I know that I can't just get a cheapie "garden hose" for the drinking water, but are there any recommendations for brand and length for the hose? I've seen 25' and 75' hoses, and the AS User Manual suggests getting two; one as a spare or joining 2 for longer distances to water source.
I use a black rubber hose on mine. They don't have that plastic taste and they are heavy duty. I don't know if they make them in less than 50ft lengths.
We use the white drinking hoses designed for the task. They are not created equally though. Make sure you check that it is supple when cold. Having hoses that you can't coil easily is a pain. We use 2 - 25' white hose's and one of those expanding garden hose for chores. You will also want a Y adapter for the spigot so you don't have to disconnect the trailer water to do those chores. As far as brand goes, as long as it is supple cold...
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Dave & MJ
1988 32' Excella 1000 (Beauty)
1999 White Dodge SLT Laramie 3500 Dually, 4x4, 5spd, 5.9 CTD 300k+ (The Beast)
I just bought two white drinking water hoses. One from CW and later, one from Amazon. I filled them with bleach solution as if I were disinfecting a tank and let them sit for several hours and then flushed them out. I don't notice any plastic taste, but then I use a filter when I connect up to campground water. I carry a spray bottle of bleach solution with me to disinfect the campground spigot, the filter, the hose ends, and the trailer input when hooking up. When I store them I connect the two ends of each hose together to keep them clean.
Al
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“You cannot reason someone out of a position they have not been reasoned into"
Al, K5TAN and Missy, N4RGO WBCCI 1322
2002 Classic 30 Slideout -S/OS #004
2013 Dodge 2500 Laramie 4x4 Megacab Cummins
2012 Interstate Coach
From All Over
, More Than Anywhere Else
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 10,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by perryg114
I use a black rubber hose on mine. They don't have that plastic taste and they are heavy duty.
Rubber degrades over time, so unless you really enjoy drinking rubber compounds, I recommend you change to food-grade plastic hoses. It's not FDA or USDA approved for coming in contact with food or potable liquids. Meaning you shouldn't drink the water that comes out of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al and Missy
I just bought two white drinking water hoses. I don't notice any plastic taste, but then I use a filter when I connect up to campground water.
Potable water hoses— the blue and white ones— are made of food-grade plastic. Food-grade plastic is manufactured by an ISO 9000-certified company to ensure quality control, meets National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 51, and has been approved by the FDA and USDA for use in food storage and/or preparation. Key criteria of food-grade plastic are that it neither absorbs tastes or odors from the foods or potable liquids it comes in contact with, nor imparts a taste or odor to the foods or potable liquids it comes in contact with. All food-grade plastics are BPA-free by default.
So if you ever taste plastic from a plastic hose, dish, utensil, drinking glass, or anything else, it's not really food-grade. Look for FDA and/or USDA approval and NSF 51 on the label when you buy a potable water hose. If those marking aren't there, don't buy it for use with your fresh water system.
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I thought getting old would take longer!
We use Camco's blue premium drinking water hoses. One is 10' and the other 25'. They're nice and sturdy and work fine, but boy can they be difficult to work with when cold.
If any of you like a particular drinking-safe hose in 5/8" diameter that's more supple and thus easy to work with when cold, please do share a link.
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
We have used what Camping World sells as a "utility hose" (Utility Hose - 10' - American Specialty HT-10 - Hoses, Reels & Fittings - Camping World) for many years. When not in use, they are very compact and fold easily. Being 10' long, they drain instantly when lifted in the middle. Want a longer hose? Chain together as many as you need. A leak? Dispose of that 10' section only.
Sharp-toothed critters can puncture them easily, but otherwise we have found them to be very tough.
The packaging says, "NSF/FDA approved for drinking water." In all our years of using them, we have never detected any taste from these hoses.
1992 29' Excella
2010 22' Interstate
Van By The River
, Georgia
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,363
Space Saving Handi-Hose
Camping World and other RV retailers sell the Handi-Hose with and without the take-up reel. Without the reel it saves quite a bit of space and even with the reel it's pretty compact. I've never used the reel.
When the hose is pressurized it will act like a spring and want to uncoil and possibly kink as it comes up to pressure. After a few times using it you find out how to make it work without the kinks and lumps. In RV's, where space is a premium, the Handi-Hose is a great product. It's been quite a few years since we purchased our Handi-Hose but I recall it's rated as food grade.
Be sure to look around for a sale price. I think Camping World has regular price reductions on this item and look for a Good Sam / CW coupon too.
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Lucius and Danielle
1992 29' Excella Classic / 2010 Interstate
2005 Chevrolet Suburban K2500 8.1L
2018 GMC Sierra K1500 SLT, 6.2L, Max Trailering Got a cooped-up feeling, gotta get out of town, got those Airstream campin' blues...
Wonderful, thanks. When I finally decide to replace these blue meanies with something more flexible, I'll pick up some Teknor Apex never-kinks or Hand-Hoses.
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
Heck been drinking out of green garden hoses for over 60 years. Hasn't killed me yet.
That said I jumped on the band wagon and use pretty white hoses for drinking water in the trailer. I now feel so darn environmentally responsible.
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MICHAEL
Do you know what a learning experience is? A learning experience is one of those things that says "You know that thing that you just did? Don't do that."
2012 Interstate Coach
From All Over
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 10,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by AWCHIEF
Heck been drinking out of green garden hoses for over 60 years. Hasn't killed me yet.
As long as the water never has a chance to sit in the hose for any length of time it won't hurt you because there isn't enough time for any chemical reaction to take place in the hose.
It's only when the water sits in the hose— as it does when we leave the hose hooked up to our Airstreams and aren't actively using water for a several hours— that it becomes a problem, especially in hot weather since most chemical reactions occur faster at higher temperatures.
So don't think that you can't drink out of a green plastic hose or a black rubber hose at home while you're washing the car or watering the flower beds. You can, and it won't hurt you, as long as the water has been running for a while before you drink from the hose.
By the way, a 25-foot length of 5/8" hose holds about 0.4 gallons of water, so that's at least how much water has to run through the hose to get rid of the water that has sat in the hose before you're drinking water that hasn't sat in the hose.
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I thought getting old would take longer!
I buy a good 5/8" X 50' hose from CW. Then I get a metal male and a female hose repair end. (I have had bad luck with plastic ends) I cut the 50' into a 20' and a 30' and attach the appropriate end. You can usually eyeball and tell which one will reach. It's waaay easier to handle that way. I also attach a better metal or brass shut-off on the male ends. You can turn on the hydrant / faucet and bleed out the air before hooking to the city water RV inlet without extra trips to the faucet and an air blast at the sinks.
I bought a couple of the self-coiling hoses on Amazon. Someone on here (Moosetag?) recommended them. Inexpensive and easy to handle. I also bought several more to use around the house and some to use with the sewer solution (though I clearly mark them so as not to mix them up with the potable ones.)
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2015 Airstream Bambi Sport 16J
Past Travel Trailers:
*1992 Dutchmen 30' Bunk
*2003 Jayco Designer Series 32' Rear Living
*2015 T@B Sofitel S (exchanged after 3 days for Bambi)
a slight hijack here. most times i'm hooking my hose up to a 1/2" supply line. is there a difference in pressure using a 1/2" or 5/8" hose between the pedestal and the trailer?
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Ricky
2012 F150 Super Crew 5-1/2' bed Ecoboost 4x4 3.73 elec. lock diff. Propride hitch
give life. kidney & pancreas transplant 9/9/06
Ingrid-my unofficial '"World's Oldest Streamer" 1909-2008 R.I.P.
2000 25' Safari
Davidson County
, NC Highlands County, FL
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 4,493
Quote:
Originally Posted by richinny
a slight hijack here. most times i'm hooking my hose up to a 1/2" supply line. is there a difference in pressure using a 1/2" or 5/8" hose between the pedestal and the trailer?
The fittings at each end are smaller than the hose. A 5/8" hose has close to a 1/2" opening at each end. A 1/2" hose will be reduced at the fitting to ~ 3/8" to7/16". I like the larger size so I get maximum flow to the shower.
I need 75' of hose to fill up at home before I hook up to the truck. I have a 50' and two 25' white hoses in my Safari. Also I have added a 10' white hose to one side of my external water filter. I always carry extra incase one fails.
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Alan
2014 Silverado LTZ 1500 Crew Cab 5.3L maximum trailering package
I am not worried about the black hose. I think there are less carcinogens in the hoses I am using. All of these things are made in China and are full of toxic plasticizers. It is best to run water you drink through a carbon filter before drinking. This gets most of the organics and Chlorine out of the water. We use bottled water even at home or water that goes through a Britta Filter. The white hoses still smell like plastic. To be safe don't drink the water without filtering. Theoretically the white hoses are safe but you have to suspect anyone who would put melamine in baby formula and not bat an eye.
Perry
Quote:
Originally Posted by Protagonist
Rubber degrades over time, so unless you really enjoy drinking rubber compounds, I recommend you change to food-grade plastic hoses. It's not FDA or USDA approved for coming in contact with food or potable liquids. Meaning you shouldn't drink the water that comes out of it.Potable water hoses— the blue and white ones— are made of food-grade plastic. Food-grade plastic is manufactured by an ISO 9000-certified company to ensure quality control, meets National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 51, and has been approved by the FDA and USDA for use in food storage and/or preparation. Key criteria of food-grade plastic are that it neither absorbs tastes or odors from the foods or potable liquids it comes in contact with, nor imparts a taste or odor to the foods or potable liquids it comes in contact with. All food-grade plastics are BPA-free by default.
So if you ever taste plastic from a plastic hose, dish, utensil, drinking glass, or anything else, it's not really food-grade. Look for FDA and/or USDA approval and NSF 51 on the label when you buy a potable water hose. If those marking aren't there, don't buy it for use with your fresh water system.
I am not worried about the black hose. I think there are less carcinogens in the hoses I am using. All of these things are made in China and are full of toxic plasticizers. It is best to run water you drink through a carbon filter before drinking. This gets most of the organics and Chlorine out of the water. We use bottled water even at home or water that goes through a Britta Filter. The white hoses still smell like plastic. To be safe don't drink the water without filtering. Theoretically the white hoses are safe but you have to suspect anyone who would put melamine in baby formula and not bat an eye.
Perry
We triple filter our water.
1. Filter between the water supply
and the city water inlet on the airstream
2. Filter in the airstream on the cold water galley sink
3. And last the Brita filter on the water pitcjer
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