Can You Drink The Water From Your RV Tank? Guide To Clean Drinking Water in an RV

In this episode of RV Miles, Jason Epperson addresses common concerns about drinking water in your RV. He explores various ways to ensure you have clean, safe water for drinking, showering, and washing dishes while on the road. From inline water filters to elaborate three-stage systems and portable water purifiers, Jason covers all the methods and tools necessary for maintaining a pristine water supply. He also discusses the importance of regularly sanitizing your RV's water tank and hoses, and offers practical tips for avoiding bacterial growth.

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00:00 Introduction: Drinking Water from Your RV
00:26 Concerns About RV Water Quality
01:58 Understanding Water Filters
02:39 Types of Water Filters
04:13 Maintaining Your Water Filters
06:01 Advanced Water Filtration Systems
11:50 Sanitizing Your RV's Water System
15:06 Final Tips for Clean RV Water
17:43 Conclusion

[daveb.]

I hook my fresh water hoses to my outside shower when sanitizing. Fill them from the tank and then at the end I use the same bleach water to clean my awning. Crisp white every time.

[calledtojourney]

As full-timers, we sanitize our fresh tank about every 3 months, but we also use a reverse osmosis system under our kitchen counter to filter all our drinking water. This makes it taste delicious wherever we go in the country, and it makes the water even safer to drink. Win, win!

[ScottyDaum-ox]

Anytime I see an RV Miles post in my feed I know it is going to be time well spent. You give great info and you kave improved over time. I appreciate it and keep em coming!

[timf]

Yes we do, I use a 3 stage filters when we are hookup at RV Parks. And I do use e-trailer.

[mildredlackey]

Such good information Jason, besides sanitizing our tank we also had two inline filters, it’s such a good idea to keep everything sanitary in the camper, thanks for all the good info,

[harrygoodman]

We only use our RV for 30 nights a year, taking about 4 weekly trips between June 1 - October 30. We do sanitize at beginning of our season but duly noted that we should do an additional time mid-summer. We use a Clear Source 3-stage filter that we have mounted in our storage area next to the wet bay. So, regardless of city water, campground water, dumped in or siphoned in water, it is all filtered before going into the fresh tank or lines. But my wife also uses a Brita for drinking and ice cubes to be “triple safe”. It does have an initial cost of about $400 plus $70 per set of replacement filters annually. (Quarterly if full timing.) But we have never had an issue or sickness and are very confident in what we drink. Our freezer (residential refrigerator) can freeze enough cubes we never have to keep buying ice, so we recoup expense of filters that way. We have heard about UV filters to take the place of the Brita, and may install that someday.

[Thomas-sppp]

GEAT INFORMATION, DO MORE LIKE THIS...

[TonyBenton]

Of course I do. And we are full time. I have the Blu Technology three stage water filter and the.02 micro filter that came with the RV. And if it’s hard water I hook up the water softener in line.

[deltabravo]

This is a very useful video, Jason. Thanks!
I've shared this video to about 7 different RV discussion groups I'm in, 5 of which I'm the admin for.

[michaelr]

Great segment! One comment about sanitizing. You recommended filling the tank and lines with a bleach solution. EXCEPT the line to the toilets. This is not like winterizing. I know you know this, but for new RVer's, it helps to highlight. The bleach will destroy the enzymes in the black tank. Creating a whole new set of problems. Again, this is a great segment. I learned several things I will implement next season... once the rig has thawed out... gotta love Minnesota.

[kitesquid]

As full-timers we installed a 500 Gallon Per Day (GPD) whole house Reverse Osmosis (RO) system that fills up our freshwater tank. Because it fills the fresh water tank the bypass water goes down the drain only when we are on hookups

500 GPD equals 20 gallon per hour which will keep up with Our rig enables the RO system when the fresh tank gets down to 30%.

Our water tastes the same no matter where we go and is so pure I don't have to dry our rig after washing which saves me hours of labor.

We love how we don't feel slimey after a shower like a water softener does.

[jeremiiah]

We are full time - we always keep our pump on when set up - I have used the water for 3 years now. By keeping our water cycling, the city water is chlorinated, and we filter in coming water at 5 micron and follow up with .5 micron. Never had issues. We have sanitized our hoses, but have not sanitized our tanks since we started. Our 2 stage filter housings came from beech lane on amazon - very affordable.

[royireland]

I like to save this type of information in a manual in the camper, for those times I am not available to do the various tasks. So, I have made a modified transcript of your presentation and saved it for printout. I am a sort of irregular camper with varied rates of camper usage - not often enough usage to burn every step into my brain, hence the manual. It really helps. If anyone wants a copy of the disinfection process you have described, I can post it but would not do so without your permission (please use it with care, as I could have missed a step). Thanks for this information

[Jasonrcsd]

Good stuff Jas! I need to sanitize our fiver more. Now I'm going to start carrying a spray bottle with bleach/water. Cleaning your fresh water tank and lines should help prevent Legionella too.

[alexduplessie]

I have a Berkey at home that I initially used while full-timing on the road in my truck camper. I broke around $150 of Berkey filters no matter how I stored it hitting pot holes before I gave up on it as a solution. Eventually I got a Sawyer backpacking water filter, attached it to a large plastic bottle I poked a ventilation hole in, and would slow drip that into a gallon jug, effectively achieving the same thing as a Berkey and with a much smaller, bump resistant footprint minus the pharmaceutical filtering aspect.

[luminousveiws]

Theres a bit of chlorine in city water for the pipes and household tanks. The continuous rinsing effect and this chlorine is why most water systems are safe. We don't sanitize our houses!

I've gone to a 2 stage method. A cheap dirt filter (like you showed) on all incoming water, and an under the sink, very good filter for cooking and drinking. I dont need to bath in drinking quality. Drinking small amounts of lesser quality water isn't dangerous. That's the real reason our garden hose use wasn't a problem.

[Badgeweefixstuff]

Awesome video we filter every once of water that goes in the trailer. We have camco EVO FILTER Which works awesome. If we winterize I will bleach it after we fill it up. On average we bleach 3 times a year. It’s cheap. 🇨🇦🛠️🇨🇦🛠️🇨🇦

[billfargo]

We use the inline Camco filter and our RV has a secondary larger filter before the pump, however we bring water specifically for drinking, ice and coffee in jugs. We keep a five gallon in the trailer and depending on the length of the trip more in the truck. The water comes from our home system which has a three stage Aquasauna system. Good advice on storing the filters though. I replace my inline 1-2 times per season, even though we’re not drinking the water out of it.

[adventuresontheroad]

Our North Point came with a main filter system in line with the set up along with me adding the hose filter as well.
One day will install a RO system on this or the soon to be upgrade 5r.

I do need to sanitize the tank though. I have no idea the last time it may have been done prior to use purchasing it 2 years ago for full time.

Something I did last week is completely empty the H2O tank and refilled it for emergency while we are in a full hook up park for the winter.

[lyfandeth]

Bleach can also damage aluminum and other plastics. Home brewing stores carry sodium bisulphite (?) which is what is used to sanitize brewing equipment. Safe for your tank and hoses.