Don't Drink the Water

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by ilmor

I've never drunk anything but bottled water while camping. I don't trust water from any campsite or any tank.

X2. I carry my home well water in the fresh tank along with a dozen bottles of the same. Experience has shown that’s a seven day supply and I switch to the bottled water if staying longer.

Only then do I hook up to the CG supply. I carry 100 feet of expanding hose wadded up in a small canvas bag. The hose instructions say not for drinking water but go on to explain that is due to the possibility of mold, insects, etc. getting into the hose if stored outside with the fittings open. Besides, that water is only for showering etc…not for drinking.

Another plus is the onboard pump usually has more pressure than the average CG.

[ferrisjc]

Agree on the internal pump use versus weak water pressure from CG especially here in AZ. Don't normally drink any CG water but use CG water for showers with internal filter. I know the problem of high water pressure is necessary to protect against at places and always use a water pressure gauge to measure before hooking up to city water. Have had to use pressure regulator in only a few places. BLUF: we bring bottled water for drinking and home filled gallon jugs for coffee. To this point everyone happy and great camping experience.

[Berniealvey]

Only bottle water for drinking brushing teeth and washing dishes. Only use fresh water tank for toilet flushing and showers if water is clear

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Berniealvey

Only bottle water for drinking brushing teeth and washing dishes. Only use fresh water tank for toilet flushing and showers if water is clear

I have some acquaintances that also use bottled water for the same things and then use shore water for showers. Being a smart ass, I asked them how they take a shower without ingesting ANY water. Their answer was to now fill their fresh tanks only with water from a water store after they sanitize the system. I don't get it. I get trying to be safe, but that seems extreme.
We use bottled water for coffee and usually for drinking. That's it.

[ppine]

Comments are all over the place.
It is much simpler to carry separate drinking water containers.
I like to fill them at remote camp sites.

Drinking water is very important in the outdoors, in hot weather and especially if you drink alcohol. Many people are chronically dehydrated and don't even know it.

[RedRoverComeOver]

Sanitized and flushed water. This is what good water should look like after sitting around. Dumped all water again and added the filter in the housing. Thunder storms rolled in but didn't get a chance to fill up with new fresh water for our trip. Sun is back out but waiting on dinner to show up. About another 1.5 hrs. left before another band of storms roll through. There's always tomorrow.

[Oaklevel]

I know this is not correct but we did not know better until we had camped for 30 years.

We get drinking water from a water purifying station at the campground in jugs. We do everying else (brush teeth, shower, cook, etc. from the campground "city water". I guess someday we should sanitize.

[Dana anderson]

Just buy a “zero water”and be done with it.

[ppine]

I always bring drinking water for a trip and do not drink out of the RV water tank.
Then questionable sources are of little concern.

[RVnewbieFl]

We fill our fresh water tank before we leave for a trip along with bottles/gallons of spring water for drinking. We use an inline water when filling our fresh water tank.

[K_M_H]

So far we haven't run into any problems, except water pressure problems. We use a dual inline filter - one for rust and sediment, and one carbon block for everything else. We sanitized after we flushed this year and any water going into our tanks is filtered using the double filter. We haven't seen brown / red water at all, not even in the Poconos where the water is notoriously rusty, but we are going to backflush our sediment filter after that trip. We drink the water out of the tank, after putting it through a filter pitcher (except that time when one of us installed the filter wrong and the water all ran by it).

These are the filters we use: https://www.clear2o.com/

[dedobias]

Due to variation in well maintenance and run off, I don't trust camp water for drinking and cooking. I've had friends who both themselves and dogs have gotten sick. I've had green water from park wells. Filters do not stop everything. 5 gallon water cooler bottles refilled at most box stores is what we use with a rechargeable small pump.
For people who make remarks about ingesting water in a shower, I'm not a mouth breather so no that's not an issue....LOL.

[RangeMaggotBob]

Originally Posted by PodGeek

Who drinks water when they're camping?

I laughingly agree! To the OP: maybe I missed it, but where were you at?

[itat]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

……

I don't hook up or fill tank until I've run a sample from the faucet into a clear container.

Excellent advice. Wish I’d heard that before we got that bad water at a provincial park a few years ago!

[RedRoverComeOver]

Finally got the internal filter installed for the season. The first hand tightening attempt wasn't enough and had to clean up a good water leak. The second time appeared to be a better fit. Didn't notice lower water pressure which I was hoping for to help others conserve water some.

I use an external filter when filling along with this one now and always bring separate drinking water. No way any of us would use that brown water for washing.

Glad we didn't have to worry about any of this last month when we were on vacation in the Keys and Miami. Nothing like long hot showers in a hotel after being out in the sun/sand/water all day.

The RV is almost prepped to leave this week for a trip and our wet weather streak doesn't appear to be ending; weather guessers say thunderstorms pretty much every day. Not warm enough for free showers.

[catvet]

Enjoyed reading this topic...Brings to mind the expression of horror on my coworkers faces when I pop my coffee cup under the tap for a quick drink of water. They wouldn't dare soil themselves with anything but bottled water. One day I shared with them that I spent a couple years in Southeast Asia (as a child) and we had to double boil our water before we could use it. Even then, we had to add something to it to get past the taste (back then it was either Tang or tea). Once a month my mom would send me outside with the kettle to bang out the 1/2 inch of rock hard sediment that would form in the bottom. We learned to bathe with our mouth shut because there was always cholera outbreaks in the local "town". I am thankful to be in a country where we can actually open a tap and drink what comes out....but I do like to see it run pretty clear. We sure are spoiled.....

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by catvet

Enjoyed reading this topic...Brings to mind the expression of horror on my coworkers faces when I pop my coffee cup under the tap for a quick drink of water. They wouldn't dare soil themselves with anything but bottled water. One day I shared with them that I spent a couple years in Southeast Asia (as a child) and we had to double boil our water before we could use it. Even then, we had to add something to it to get past the taste (back then it was either Tang or tea). Once a month my mom would send me outside with the kettle to bang out the 1/2 inch of rock hard sediment that would form in the bottom. We learned to bathe with our mouth shut because there was always cholera outbreaks in the local "town". I am thankful to be in a country where we can actually open a tap and drink what comes out....but I do like to see it run pretty clear. We sure are spoiled.....

I totally agree. I've always said that my grandparents would be dumbfounded, when they saw so many Americans buying water to drink. They grew up without running water and felt so fortunate to have tap water. Both my grandmothers lived into their late 90's, so tap water was good enough for them.
And don't get me started on all the plastic pollution that bottled water causes.[emoji2959]

Sent from my SM-G781U using Forest River Forums mobile app

[dedobias]

Originally Posted by catvet

Enjoyed reading this topic...Brings to mind the expression of horror on my coworkers faces when I pop my coffee cup under the tap for a quick drink of water. They wouldn't dare soil themselves with anything but bottled water. One day I shared with them that I spent a couple years in Southeast Asia (as a child) and we had to double boil our water before we could use it. Even then, we had to add something to it to get past the taste (back then it was either Tang or tea). Once a month my mom would send me outside with the kettle to bang out the 1/2 inch of rock hard sediment that would form in the bottom. We learned to bathe with our mouth shut because there was always cholera outbreaks in the local "town". I am thankful to be in a country where we can actually open a tap and drink what comes out....but I do like to see it run pretty clear. We sure are spoiled.....

It only takes once with yourself, your wife and both dogs being sick to increase your caution level. There was not the same ground water pollution from run off that there is today and you never know if the well you are connecting to is shallow or deep or safe. Use 5 gallon water cooler bottles available at many locations to eliminate the plastic waste they are returnable.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by dedobias

It only takes once with yourself, your wife and both dogs being sick to increase your caution level. There was not the same ground water pollution from run off that there is today and you never know if the well you are connecting to is shallow or deep or safe. Use 5 gallon water cooler bottles available at many locations to eliminate the plastic waste they are returnable.

I agree with being cautious about anything you ingest, but only to a point.
Your points on water from wells is somewhat valid but the same goes for bottled water, you never really know if it is safe or not. Many reports on bottled water and associated facilities being contaminated or not containing the pure water they advertise.
Liz and I got very sick on one trip years ago. Was it the water itself, our water system, contamination of hoses or faucets used, or did we just get a bug? Who knows, but after that I disinfect our system a little more frequently and ensure our hoses can't cross contaminate.
But I won't go the extreme of carrying around water from a store in 5 gallon jugs and squirting everything I see with bleach I still use our fresh tank or CG water for bathing, dish washing, and making the occasional gallon of tea. I do use bottled water for coffee as most places have hard water that makes floaties in the coffee

[Camp20144]

Originally Posted by bikendan

I totally agree. I've always said that my grandparents would be dumbfounded, when they saw so many Americans buying water to drink. They grew up without running water and felt so fortunate to have tap water. Both my grandmothers lived into their late 90's, so tap water was good enough for them.
And don't get me started on all the plastic pollution that bottled water causes.[emoji2959]

Sent from my SM-G781U using Forest River Forums mobile app

Those “bottled water” people better not dig into where that “bottled water” comes from. A lot of it comes out of a tap connected to a local water system. No better than the “coffee cup under the tap” at work.