Do you drink the water at RV parks?

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by TinTin

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

Agreed! Eeeewww!

[crispyboy]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

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.)

The separations between the utilities (water/sewer) is a guideline and can be met in many situations but often when working in urban areas there is only so much room to work underground. These utilities do come closer than the "guidelines" and typically a variance is granted for these situations. In my work I have looked down several manholes only to see an old watermain passing right through the sewer main....... BTW - have you ever seen the inside of an old water main? You may not drink the water.
At home we have cistern and I drink the water straight with maybe a little dose of chlorox when a good rain comes. When I drink the "city water" I can taste the chemicals and it's awful.
I agree that the utilities in Moosetags picture could have had more separation it wouldn't stop me from drinking the water. I usually let the water run for awhile to let the chlorine levels come up and move some sediment out of the line before I hook up the trailer.
On the trailer I do use the larger Camco filter #40631 and it does a good job but really cuts down on pressure.
Item
Over the summer I had a hose burst from high pressure - it blew up like a big Anaconda snake! If you have to have a regulator I would buy a bigger one that is adjustable with a guage.

[63air]

In the campground I try to avoid the water and drink either a quality beer or something prepared in a blender with bagged ice.

[silverlabs]

We use a combination of both. Some CG are okay and some are not to our liking but we use that water to clean and cook with anyway. Water for hiking and drinking is bottled and if the campground water doesn't suit our taste we use bottled water for our coffee maker. The dogs get inexpensive bottled water to keep their systems consistent, if you know what I mean.

[mefly2]

in a word ...NO. We bring our own drinking water or buy bottled ...CG water is for flushing / washing ... no Montezuma's Revenge for us!

[FlashSilver]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

Total newbie question because I am a total newbie. I've read that I should use a white hose for fresh water but does that mean the park's water is drinkable? Even when I stay in hotels I drink bottled water. If you don't drink it, do you cook with it or is it just showers, washing dishes and flushing the john?

As I've stated before, I don't drink water without disinfecting it first with some good antibacterial agent such as Bourbon or Scotch. I do use a Brita water filter for making ice, cooking, or making coffee. If the water smells bad I go elsewhere. I do not put bad smelling water in my trailer for any purpose. Works for me.

[scamp]

Originally Posted by timhortons

You do realize bottled water is usually just water from a municipal supply with the added bonus of soft-plastic taste ?

Very good someone is doing research!
Most people drink the campground water ,and most are on a well, the ground does the natural filtering,if in dought buy yourself a berkey water filter they are used by unicef disaster relief personnel they can even filter out pesticides ,arsenic,ecolie,etc..... And come in many different sizes front the typical portable sports bottle ( I have one but find its hard to get water out as you have to squeeze the bottle while sucking , low flow ) then they have the table top ones travel berkey all the way up to a massive size one , love the berkey we have but for a family of four should of got a bigger one as it takes a while to filter the water ( natural gravitation) remember the longer it takes to filter the water smaller the filter pores are and more is filtered out! One draw back I heard was the filter is fragile in a home just handle it carefully not sure how it would do on the road, as the filters last a longggg time I think it's like 3000 gallons each filter element ,mine are close to two years and are in great shape and should last around 10years at are water consumption. So I use the campground water for everything besides drinking and cooking . After all would you go back to a restaurant if you got sick there, (bad business) same goes for campgrounds if I get sick from the water at a campground I would never go back! And with the Internet the word would spread and that campground would go out of business eventually .

[Paddledipper]

We wash with it but we don't drink water from our camper lines at all, yet. Our camper sat for 4 years before we got it and we had no idea about the cleanliness of it's tank and lines. We bleached it all well and flushed the lines after letting the bleach sit in it for a good while. I just sent a water sample off for testing and if that comes back safe I imagine we'd drink campground water. As long as it doesn't smell or taste funny, wasn't in a swampy area and was a well maintained property. We'll stick to the .89 gallon jugs of water for now and considering the inline filter so many of you use, just to be on the safer side.

[Zil]

I am a retired water treatment specialist. I would not trust most campground water. Especially the ones that close during part of the year.
As for hoses swelling or bursting from the heat of the sun. A pressure regulator will not help. Only a pressure release valve will cure that.

[Lily&Me]

I just have to say this.....

We have traveled and camped 20,000 miles in our first rig, and then 154,000+ miles in the Interstate, in 47 of the lower 48 states since 2002.

We have never once become sick, anywhere......not from the water, food we ate, nor anything appearing to be from water or food we had consumed.

I have never heard of anyone becoming ill from campground water anywhere, altho it certainly could have occurred.

I have a few thoughts on this issue of generally voiding campground water....

Use common sense, sanitize your tanks, filter your water for taste or if that is what you usually do at home for whatever reason. If the water is okay for the rest of the campground, it is okay for you......specific allergies, sensitivities, etc., notwithstanding

As you get out there and travel this beautiful country, letting go of irrational fears of the unknown (from living in a white bread world, as we in the business say) is part of the process of relaxing, getting into, and thoroughly enjoying, the travel life......i.e. fear that muggers/robbers lurk everywhere.....fear that everyone living differently or not in step with your life is dangerous, degenerate, mentally ill, to be avoided, etc......and fear that the public water in strange places in this country is unsafe.

I'm sure there are other irrational fears most of us have suffered from at some point, but this is what I am thinking of right now.

Most of us, but not all, have lived somewhat "white bread" lives.....a bit sheltered from the dredges of humanity, living lifestyles we had complete control over......and only drinking familiar water.

If we are going to really enjoy and embrace this beautiful country, and the wide variety of people in it, we need to open our minds and hearts, and let go of the fears we have cultivated......use good sense, smile and say hello, be kind and open-minded....and drink the water.

Life is short. You want to live it.

A bit of a diatribe.....I just had to.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

As you get out there and travel this beautiful country, letting go of irrational fears of the unknown (from living in a white bread world, as we in the business say) is part of the process of relaxing, getting into, and thoroughly enjoying, the travel life......i.e. fear that muggers/robbers lurk everywhere.....fear that everyone living differently or not in step with your life is dangerous, degenerate, mentally ill, to be avoided, etc......

I live in the New Orleans metro area. Nearly everyplace I go is safer than where I live! At least if you listen to the evening news and get the daily murder rate reports.

[moosetags]

Maggie, I must agree with your approach. We do not consider ourselves folks who throw caution to the wind, but we try not to let caution rule our lives. We really enjoy our Airstream adventures, and seeing every nook and cranny of this great nation. We now have over 1,500 nights of Airstream camping in the last nine years. We drink the water from the campground and from our fresh water tank. We use the toilet and shower in the Airtream. We don't have a burglar alarm. We camp at "sketchy" campgrounds. We eat out at restaurants. If these things are throwing caution to the wind, then so be it.

We have decided that we are going to enjoy our retirement immensely. We are doing this by Airstreaming our way around America. We hope to be able to do this for a long time to come.

Brian

[Lily&Me]

Not letting caution rule our lives.....I really like that.


Maggie

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

I just have to say this.....

We have traveled and camped 20,000 miles in our first rig, and then 154,000+ miles in the Interstate, in 47 of the lower 48 states since 2002.

We have never once become sick, anywhere......not from the water, food we ate, nor anything appearing to be from water or food we had consumed.

I have never heard of anyone becoming ill from campground water anywhere, altho it certainly could have occurred.

I have a few thoughts on this issue of generally voiding campground water....

Use common sense, sanitize your tanks, filter your water for taste or if that is what you usually do at home for whatever reason. If the water is okay for the rest of the campground, it is okay for you......specific allergies, sensitivities, etc., notwithstanding

As you get out there and travel this beautiful country, letting go of irrational fears of the unknown (from living in a white bread world, as we in the business say) is part of the process of relaxing, getting into, and thoroughly enjoying, the travel life......i.e. fear that muggers/robbers lurk everywhere.....fear that everyone living differently or not in step with your life is dangerous, degenerate, mentally ill, to be avoided, etc......and fear that the public water in strange places in this country is unsafe.

I'm sure there are other irrational fears most of us have suffered from at some point, but this is what I am thinking of right now.

Most of us, but not all, have lived somewhat "white bread" lives.....a bit sheltered from the dredges of humanity, living lifestyles we had complete control over......and only drinking familiar water.

If we are going to really enjoy and embrace this beautiful country, and the wide variety of people in it, we need to open our minds and hearts, and let go of the fears we have cultivated......use good sense, smile and say hello, be kind and open-minded....and drink the water.

Life is short. You want to live it.

A bit of a diatribe.....I just had to.


Maggie

Hear, Hear!!

If you are worried at a particular spot. Do like backpackers do. Use purification methods for your drinking water. I drink river and lake water while in the wilderness...and this is know water full of giardia (sp)...nasty parasites, and other bacteria.

Rather than carrying a lot of weight and bottled water, mostly just tap water anyway, carry purification methods.

1) your choice of filters, either on board the AS...or specifically designed for muddy untreated water. My choice for drinking water is this:

MSR® MiniWorks™ EX Microfilter.

Small, filters to .2 microns (captures all parasites and bacteria...but not viruses) has a cleanable ceramic filter, no expensive replacements nor landfill.(I am still using my first one after about 10 years)

To treat your filtered water my choice is:

Aquamira Chlorine Dioxide Water Treatment

It is absolutely tasteless and I think actually improves the taste of water with minerals or odors.

For bulk water needs, I use this as the filter:

Katadyn Base Camp Water Filter

You can get all your cooking and washing needs done with this, as well as drinking water. But it uses rather expensive throw away filters.

Mind you, I don't think ANY of this is necessary 99% of the time for AS camping and fresh water hookups, but for boondocking near a water source, you could stretch your stay.

[dkottum]

Sounds like everyone has their mind made up based on this discussion, for their own reasons. Mine is, still won't drink campground water and see no reason for adding a water pressure regulator to the Airstream built-in unit, and harbor no irrational fears of living on account of it.

[TinTin]

Choosing not to drink unfamiliar water isn't letting caution rule your life. Sheesh !

[Protagonist]

I don't let caution rule my life, but I practice risk assessment and risk management. Some risks are worth taking. Others aren't. But only you, the person facing the risk, can tell which are which.

When it comes to water supplies, I'll choose the cleanest water available, and take simple precautions to make the water cleaner. Because unlike some posters on this thread, I have gotten ill from drinking unfamiliar water supplies before, and it was a great heap of no fun.

But I don't go to the extreme of bringing my own bottled water. I filter the water that comes into my Airstream.

[m.hony]

Choosing to drink water that stinks or tastes bad isn't letting caution rule my life-
To a certain degree we need to let caution rule our lives-
We got to be more careful-
Our water at home used to be the best clean, clear water ever. All of a sudden, it either smells like sulfur or chlorine. They are building a new waste water treatment plant. I wonder if this is a result/byproduct of the construction and maybe it will be a temporary thing? Maybe when the new treatment plant is completed we will get our clean, clear water back? We'll see-

[m.hony]

We buy bottled water by the case anyway. It is what we buy now instead of soft drinks.
I do still drink tap water at home occasionally. When it is real cold it goes down better.

[Lily&Me]

And, what I was saying, broadly.....what may be perfectly rational for one person may simply be a generalized fear of the unknown for the next.

It's the latter, and we've all been there at some point in our lives, that I was speaking to.


Maggie