dennisann
washington state
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Joined: 11/04/2008
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we are planning our first RV trip down the west coast Planned several RV parks on the way many based on information from this site and the mike and teri church book (teri is sending me a copy they have.)I can't wait for the o9 verson..
we are panning on staying inSan Carlos,Mazatlan,and maybe further south.Do I need to be concerned about the water and contaminating my water system in the Rv parks?
thanks for the help
Dennis and Ann
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dhamblet
Olympia, WA
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Joined: 01/13/2005
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A lot of the water in the SW and especially Mexico is either very saline or very hard or both. I carry a small water softener we got at CW, and we rarely drink supply water. Generally rely on bottled water or carboys for consumption. I will brush my teeth and sometimes cook with the local water but I try not to consume it. I also use a sacrificial anode rod in my water heater. Some say they are unnecessary. When after 3 months in Kino Bay and AZ I checked our anode and all that remained was a stick I decided it was a good idea to have one.
2005 Dutchmen 35SRV, Pergo, 5th Airborne, JT Strong Arm, Kodiak Disk Brakes, Backup camera
2006 Dodge CTD RAM QC 3500 LWB 4WD, Reese 16k, Airbags, Pacbrake, Britebox, 60g aux fuel tank
04 Harley Ultra, 05 CanAM 400MAX Quad
Spending my kids inheritance
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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California like all other states, has public safety standards for drinking water and if their water source cannot meet these standards they cannot provide it as potable water. If you don't like the TASTE then drain it when you get home and put some water in that you like or install a water filtration system in your RV. A Whole house system that filters both pressure water AND tank water would be best.
2004 F-250 SCREW Long Bed (new)
OR 2004 F-150 HD (85,000 towing miles)
Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
We have enough YOUTH...how about a fountain of SMART
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sunnyvz
Catemaco, Mexico
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Joined: 11/10/2008
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We use three filters. The Cullingan goes on the hose for mostly sediment. The ceramic filter does most of the work and the kitchen faucet has a Brita mounted on it. We replace the Brita and Culligan monthly. The ceramic filter every three months. We have traveled the Pacific side for three months and now live in Catemaco on the Gulf. We have never used bleach in the tanks or soaked our veggies. We have never been sick in Mexico. Most campgrounds had their own wells and here it is city water, but it is spring fed. We decided to trust the filters or how would we know if they worked. I put lime juice in everything I cook and we drink fresh limeade and margaritas everyday. I feel that's important. You are more likely to suffer food poisoning from unrefridgerated food than from the water. I believe that if you are over protective your system will be weakened instead of strengthened and you will be more prone to suffer from some distress.
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edbehnke
Northern Michigan
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Joined: 12/13/2006
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we're in maz
most of the rigs have an external pump to help them with the low water pressure.
other than that just a basic filter is fine to get the dirt out. we use the water to cook and brush teeth but bottled water for drinking.
but, you can get into the 100 and 1000 of dollars ...it just depends on what your level of need is....
enjoy mexico. rain is coming this week in maz
eddie and sandie
3150 Montana
Just traveling the county
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jimlouisesophie
Ladysmith, BC, Canada
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Joined: 07/30/2004
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In Celestino, the water comes from the town of La Cruz and it is fine for washing dishes, etc., but not for drinking and is not dirty as we have found in other places. We have 2 filters and we fill the rig with water and use 1 tsp. of bleach for every 10 gals and use the pump in the rig to pump the water and it has good presure. Take an extra anoide for your hot water tank as well. For more info on parks, go to www.rollinghomes.com for the Churchs updates. Enjoy your travels. Current temps in the morning when we get up is about 19 c and goes up to about 25 c in the day time.
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rocmoc
AZ/Mexico
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Joined: 09/30/2006
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Yes!
We drank only the water we brought with us in the trailer tank or bottled water. As one RV park owner said to us a couple of weeks ago, "I would not drink the water in Mexico anywhere". When we started to ran a little short, we just poured the bottled water in our trailer tanks. Our choice, easier than messing with the bottle/pump comb.
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
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keelhauler1
Cleveland, OH
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Joined: 08/30/2005
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For us bottled water is the the cheapest, safest & simplist method.
I made a funnel and pour the 5 gal bottles (Cost 12-25 pesos) into the RV water tank.
We use our water for cooking, drinking, washing dishes & washing our hands and face. We use campground showers.
We use about 3-4 gal/day for two people. So a 3 month trip would cost 90 x 3/5 * $1.5= about $80, it's way cheaper than buying filters and treatment systems. Filters need to be replaced often and water pressure is to low to effectivily push the water through a fine filter without adding a pump.
Bottled water is found everywhere and even poor people do not drink Mexican water from city water systems.
And of course you never contaminate your tank or water system.
John
All my Mexico Stories & Blogs
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almcc
Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 01/15/2006
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We treat all the water in Mexico by running it through a filtration and UV treatment system, then we use it for all purposes in the RV. Since the water pressure is low in most places down here, a 12V booster pump (a spare RV water pump)is installed in front of the purification system to give us adequate pressure for showers etc.
Buying purified drinking water in 5 gallon jugs and using bleach to disinfect the water going into the RV tank to be used for showering is probably cheaper, but in the 3 years we have been down here the UV system hasn't resulted in any "Montezuma's revenge" etc.
Others may tell you that reverse osmosis or ozone treatment is the way to go, be aware that some parks here don't allow R/O systems as they waste water. The only problem with UV treatment is that there are no residual chemicals left after the treatment, so if your water tank has bugs in it, they will multiply in the tank after the UV treated water enters the tank.
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marbil 146
British Columbia Canada
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Joined: 08/26/2002
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For the past nine years traveling in Mexico,I have only used the Everpure Filter system that I installed the first year I had my trailer.
By adding a little bleach to the trailer's fresh water tank and drawing it through the filter,I have good drinking water and havent been sick yet.Even a couple of years ago with some real questionable I think,slew water,trucked in at Tenecatita.I did run it through an outside Culigan filter first to get the color out.(It was green).
Maybe I'm just lucky that I havent gotten sick,but it sure saves a lot of hassle dealing with water jugs that also may have questionable water and handling.
A 10 year old Trail-lite with over 60000 miles of great service.
2009 Toyota Tundra
Fully satellite connected.
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