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Old 09-01-2009, 01:08 PM   #1
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Do you drink your fresh water tank water?

We have a '76 Overlander, and although the water coming out of the tap looks fine, I haven't been able to bring myself to drink it. I shower with it, and we wash hands with it, but we don't cook with it or drink it.

I've actually purified the fresh water tank the approved way, with bleach, and letting the solution sit in the tank for a while, and in the pipes as well. But it is, after all, a 33 year old tank, that I can't view.

I'm going to get one of those free water quality testers available from the public health unit, and send it away for e. coli testing.

Do you drink your water?
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Old 09-01-2009, 01:12 PM   #2
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Water

We never drink it but do cook with it and make coffee. Some of the campgrounds we have been in have boil water advisories and I dont' want to take any chances. Cooking I'm o.k. with because it always boils. We drink stuff in the bottles that clog landfills .

Would like to be more environmentally friendly but health is health.

Alex
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Old 09-01-2009, 01:25 PM   #3
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I always fill my fresh water tank through an in line filter unless I am at home. I have no problem whatsoever drinking it. How is e. coli going to get in there unless you put it there by filling with some pretty questionable water.
regards,
Ken
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Old 09-01-2009, 01:25 PM   #4
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Generally, we don't drink it, but brushing teeth gets some down the gullet. Sometimes cook with it, other times don't. The same concerns and more are these: campground water, how long does the potable water tank stay clean?, and reduce salt intake. Tap water is chlorinated and chlorine (Cl) is half of table salt (sodium, Na, the other half). The Cl combines with free Na and zowie, too much salt for me. I know it doesn't sound like much salt, but I was advised to do this by a world famous scientist (and friend) and who am I to question her?

We use distilled water for drinking, ice cubes, some cooking and do the same at home. Gallon jugs of distilled water are #2 plastic and easy to recycle.

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Old 09-01-2009, 01:32 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by w7ts View Post
I always fill my fresh water tank through an in line filter unless I am at home. I have no problem whatsoever drinking it. How is e. coli going to get in there unless you put it there by filling with some pretty questionable water.
regards,
Ken
Ken, I think using the in line filter is a good idea and reduces chances of problems. A lot of trailers have a filter for the kitchen sink, but how many of us replace it in a timely manner? But, there's more than e-coli that can get you sick. It can be in city water, rarely, but it happens (just ask the residents of Alamosa, Colo.). Dark contained hot tanks with some water in them are good places for bacteria to breed—a few that wouldn't hurt you can over a period of weeks or months become a colony that will. I don't think it happens very often, but who wants to be sick on a vacation? Actually, the salt content is more important to me than bacterial worries, but bacteria is still a concern.

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Old 09-01-2009, 01:48 PM   #6
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Quote:
Do you drink your fresh water tank water?
Uh yeah...it sure tastes better than the grey or black tank water!

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Old 09-01-2009, 02:06 PM   #7
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Buy gallons - not the little half liter bottles. About 10% of the landfill material as the small bottles. Virginia Beach's city water is quite good, so I quite regularly keep about 4 gallon bottles and refill them once or twice with city water. When on the road, I do use bottled for drinking, cooking and teeth brushing. Even city water tastes extra good when it's refrigerated.

Do not continually reuse plastic bottles - especially the ones you drink directly from. They do get contaminated from your own lips and everything that touches them.

Paula
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Old 09-01-2009, 02:44 PM   #8
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Mine is newer and I know where it's been so I don't have any problem drinking from the fresh water tank. I sterilize it twice a year and filter it before drinking. I generally only fill it from my home faucet though. I would be hesitant to fill it from a water source located too close to a dump station. I have seen some where the potable water supply is within reach of the dump...not good. Most are located far enough away so as as to avoid cross contamination.
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:04 PM   #9
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:07 PM   #10
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We used to lug along bottled water but have given it up. We fill our tank at home using an inline filter. We have a Britta jug in the trailer that we then use to re-filter the water for drinking and cooking. Tastes fine and have not grown a third eye or anything as of yet.
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:13 PM   #11
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Visions of Bilge Water Have I....

Not if my life depended on it.....

Ahh...Well maybe if my life actually depended on it I would, but since it doesn't, No Way!

If it were pulled and inspected I might think different, but based on the horror stories I've read here on the forums, I'm skeptical at this point.

Regards,

Kevin
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:15 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astewart View Post
We never drink it but do cook with it and make coffee. Some of the campgrounds we have been in have boil water advisories and I dont' want to take any chances. Cooking I'm o.k. with because it always boils. We drink stuff in the bottles that clog landfills .

Would like to be more environmentally friendly but health is health.

Alex
Hi Alex,
I guess it is a different attitude about what fresh water tanks are for. Maybe because I grew up around saltwater boats where you drank out of the tank because it was what you had. I would never put water in my fresh water tank that was recommended to be boiled. I'd go home first. Not counting boats, I am on my 6th RV with a fresh water tank and haven't infected or poisoned myself yet from drinking the water.
Regards,
Ken
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:20 PM   #13
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My dog drinks it and she doesn't complain, but than again she licks her a$$.
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:24 PM   #14
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Water

Thanks Ken. I'm not as particular as the wife on what I consume (it's amber colored, usually foams and I understand it has been pasturized ). Our AS is older and not sure what has been living in the tank before we picked it up (I used pool chlorine and then backing soda to clear the tanks and lines). Up here, we have whole sections of the province that have a boil water advisory in effect (we had a town that had 7 deaths because the town water was contaminated) so I try to be careful.

(take a look at Deadly E.coli in Ontario[)

Best wishes,
Alex

(BTW, beautiful classic! When did you get it?)
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:27 PM   #15
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We are on our 6th trailer with a fresh water tank. Little Girl will be #7. We always drink the water out of the fresh water tank. If I count the USS Fletcher, then it's 6 RV's and 1 ship.

We check the water at every campground when we hook up to water, and especially if we are filling our fresh water tank. Bad odor or taste and we don't use the campground water. Never had a problem or gotten sick. But then, we also go the Boundary Waters every year, and drink lake water. Filtered or boiled of course.

When we get to the point of checking out the current fresh water tank in Little Girl, if we have any doubts that we can clean and sanitize the 38 year old tank, we'll put in a new one.

Chris
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Old 09-01-2009, 03:28 PM   #16
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I sanitize twice a year or anytime I get a load of water that doesn't taste good to me. I try to keep the tank pretty full between camping trips. I always use an in-line filter to fill the tank.

All that said, I don't have any problems at all drinking the water. The only time I don't is when we are in a situation where we need to fill the tank with water that doesn't taste good to me. Many areas of the country have water with high mineral or iron content and it just doesn't taste like "water" to me.

Who am I to judge though... I routinely drink tap water at home and have even been known to take a drink from the hose if I am out working in the yard ;-)
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Old 09-01-2009, 04:36 PM   #17
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Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water.
W. C. Fields.
He also remarked he didn't drink water because "Fish function in it."
I doubt your tank is a bio-hazard. I've had plenty of filtered and un-fitered water from campgrounds and RVs and never had a problem.
We do carry gallon jugs of distilled water but that's an issue of taste not fear of bacteria.
Like Mr. Fields, while camping, I prefer my liquids sanitized with a bit of alcohol.

Tom
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Old 09-01-2009, 04:44 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by InsideOut View Post
Uh yeah...it sure tastes better than the grey or black tank water!

Shari

You are too much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That made me laugh out loud!!
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Old 09-01-2009, 04:48 PM   #19
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We use water from our fresh water tank all the time...some drinking and all cooking. We do use in inline filter when in a campground but never hook up if there's any question about the quality of the water. We also use a fresh waer "purifier" liquid additive that you can get at camping stores that is basically a very light bleach solution...add a little each time we refill...have never had a problem. We always keep some water in the tank while at home, too, just to keep everything wet...we do periodically check how the water tastes when we are at home, especially if we are there for a couple of weeks or longer...and it is always just fine. Of course, we know where our fresh water tank has been and what's been put into it....
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Old 09-01-2009, 04:50 PM   #20
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I clean the tank but................

I use bleach in the tank and lines. BUT I don't drink the stuff. I don't give it to the dog, he gets the poops quicker these days, no need in helping that probelm along. Jugs of water go in the trailer to drink, mix with the dog's food, brush my teeth, coffee, cooking. I will shower out of the tank and wash with it. I fill from home, no filter, heck my city water is clean, but when it hits the tank, game on, take no bets, go with the bottle when drinking.
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