Does Anyone Really Drink Water from Their On Board Water Tanks?

[jeryan59]

Originally Posted by Steve Ownby

I keep my tank nearly full all the time and use the water regularly. Water from the tank goes through the same 2 filters as the shore water. Drinking water goes through a final filter in the galley. 8 years full time. I have never understood RVers reluctance to use the fresh water tank. We rarely buy bottled water.


Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

I agree with Steve, I always fill my tank before I put it away in storage also with city water, I try to never put well water in the tank. I do not notice a difference coming from my tap in the coach to the tap in the house.

[John H...]

Also drink bottled water in the S&B

[DeWat]

Some very interesting reading! Just read today how bottled water is #3 on Market Watch's top 10 list of things NOT to buy in 2015:
10 things not to buy in 2015 - MarketWatch

[jeryan59]

Originally Posted by DeWat

Some very interesting reading! Just read today how bottled water is #3 on Market Watch's top 10 list of things NOT to buy in 2015:
10 things not to buy in 2015 - MarketWatch

I have also seen how drinking bottled water you are not getting the fluoride for your teeth besides the pollution issues of bottled water containers. But I do use bottled water in our other home which is on well water but I only use the bottled water (actually our city water I haul in plastic jugs I reuse) since our well water's minerals clog the DW's coffee maker occasionally. I'm not a green freak, but I do try not to be wasteful. My point is with proper care with your holding tank you shouldn't have any issues, I have been using my holding tank on my 2 motorhomes for 14 years with no issues and merely pointing out with bottle water you are not getting fluoride which is another benefit besides the convenience of using tap water. But if you chose to use bottle water, go for it.

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by Ron Goshorn

I think it's more important to sanitize the water connection . We carry a one quart spray bottle with a mixture of 1/2 cup Clorox and the rest water to spray on the connections before hooking up the water.

Unless you cleaned the spigot with soap and water before spraying it with bleach, you didn't sanitize anything.

[CLIFFTALL]

Originally Posted by TechWriter

Unless you cleaned the spigot with soap and water before spraying it with bleach, you didn't sanitize anything.

How true. I've seen people put their slinky up to the spigot to rinse it. SIGH :(

[sknight]

I, along with most everyone here I'm sure, grew up grabbing a lord knows how old garden hose that had been sitting wet in the sun for months and not hesitating to take a drink.

And have you ever cut an old iron pipe open?

I drink from my taps, it is filtered only because it came with a filter assembly. I'm not dead yet.

[malexander]

I fill my fresh water tank with my garden hose out of my well at home. I drink it in the house, why not the motorhome?

[BeachDude]

I maintain the heck out of the fresh water tank to keep it clean, for those campouts where I will NEED to drink from the tank. I regularly use it, and flush it out with white Vinegar every so often.

I usually have full hookups and drink filtered city water, (that also is filtered with a ZeroWater pitcher filter). I occasionally fill and drain the freshwater tank to make sure the water doesn't turn stale. And, I can see through the opaque tank to make sure it isn't ever mold infested.

The ZeroWater pitcher came with a little digital meter than can measure Total Dissolved Solids. On various occasions my freshwater tank water from my last fill-up has been much cleaner than the available hookup city water at my particular new location!

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by BeachDude

I maintain the heck out of the fresh water tank to keep it clean, for those campouts where I will NEED to drink from the tank. I regularly use it, and flush it out with white Vinegar every so often....

Suggest you read these links:

Does Vinegar Disinfect As Well As Bleach? - Save Money And Get Out Of Debt - Living on a Dime

http://www.livingonadime.com/vinegar...ell-as-bleach/

[BeachDude]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Does Vinegar Disinfect As Well As Bleach? - Save Money And Get Out Of Debt - Living on a Dime

I don't ever attempt to disinfect my fresh water tank. I live in a warm climate and I use my RV's all year long, so they never just sit or are "winterized". The water in the tank is constantly refreshed.

About twice a year, if I'll be driving for over three hours, I'll pour about 8 ounces of Vinegar into the tank and let it splash around. Not so much for disinfecting anything because I'm really not concerned about bacteria or germs. Just to "freshen" up the tank before I drain it and refill it.

It's a lot easier to flush out vinegar, than bleach. And, drinking residual vinegar is probably better for my health than any residual chlorine bleach.

[1ciderdog]

For the 50 years or so we have been camping/RVing we have drank from the water storage tanks. Lived on a sailboat 12 years and often caught rain water to put into the onboard water tanks. Maybe not the best idea with seagulls resting on or near the canvas. We also lived on St Croix USVI in the early 1970's in a small condo. The rain water (along with bird and animal poop) ran off the roof into into an underground cistern which we used for drinking water. One day we were low on water so I removed the cover from the cistern to see how much water was in there and our boston terrior jumped down into the cistern. I had to get a ladder and go down and get him out. The sediment in the bottom of that cistern was at least four inches deep. That is a bunch worse than drinking out of the garden hose but we survived all that. Do I recommend this type of water - certainly not. Did it kill us - certainly not. Bathroom runs - not in our case but different folks different systems. OK, we don't drink water from a cistern any more but do drink from our on board water tanks. Works for us but people have to do what works for them.

[UTTransplant]

I distinguish bacteriologically unsafe water and poor tasting water. The first is very improbable in the United States, and the probability is not one I am concerned with. Bad tasting water is more commom, and we handle it by tasting the water before we fill up. I use the on-tank supply all the time. The energy and plastic waste that goes into bottled water is just not something I can support. We clean our tanks on a regular basis.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Steve Ownby

Excellent point. Most filters installed by coach builders are placed to filter water coming out of the tank or from shore water. The only filter that should be used on water entering the fresh water tank is a sediment filter.


Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

Our Dutch Star filters any water coming in whether to the tank or water system so all it has is a sediment filter. The ice maker and water spigot have far better (and far more expensive) filters in them!