Mineral Rich Water

[rarebear.nm]

Quality of RV park water is all over the map. From very good to needing a knife just to stir it!!, not quite but is some is very hard. Generally we've never had a real problem with park water except one time. When you on the move your water source is always changing and so one source will not do much damage. On the one occasion with really hard water I just dumped and flushed the system at the next stop.

We've pretty much always used the local water to drink with no ill affects. Some folks would never do that and that's fine for them. I use a whole house water filter system on the RVs and use a variety of filter cartridge types as the need changes.

[Piros1]

Originally Posted by Sylphy

Hello! Brand spanking new to the RV game here (yeah, we jumped in feet first into the Class A pool). Our sticks-n-bricks home is on well water and it seems like the water is very rich in minerals - we frequently (a couple times a year) have to CLR our faucet screens. My question is - should we subject our RV to this water? Do dump stations provide enough water to fill the tank from a better water source? Does it cost more? Would our limited use (maybe 5-6 times a year) really be a problem with our mineral-rich water? Any information and insight is greatly appreciated!

Water softener, there isn’t enough salt residue in the water to hurt you. I’m 65 and have been drinking it most of my life. Softened well water is better for you than the chemicals you get in treated municipal water supplies that is unless you think chlorine and fluoride is good for you.

[RKins]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Having never owned a portable softener for an RV, how much do they cost and what is the regeration cost and frequency?

Depending on size, an On-The_Go softener costs $2-300. Recharging costs 1-2 boxes of table salt and it depends on the hardness of the water for the frequency of regen.

[Chadrock]

I've heard that using a water softener may cause your water heater anode to decay quickly. Since getting our softener, my wife says that the water has smelled sort of like rotten eggs. Has anyone else found this to be true?

Later today, we will take our anode out and replace it with a new one. I'm interested to see its condition.

[frankgibbons]

Using very rich in mineral water for a long time is not a good idea for your RV water system. We have very hard water at our campground. Hardness was off the charts. I was having issues with calcium deposits. I installed the Watts water softener.

https://rvingreviews.com/plumbing/be...ter-softeners/

According to the directions and check the water hardness, down to almost zero. Soap now suds up. No more spots on everything the water touched. So far appears to worth every penny spent on the softener.

[johnhicks]

I've used a Watts Flow-Pur 10,000 since 2014. Regen uses two cannisters of non-iodized salt. You pour out water, just laying it on its side is sufficient, then remove the top plug and pour in the salt using a funnel. Put the plug back in, close the valves and pressurize with water and let it sit for an hour or longer; longer regens better. Do NOT connect it to your RV. After the regen time, open the valve that contains the restrictor and let if flow for a half-hour or so. The connect up the hose and put it back in service.

In east-central Texas it needed to regen every two weeks and in south-central Florida it regens monthly.

I use filters before the softener to remove sediment and sulfer taste and smell.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Piros1

Water softener, there isn’t enough salt residue in the water to hurt you. I’m 65 and have been drinking it most of my life. Softened well water is better for you than the chemicals you get in treated municipal water supplies that is unless you think chlorine and fluoride is good for you.

There is enough salt to be detrimental to people with HBP, DW has to take meds to control her BP, I switched to Potassium Chloride (at 4X the cost of salt), and her BP lowered enough to where her DR. took he off BP meds. Potassium Chloride increased again to $27 for a 40# bag, it's getting expensive to maintain my water softener now but she's worth every penny.

[richard5933]

We have well water which is very hard. Have been using a whole house softening system for decades. If it's properly adjusted it shouldn't add enough salt to be a problem. They need to be calibrated to the particular hardness of the water.

We fill our fresh water tank (90 gallons) with softened water before leaving on a trip. Usually lasts us 4-5 days. If need be, we'll top off at a campground. This minimizes the amount of hard water going through the coach's plumbing.

Since you have to descale your home faucets already, and since you only plan to go out half a dozen times a year in the coach, why not just invest in a softener at home and use that water to fill your tank?

This wouldn't work if you are out long enough to need to run city water through your coach, but it might if your trips are shorter.

[530ktm]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Since you have to descale your home faucets already, and since you only plan to go out half a dozen times a year in the coach, why not just invest in a softener at home and use that water to fill your tank?

I have soft water at home but it is only for the house and not for hose bibs on outside. I have no easy way of connecting a hose to an inside faucet and running it 100 feet to the water tank. I have thought of ways to do this but on the other hand I go away for longer than 1 tank of water usually so I need the portable softener anyway.

[Persistent]

I see a lot of good information here.


I live in southern Wisconsin. Most water here is from wells into limestone aquafers. Most homes have water softeners tuned for the always the same mineral content. And, most only have soft water in the hot water system. This protects the hot water heater which would quickly fill with lime if not softened.


Some homes have additional soft water supply to cold taps at certain locations, like laundry or showers. Yes, rinsing with soft water makes a big difference in dealing with water spots.


My TT water heater will have the same issues, but I drain it a couple of times a year and don't use much hot water. I do not have a water softener for use with my TT and I do not fill from a soft water supply at home. Drinking softened water is not generally recommended, but no one has been able to explain why that should be so for healthy people. Drinking soft water is certainly not deadly.


You may have more hard water problems if you use a lot of hot water in your RV like I do at home. Soft water has a tendency to "eat" water heater anodes and increase tank corrosion. Hard water will build up lime on electric elements and sediment in the tank bottom.


I would not obsess about starting without a water softener. You can always add one later. Do what works best for you. I prefer to dry showers, sinks, and aerators after use. I never have to use chemicals or abrasives to clean them. They all sparkle like new.

[RKins]

In FL well water has sulphur in it (rotten egg smell). As I started making trips north of FL and up into Indiana I see that well water contains a lot of rust and will plug filters pretty quickly. So you must filter out all this stuff before you soften the results.
My filtering starts at a 10micron carbon inline and then goes through a 1 micron washable filter, then through a .5micron carbon. I have an extra canister to add special filters, like for excess iron. Then I would soften the water if needed. I filter all this into the fresh tank - I don't run from the city water selection.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by RKins

In FL well water has sulphur in it (rotten egg smell). As I started making trips north of FL and up into Indiana I see that well water contains a lot of rust and will plug filters pretty quickly. So you must filter out all this stuff before you soften the results.
My filtering starts at a 10micron carbon inline and then goes through a 1 micron washable filter, then through a .5micron carbon. I have an extra canister to add special filters, like for excess iron. Then I would soften the water if needed. I filter all this into the fresh tank - I don't run from the city water selection.

Yeah - my experience too. Every well is slightly different from the last one. All depends on what they stuck the straw into. Back home in Wisconsin we pump liquid limestone. Other places might have iron, sand, etc. We use a standard whole house filter with a good cartridge instead of the usual little screen filter before the pump.

[tcg]

I can't speak to the water softener issue, I just wanted to comment on the dump station water.

Most of the dump stations I've used have a separate potable water source some distance from the sewer. There will be a faucet near the sewer clearly labeled as not safe and used for rinsing.

If it says potable or drinking water than I use it to fill my tank. The only difference in the two water supplies is the faucets proximity to the sewer and the likelihood it's contaminated.

As far as dump station water being softer or containing less minerals, it's probablly going to be the same as the local water supply unless the campground is on a well. I figure one or two tanks of hard water is not going to cause any troubles.

You could get a simple test kit or Google some of the easy methods to determine if a water source is hard and then decide if you want to use that particular source.