How long fresh water stays fresh?

[dcasr]

We use house water to fill, campground water to refill, a water purificator filter or bottled water for drinking, coffee, i.e. human consumption. If a source looks sketchy we don't use their water at all.

In National Parks we have to jug water to refill if we are staying two weeks, and our jugs and the quality of the park water is of course not as pristine as our own house water, so having a Brita or Pur water filter for consumption use seems wise.

[Alphonse]

Catch Giardia one time and it will make you take care of your freshwater supply.

A statement like I have been smoking for 40 years and don't have lung cancer should not carry weight with anyone. Risk remains risk, whether you get caught or not. Why take it when you don't have to? It takes very little effort to sanitize your tank and keep good water aboard.

[xrvr]

Old bottled water in plastic containers especially if exposed to hot weather can be bad for you. Absorbs the chemicals from the plastic bottle. Don't keep bottled water too long.

[Piggy Bank]

If you use a water filter before filling the tank (on the white hose) won't that remove the chlorine and mean that the holding time is much less?

[aftermath]

Originally Posted by Alphonse

Catch Giardia one time and it will make you take care of your freshwater supply.

A statement like I have been smoking for 40 years and don't have lung cancer should not carry weight with anyone. Risk remains risk, whether you get caught or not. Why take it when you don't have to? It takes very little effort to sanitize your tank and keep good water aboard.

This is a point worth thinking about. I am careful with the water I drink. I use a filter on the city water as it enters and another filter in the sink faucet in the trailer. My concern for my family's safety is rather strong. When it comes down to safety in general you really do have to look at the risks. It is easy for some to become paranoid about things which becomes a controlling fear that limits activities and even keeps individuals from venturing out when taken to the extreme.

Yes, you can get giardia, yes (I suppose) it is possible for your trailer to blow up if you leave your fridge running, yes you can have a blowout that causes you to veer into oncoming traffic, yes someone can attack you in a campground and on and on it goes.

"Risks remain risks" is certainly true. If you are seriously considering the risks you face while camping, where does simply driving to and from your destination come in? You are at the greatest risk while on the highway. I think the statistics would bear that out. People will focus on the statistics (risks) that they choose to be important while ignoring the others even if they are much greater in a catastrophic sense.

The important thing is to be aware of all things safety related. Prioritize what is important to you and act in a way that might minimize dangers you perceive as threats. Drink only store bought water if you wish. It is up to you.

[Len n Jeanne]

Originally Posted by Piggy Bank

If you use a water filter before filling the tank (on the white hose) won't that remove the chlorine and mean that the holding time is much less?

Possibly, so we would filter tank water post-tank.

[PKI]

Interesting discussion.

We use the bottled water for coffee and drinking water. Have found the larger squarish bottles easy to store and not too bad to pour into the coffee maker. They also make a good transfer jug for the fresh tank fill and allow the weight to be positioned for better trailer balance by limiting the quantity in the fresh tank. We limit fills to known good water, but have not had any problems yet. But in reality, the fresh tank only gets used for toilet flushing when on the road. We do little off grid camping and almost always have a city water connection for general trailer use.

The drain need not be considered a waste as a small pan allows the water to be transferred to plants in need of hydration. Our state appreciates all the water that you import from locations with ample water that is disposed in this manor. RVs will not offset our periodic dry weather, but your good conservation practices are appreciated.

Thanks for sharing your practices and experience. Pat

[interstateflyer]

We fill our fresh water tank with well water that has been run through a water softener. We carry 6-8 gallon jugs of fresh drinking water under the couch.

[andreasduess]

We don't use plastic bottles anywhere if we can avoid it - for environmental and health reasons. We've got a metal carrier with a spout that we fill at campgrounds for drinking, the tank we use for washing, both dishes and ourselves.