For long trips we take our Big Berkey Water Filter from the house and put it in the camper. Sometimes we have been places that offer dubious water so we fill a gallon jug and pour it in the Berkey. This keeps our fresh water tank clean. With the black filters, it will filter out just about everything. It was developed by the Brits and is used by many aid organizations world-wide to filter water. We first used them 45 years ago in the Peace Corps.
For short trips we bring bottled water for drinking. The tank water is clean and OK for all other uses but San Diego County water is nasty tasting stuff, We have used the Berkey for years and years to filter our drinking water at home. Many websites offer them - just google.
Thanks for all posts. I like to get out, way out. Love to sit on the edge of the abyss in comfort, staring into the void. Being where others can not stay. That requires preparation and, in this case, making good water from bad. Getting water is like visiting the oasis. Lion knows all must drink. Sits at the pool waiting for a meal. A smart person, needing a fill, would minimize the time at the pool, speed of fill matters.
A quick in-line filter would help with minimal delay but may not be enough.
A secondary method must be available. Perhaps another filter, a finer filter, like the 3M type just after the pump, would provide a secondary safeguard?
Bottled water is great, but for the long boondock, seems impractical.
My water at home comes out of our well, and is not treated in anyway. I have been drinking it for over twenty years. I have always drank water from my fresh water tank. Never had any kind of a problem. I have drank water that smelled bad, and or did not taste good, still never had a problem. I do not remember the last time I had the flue, cold or any other sickness. I am of the belief, if people are living somewhere drink the water, I can too. That has worked for me.
At one time, I considered adding a water filtration system to my TC. I found it was a very complicated subject, and for the most part filters only changed the smell and/or strained out the big stuff. It takes a pretty elaborate system to truly filter the water. Over and over again, I read the best solution was to boil the water before you drink it, if you are really concerned.
Sue Bee wrote: A few years ago, the neighboring farm was sold to a developer. There is no city water by us, so he drilled 98 wells using explosive caps, and every time one went off, our water was cloudy and sulfurous for days.
The brita did do a good job of turning that water into drinkable water, but I do think that even if I were not using the water in my tanks, I still would not want to smell that every time I turned on the tap.
Back in the '60s I lived in Riverwoods. The water in the well wss so good, the neighbors would sometimes get their water from us.
When the pump needed to be replaced, the well service company insisted on drilling about 20 feet deeper. The water became unfit to drink because of the sulfur in it...
The whole house smelled like rotten eggs until a very expensive water treatment system was installed.
Paul
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Reddog1 wrote: My water at home comes out of our well, and is not treated in anyway. I have been drinking it for over twenty years. I have always drank water from my fresh water tank. Never had any kind of a problem. I have drank water that smelled bad, and or did not taste good, still never had a problem. I do not remember the last time I had the flue, cold or any other sickness. I am of the belief, if people are living somewhere drink the water, I can too. That has worked for me.
At one time, I considered adding a water filtration system to my TC. I found it was a very complicated subject, and for the most part filters only changed the smell and/or strained out the big stuff. It takes a pretty elaborate system to truly filter the water. Over and over again, I read the best solution was to boil the water before you drink it, if you are really concerned.
Wayne
Yes. A valid strategy. What does not kill you makes you stronger unless, of course, it does indeed kill you. I've dodged my fair share of bullets -- just considering ways to improve the odds :-) Has anyone become physically ill from bad water? I have felt queasy, or like I got a slight cold, from bad tasting water but have never gotten seriously ill. I too, am strong.
Yes. A valid strategy. What does not kill you makes you stronger unless, of course, it does indeed kill you. I've dodged my fair share of bullets -- just considering ways to improve the odds :-) Has anyone become physically ill from bad water? I have felt queasy, or like I got a slight cold, from bad tasting water but have never gotten seriously ill. I too, am strong.
I have had it twice. The first time was during the summer of 1964, I worked as a diver and yes I got sick for a week. Hospitalized in Tampico, Mexico, then moved to Monterey. Believe me, I'll never forget it. Scared the hell out of my dad, whom i was working with, and myself. Seems that the Coke bottles that I was drinking from were in ice made out of untreated water and it was the sweat from the bottle that I ingested.
The second time was in 1967 while I was in Vietnam, during the monsoon season, we had been operating in the rice paddies and my whole squad got amebic dysentery, from ingesting water that ran down our faces and dripped off of our helmets.
Granted these were outside the United State, but believe me it is not fun to get a dose of bad water. At our age, the DW and I, with health problems I do not want to go through it.
Combat Vietnam VeteranSupport our troops for serving our great country.
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Bottled water is great, but for the long boondock, seems impractical.
How long can you honestly boondock before you need to find civilization to get more food, dump your tanks or get rid of the trash, etc.? I could go about 14 days then my grey tank would be full and my fridge would probably be empty. Time to find civilization to dump my tanks and buy more food so I'd just get more bottled water then.
I buy the gallon water jugs and use them to refill my personal water bottles for hikes and exploring away from the camper. They travel nicely in the shower (in case they leak) then at camp I can always find an out of the way place to store them. I usually take 4-5 jugs for a week and almost always come back with at least one un-opened. I could fit 15 gallon jugs on the floor of my shower while traveling and in the summer I can set them under the truck in the shade while I'm parked. In the winter I don't boondock for 14 days so I have plenty of room inside to line up a row of 4-5 jugs below the fridge so they don't freeze and they aren't in the way while winter camping.
My plan is use bottled water first, then if I have to, use out of my 61 gal fresh water supply. Then if I get desperate or in an emergency I have one of these. Filter. It's a nice filter, make sure and watch the video too.
I have never needed more than the bottled water I have brought but it doesn't hurt to plan for unforeseen circumstances. I like to have a back-up plan for my back-up plan when ever possible.
If I get questionable onboard water and need to drink it I can use my filter until I can bleach out my tank. The filter is light and portable so I also carry it on my long hikes instead of carrying a lot of water bottles. It saves on pack space and weight but that only works if I am hiking around water sources, which I usually am in the mountains of Idaho.
I suppose if I didn't shower (or just bathed in the creek), always went to the bathroom outside, and brought a bunch of food that didn't need refrigeration I could boondock for many months at a time in warm weather with my filter near a lake or river. In that case bottled water would seem impractical, but then what's the point of having an RV if I only use it for a bed? I could take a tent with my filter and my food to do the same thing while saving a ton of money.
So my personal definition of a long boondock with my TC is 14 days, of which I have more than enough bottled water to be practical and my filter is my safety net back-up plan if I need it.
I used bottled water for several years but on extended trips of 6 weeks to 3 month at a time it was getting old finding 3 gal of bottled water every 2 days, and then deal with the containers. Last year I switched to a after tank/under sink 3 stage filter system (Dupont QT39000 series), one step down from reverse osmosis. It's so handy now to just crack a valve and fill cups, coffee pots so on.
I don't like the idea that a pre camper water tank, charcoal filter may remove the chlorine from the water making the TC water tank a breeding ground. I figure I want to remove the chorine just before I need to drink it.
System I have http://www2.dupont.com/Water_Filtration/en_US/products/drinking_water_filters_prod_page.html
I hate to find it necessary to remind all you 'bottle' folk, but there have been Many articles and news releases on bottled water. I seems that a great deal of it comes from Municipal Water Systems, straight from the tap.
That said you'll might want to be wary of leaving bottled water set for too long at 'room' temperatures or above. Since it too may start to resemble the water from your 'unclean' FW tanks.
Just FYI. Not meant to be a negative to your choice just a reminder.
Hoppe
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