dalenoel
S.E. Michigan
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Joined: 09/03/2007
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Looking for info on water filters.
For 40+ years we’ve been primarily in MI and have not had problems with water quality. At times a smell but we now use bottled for drinking and cooking. I do remember using lake water and drinking from a hose and yet we are still alive. What I am concerned about is a trip to AZ on the southern route coming back through SLC, Rushmore, and I-90 on the northern route.
During my working life I ran across some city supplies that were not the best. My real concern is sediment in the tanks if we fill them or crud throughout the valves when on a FHU site. I did see the Culligan HF-150A 3/4-Inch mentioned but also can’t find the flow rate and I’m looking for that to be as high as possible and be economical. As a fluid power engineer I understand the dynamics of fluid flow. Concern for super-filtration is not there but damage to the TT systems is the main reason for looking at filters.
Is my concern of solids getting into the tank and lines justified or should I ignore the problem and go without a filter. As mentioned, in MI there has not been a need with state parks are private ones but I’m not sure of other states.
We will be going through IN, IL, AK, TX, NM, AZ, UT, WY, SD, and IA. The route follows the interstate system but we stay away from most major cities except Mesa and Lake Havasu City as family is there.
After returning from this trip I feel the camping in Michigan will show very little need for the filter system so I do not want one that is high maintenance with expensive filters. Yet, I don't want to go too cheap and not get the protection I need on our trip.
Thanks for the info.
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downtheroad
Pacific Northwest
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Spend some time poking around this site and give the guy a call. He is a full time Rver and really knows his stuff. He has lots of options tailored specifically for RVing.
RV Water Filter LINK
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dalenoel
S.E. Michigan
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downtheroad wrote:Spend some time poking around this site and give the guy a call. He is a full time Rver and really knows his stuff. He has lots of options tailored specifically for RVing.
RV Water Filter LINK
I agree that his site is FULL of information but one of the early statements is
"If the water that you typically have available is dirty and/or tastes and smells bad, you will probably want to use sediment and taste-and-odor filters for all of the water that you use."
This is the spot I am at by trying to understand the water quality along the route I am taking.
The dynamics of designing a system is not my concern as I also did design and build of water and waste systems for manufacturing plants for 40 years.
Thanks for the info and his site as it does have a wealth of info in one location.
I may call him later if all else fails.
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MNtundraRet
Bloomington, MN
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Joined: 12/06/2007
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The general all purpose water-filter that connects to your drinking water hose will work just fine. You can use it to either fill your water-tank or hook to water connection.
You can find them at any RV/camping department at dealers, Walmart, FleetFarm, Target, etc. No filter holder to deal with. We have camped in almost every state without problems.
You should be using filters when filling the water-tank. It eliminates collecting iron and other sediments in the tank which eventually cause odor problems in the hot-water heater.
Mark & Jan "Old age & treachery win over youth & enthusiasm"
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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if your main/only issue is with sediment, just use a cotton string type of filter or similar type which should have a much better flow rate than the "sterilizing" ones. my first filter setup was a roughing filter first then a sanitizing one and had such a slow flow rate that I switched to two filters in parallel and got decent flow.
bumpy
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azrving
Oatman
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Joined: 05/17/2013
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My concern would be about what type of appliances you use. If you have a washing machine or ice maker/water in door they can have problems from grit or a grain of sand. We had Asko under counter appliances at our home and a piece of grit lodged in the water fill valve causing it to over fill and start leaking on the floor. Luckily wife was there to see it and shut off water main. I then installed a whole house filter to the washing machine.
This was no junk appliance $1800.00
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Bill.Satellite
Full-timer
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The simple answer is.....no mater where you are traveling the water should be coming from a good source that thousands of others are using at that location. However, any one location could have problems despite it being good city or well water and at a minimum you should have a sediment filter. In most cases that's all that would be necessary as it will save your internal parts and pieces from an unexpected dirty source. In 17 years it has only happened to me once but that one time would have been a disaster. We were in a well established campground but they had built some new sites. So new, that I was the first one to park an RV on it (only found this out later). I filled by tanks and headed to the beach. Upon our return our new neighbor asked if we had seen and sand when we filled. I took a look and there was over 1" of sand in the filter container but, thankfully, none in the holding tanks. Turns out that no one had flushed the lines after installation.
I do have a dual filter system and use a carbon filter in the second container. I also have a GE fridge ice/water filter which gives near bottled water quality water for the ice maker and drinking water.
What I post is my 2 cents and nothing more. Please don't read anything into my post that's not there. If you disagree, that's OK.
Can't we all just get along?
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ronfisherman
SE Michigan
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Sediment and hard water are common as we travel. We have a double set of filters 20 micron and 5 micron in series. Then a water softener. Makes a big difference in quality of water in our RV. We drink bottled water even at home in MI.
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tonyandkaren
pennsylvania
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Bumpyroad wrote:if your main/only issue is with sediment, just use a cotton string type of filter or similar type which should have a much better flow rate than the "sterilizing" ones. my first filter setup was a roughing filter first then a sanitizing one and had such a slow flow rate that I switched to two filters in parallel and got decent flow.
bumpy
Yep, since you'll not be drinking from your tank just use a string filter inline with your fill or city water hose. There's no way to be sure that the water will be free from sediment especially when you're getting well water in rural areas. We've had our filter plug up after one tank fill. Get a filter with a clear housing so that you can see the condition of the filter and replace it as it gets dirty.
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Clay L
Palisade CO
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We got a GE SmartWater housing and the necessary hose fittings at Home Depot. The housing will accept standard filter cartridges made by many manufacturers.
When traveling I use a charcoal filter which can improve taste and also provide sediment filtering. If I plan to put the water in the tank and leave it there for very long I use a sediment filter that won't remove the chlorine.
Is a sediment filter necessary? If you could see the cartridge when I replace it you would say yes much of the time.
We use a water softener in AZ where we have spent all or part of the winter for 10 years or so.
I have quick release fittings on everything.
Clay (WA5NMR), Lee (Wife), Katie & Kelli (cats) Salli (dog).
Fixed domicile after 1 year of snowbirding and eleven years Full Timing in a 2004 Winnebago Sightseer 35N, Workhorse chassis, Honda Accord toad
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