Since I travel a lot, I often find myself in places where the water quality is barely adequate to say the least! Now when it comes to water, the wife and I are sorta squimish about what we put into our bodies. If it “looks bad, smells bad or tastes funny, we don’t do it….period!” So, in order to obtain good quality drinking water, we mostly depend on store bought water. But we still need water in the RV to do the necessities of life; bathing, washing, cleaning and for toilet flushing.

Sediment Filter – Just because the water is not murky (or maybe it is), or you cannot visibly see anything floating around in it, this does not mean that there are no contaminates in the water. Even if murkiness is not your complaint, a sediment filter will protect your downstream equipment from premature failure by removing the gunk that could otherwise cause a problem. Not sure if you have priced a water heater lately, but they are not cheap! Sediment filters work by straining out the sediment and holding it. Therefore replacement of the cartridges is required once they become plugged.

Carbon Filter – Have you ever been to a place where the water either tasted funny or smelled bad? The contaminants that affect the taste and odor of water will go right through a sediment filter, so you’ll need to add something else to remove them. Carbon has an uncanny ability to grab onto the bad stuff in water, leaving the water very clean-tasting and odor-free. Just like sediment filters, carbon filters require replacement once they become clogged, however they will not plug up as quickly as sediment filters.

Combination Units – Rather than purchasing two sets of filters (sediment and carbon), combination filter elements are manufactured that remove sediment and make the water smell and taste good. They are compact and relatively inexpensive, and made of carbon-powder-impregnated paper. The downside of these units is that they have a limited carbon component, so the taste-and-odor improvement is much less than you would get from a dedicated carbon filter.

Biological Agents – Biological agents include protozoa, bacteria, viruses, and cysts and spores. The most prevalent are very small (2-4 microns in size). They can be removed with a ultrafine filter that has a rating of 0.9 microns. This removes all pathogenic microbes, however there are still viruses to consider, which are even smaller than can be filtered.

Total Purification – There are two methods that can produce virtually pure water and are

suitable for use in RVs. One is distillation; however it is quite expensive to operate and produces a low volume of clean water. The other, and most recommended for RV owners, is Reverse Osmosis. I will cover reverse osmosis systems in a later blog.

OK, have I totally made you panic? My wife often starts itching and scratching about this time in our discussions….lol. So how do I filter out water so as not to contaminate my hot water heater and plug my system??

Well, for now, I use a double cartridge filter unit. The first cartridge is a sediment cartridge and the second is a carbon cartridge. Make sure you get the units that do not use the clear canisters, as they have a tendency to accumulate algae over time.

Like I said, I usually buy my drinking water, however I am about to install a reverse osmosis unit and when I do, rest assured I will share the installation, as well as the result, with you on my website.

Until then, happy RV’ing!