Do you drink the water at RV parks?

[jgerardi]

yes

[Rocinante]

Yup, we drink campground water. Heavens, it's tasty and expeditious.

We have a filter under the sink in the kitchen for cold water, which is how our 2014 TT was configured.

As for an external water filter - this seems a good idea. However, I'm reluctant to put a filter on before the water gets to a pressure regulator. I've heard tales of high pressure water blowing the contents of a water filter out the other end and into the lines. Is this a fable, or does it actually happen from time to time?

Since I'm a worry-wart, if I added an external filter I'd want to precede it with a pressure regulator - probably right at the faucet so it would protect the hose as well as the filter.

OTOH, it's our understanding that our Airstream trailer already has a pressure regulator built in at the city water inlet. So, that would be two pressure regulators and a filter between the outside water and any interior use, with an additional filter for cold water in the kitchen. I wonder what that would do to our water pressure when on campground water inputs - especially in the shower.

Thoughts?

[J. Morgan]

Even an elbow will impact water flow.

The multiple regulators and filters are going to have some kind of impact on flow.

How much? IDK.


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[rmkrum]

It's a bit of a fable, but a good brass adjustable regulator is not a bad idea. Just don't try to use one of those so-called RV regulators that looks like a short bit of brass with hose fittings on each end. The flow rate is very slow and it does not really regulate pressure like a big expensive one. I took that POS off when I discovered it makes our tankless hot water heater act strange.

I do put an external filter at the AS city water port to help clean up the water taste. Never had a potable water hose blow out or a filter blow out its innards due to pressure. I carry a water pressure gauge as a sanity check when I hook up to the supply valve.


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[m.hony]

Many RV parks require the use of the short brass water pressure regulator and offer them for sale if you don't have one. For some reason they see it as superior to the short blue plastic one.

[rmkrum]

Hm, last couple trips we stayed in one KOA that had signs up saying NOT to use those type regulators. I suspect it was low pressure in the park water system.

I plan to get an adjustable one that has a better flow rate. The typical cheap one can't flow enough water for taking showers in places like that. Interesting that some require them--trying to save water, I bet!


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[SteveH]

We've actually been in park that required water pressure regulators in Moab, UT because of high pressure. The people parked next to us in a fifth wheel did not use one, and when we came back from the day's excursion with the hot sun beating down on the hose, it had burst and of course water was running everywhere. So, there is a reason for using them.

[Skater]

We usually drink the campground water, albeit filtered with a second tap at the kitchen sink. We do carry a few bottles of water for day excursions, but in general the filtered water does fine for us.

[A W Warn]

Most of those fittings that are "required" on campground hose bibs are backflow preventers, not pressure regulators. They do look very similar. There is a way, just by looking, that you can tell the difference. Look at the perimeter of the female end, where it is attached to the hose bib. If there is a set screw in the side that prevents it from being removed, its a backflow preventer. The set screws' head is designed to break of at a certain torque when it is tightened, so that the backflow preventer cannot be removed by hand. A pressure regulator can be removed, no set screw.

The reason backflow devices are needed in campgrounds: If someone would turn on their pump to their fresh water tank and there is no backflow preventer, it could insert water out of their FW tank into the public water system.

[dkottum]

What's wrong with the built-in Airstream water pressure regulator?

[rmkrum]

Nothing. But it does not protect the hose. As said above, A flexible hose in the hot sun, add high water pressure, and it could burst An external regulator with a decent flow rate prevents that, also protects an external filter like I use.

Only issue IMHO with an expensive external regulator is that it may attract thievery. It's a fairly small risk the way I camp.


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[moosetags]

The external water pressure regulators that we have always used are not very expensive (around $12) and easy to use. In over 1,500 nights of Airstream camping, we have never had one stolen.

I like the extra pressue protection of the external regulator. It's not that I don't trust the internal Airstream regulator, it's just that the failure of an internal water line could be devastating. I have such a fear of this happening that I always turn off the pump or the city water supply at the trailer.

Brian

[Cannonball]

We drink the campground water. Campground hose bib + brass pressure regulator + in-line blue water filter + white hose + brass 90 degree elbow + Airstream. No issues.

[AIRTRVL]

Most campgrounds with full hookup usually have the fresh water valve right next to the sewer dump and most campers use it to flush out their black tanks. I carry a spray bottle with bleach and spray down the fresh water valve before attaching the hose to my AS. I also install a sediment filter.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by AIRTRVL

Most campgrounds with full hookup usually have the fresh water valve right next to the sewer dump and most campers use it to flush out their black tanks. I carry a spray bottle with bleach and spray down the fresh water valve before attaching the hose to my AS. I also install a sediment filter.

If I saw a connection similar to the one pictured by Moosetags, I wouldn't use that water in my Airstream. Most states that I'm aware of (which doesn't include all of them) require a horizontal spearation of 10 feet between water lines and sewer lines, OR, if they can't be separated that far, the invert (bottom elevation) of the water lines has to be at least 18 inches above the top elevation of the sewer line. Where you've got a sewer connection as close to a water line as in the picture, there is no vertical separation because they both come up to ground level, and the horizontal separation is measured in inches, not feet. Mere proximity to the sewer connection is enough to have that water source declared non-potable!

(The reason is that if both lines happen to leak, you can get cross-contamination.)

[TinTin]

I've never seen one quite that close! Eeeewww!

[SteveH]

I suspect they were minimizing the ditch digging when they installed it.

[TinTin]

Can water and sewer lines be in the same trench?

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by TinTin

Can water and sewer lines be in the same trench?

Not sure about the code, but the builder of my house put water, sewer, electricity, and telephone in the same trench going to my shop.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Not sure about the code, but the builder of my house put water, sewer, electricity, and telephone in the same trench going to my shop.

Water and sewer CAN be in the same trench, but there is a required vertical separation, water line higher. 18 inches is typical, but building codes vary on that score.