the separate tap, in our opinion it was worth the price. It used to be demo'd at all MH shows, but as have not been to one for years, I do not know if that source is still open. The price at the show was less than the one featured and it was demo'd using really dirty water being filtered to give a great flow if clear, drinkable water.

We have two spare cartridge filters but the present one has been in use for three years, we remove and dry it each winter. It is just beginning to need replacement as the flow has reduced - the characteristic that the manufacturers say is time to change. We have been conservative with it as each filter WAS £72.00 but they have now stopped making them. Fortunately we have two spares at present.

It works superbly for us and removes any flavours very efficiently, yes, the water in the tank is safe to drink but......

It is a matter of personal taste (no pun intended 🤣 )

.
 
#17 ·
That looks like the best route and maybe on our next motorhome it will be the solution. But I only expect another 2 years or so from our current 13 year old MH and it looks like a lot to invest now. At a few hundred pounds filling drinking water containers doesn't seem such a phaff....
 
#7 ·
There was a Nature Pure water filter in ours when we bought it. Expensive I know but worth it. I have only changed the filter once in 10 years. Blurb says it only needs changing when the flow falls off. It is the "third" tap at the kitchen sink. We only use it to fill the kettle, glasses. And washing salads.
 
#9 ·
Spending six or more months at a time in RVs with 500L fresh water tanks we just drank the tank water as it was constantly being replenished.
But using our Euro Hobby infrequently we chose to keep drinking water separately in an 8L plastic container that could be cleaned/changed as and when.

Ray.
 
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#10 ·
We do have a water filter fitted in the fifth wheel but rarely use it. As long as the fresh water is drained off when the van is not in use I think it is fine. We full timed in the old Hymer for 3 years without a water filter and were fine even with untreated water from natural springs etc.
 
#12 ·
We do have a water filter fitted in the fifth wheel but rarely use it. As long as the fresh water is drained off when the van is not in use I think it is fine. We full timed in the old Hymer for 3 years without a water filter and were fine even with untreated water from natural springs etc.
We drain the freshwater when we stop touring.
 
#14 ·
Reminds me of drinking from sparkling streams when we walked in the Lake District

Only to find a dead sheep in the feeder becks further up the fells

Sandra
Oh yes, been there, done that - tried to explain the balanced risk to three young boys (probably aged around 7-8 at the time). Happy memories.

Regards,
John
 
#15 ·
As an electrician in the 60s I lost count of the dead birds and rodents we found in cold water tanks in roofs. I know people are not supposed to drink from this supply but it does happen.

Ray.
 
#16 ·
The dead sheep story reminds me of a wartime story that I once read. Men were catching deli belly, cholera, and various other gastro intestinal problems and dying of them. The Medical Officer noticed that one unit, a group of soldiers who all joined up from a Yorkshire village, seemed to be immune. He was so intrigued by this matter that, when he returned to the UK he decided to visit the men in their village and follow them up. They were all still alive and well. When he tested the water in the village it was found that it came from a spring further up the valley and there was a sewer outlet emptying into the spring. Of course it was fairly well filtered by the time it reached the village but would, nevertheless, contain lots of bacteria.

Those young men had built up a healthy immune system which saved their lives.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I suspect we will too, I'll let you go first though (that way if it's wrong you can tell me), the second link seems easiest to negotiate and it's £3 cheaper...

Win-win to me 😁

We installed ours way back in 2006 before we started to venture forth into that horribly polluted water supply in France.

So far, we have NEVER encountered a grotty water supply, or felt the need to drain the village pond, or even use the "eau non-potable" supplies found at cassette emptying points....

Where have we gone wrong ?
 
#22 ·
The first 3 decades of my life were spent drinking well/spring water from our private supply. When old enough to be involved in the system's maintenance I was really shocked to discover the flora AND occasional fauna that inhabited it.

So I am fairly cavalier over drinking water in the van. Taste is the ultimate criteria for me.
 
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#23 ·
The first 3 decades of my life were spent drinking well/spring water from our private supply. When old enough to be involved in the system's maintenance I was really shocked to discover the flora AND occasional fauna that inhabited it.

So I am fairly cavalier over drinking water in the van. Taste is the ultimate criteria for me.
There is a lot of evidence to show continual low level exposure to bacteria from a young age actually benefits the immune system.
But in a MH you travel from place to place with no idea what the local water has to offer. And it's its not the time you want an upset stomach. When in the UK we use the local mains water but on separate water containers to the main tap.
And if abroad drink bottled water.
I'm less keen on using the MH tank water as its only drained once a year and otherwise its topped up but I do add Aqua sol.
 
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#25 ·
That is a good test, though not infallible. I have had some pretty spectacular doses of the trots that would debunk that idea I think. Fair enough they were in Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. God knows what was in the water, but not being a particular fan of five star hotels in the wilds of Africa I've drunk a fair bit of what I optimistically hoped was tap water.
 
#26 ·
There are a bunch of things potentially in water that won't smell show or taste but won't harm you for a short period of drinking. But pathogens and pesticides can be hard to tell and not good.
 
#27 ·
As some may know I am a bit invalided at the moment so need help filling an emptying,
I asked the two lads to bring me 4 x my mobile tank to fill the main tank and one to fill my separate drinking water tank. All done, I then saw where they had fetched the water from, ok it’s mains water right next to a cow stall, but the hose they used to fill the tank was lying on the ground where the day before lay remnants of where they had been mucking out, it had been hosed clean, but what’s clean? I have another 5 liter water can so using that for drinking.
Also having this 30 liter tank for drinking water only it’s easy to see when the tank needs cleaning and it’s easy to take the container out and give it a good clean, I can get my hand inside to do it, as I think PatH says you don’t know what is in some of the water. One place we used to visit in Czechia for instance we find the tank has got a brown coating from the peaty well water it’s been filled with, it was easy to clean when we got home
 
#29 ·
Yes I know what invalided means Jan

I’m a constantly invalid

I can’t manage a normal toilet

I need a commode at night because I’m so stiff , it’s safe and I’m so unsteady

I have raised toilet seats but they are difficult for Albert to use

I never thought this would be me

My mind bright my body crap

But hey it could have been reversed

My mind crap my body fine

And I have no difficulty in saying what it is , it’s rubbish as far as I’m concerned

But I’m stil wearing purple

Sandra