Saved (or panicked?) by whole house water filter

[Nildecaf]

Tonight the 4 star RV resort we're staying in suffered an underground water line break. My wife was doing laundry at the time so we were hooked up to camp water. After finishing dinner, I went out to put away the fresh water hose for the night as the temperature tonight will be well below freezing.

Was interrupted by campground maintenance personnel who informed me of the water main break and that they would be shutting off the water to the campground until some time tomorrow. No problem for me as I've got at least 60 gal in my fresh water tank.

Go in to do dishes and no water (hot or cold) on internal pump.
Run out and no hot water on internal pump in wet bay. Pump doesn't start.
Cold water in wet bay is fine. Internal pump runs fine.
So I figure something from the water main break is blocking plumbing lines. Multiple hours of trouble shooting - no resolution. Start looking up RV repair and plumbing providers to call in the morning. Why do things always break late at night????

After chilling a couple of hours I remember that there is a whole house water filter on my fresh water inlet. Go back out into the freezing cold and replace the now very very dirty filter with my spare. Dang (I used stronger language) if that didn't solve the problem!!!

Tonight's lesson learned - the whole house filter not only filters all fresh water from the campground but also filters all water from the tank.

Tomorrow, I will drain and flush the fresh water tank, order a new spare filter, install a screen on my fresh water campground hose and thank my luck stars that no damage was done to my house plumbing.

Happy endings to all tonight!

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by Nildecaf

Tonight the 4 star RV resort we're staying in suffered an underground water line break. My wife was doing laundry at the time so we were hooked up to camp water. After finishing dinner, I went out to put away the fresh water hose for the night as the temperature tonight will be well below freezing.



Was interrupted by campground maintenance personnel who informed me of the water main break and that they would be shutting off the water to the campground until some time tomorrow. No problem for me as I've got at least 60 gal in my fresh water tank.



Go in to do dishes and no water (hot or cold) on internal pump.

Run out and no hot water on internal pump in wet bay. Pump doesn't start.

Cold water in wet bay is fine. Internal pump runs fine.

So I figure something from the water main break is blocking plumbing lines. Multiple hours of trouble shooting - no resolution. Start looking up RV repair and plumbing providers to call in the morning. Why do things always break late at night????



After chilling a couple of hours I remember that there is a whole house water filter on my fresh water inlet. Go back out into the freezing cold and replace the now very very dirty filter with my spare. Dang (I used stronger language) if that didn't solve the problem!!!



Tonight's lesson learned - the whole house filter not only filters all fresh water from the campground but also filters all water from the tank.



Tomorrow, I will drain and flush the fresh water tank, order a new spare filter, install a screen on my fresh water campground hose and thank my luck stars that no damage was done to my house plumbing.



Happy endings to all tonight!

When was the last time you changed filter before this problem?

[Nildecaf]

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

When was the last time you changed filter before this problem?

6 months. So the filter would have been dirty but not clogged so water couldn't get through it.

[Weeds636]

I am new to motorhomes having a trailer before. I still use and outside water filter in conjunction with the one in the motorhome. I also use a pressure reducer.

The outside filter was once filled with pvc particles from a repaired watermain at a state park.

[153stars]

You will likely end up with more crud when the water is back up. If filter doesn't filter what's going in tank then I would wait on filling it back up or use a Camco hose filter.

[Nildecaf]

Originally Posted by 153stars

You will likely end up with more crud when the water is back up. If filter doesn't filter what's going in tank then I would wait on filling it back up or use a Camco hose filter.

Fortunately I was scheduled to move to a new park the morning after the water main break so I didn't have to deal with possible contamination when they turned the water back on. I did tell the office about my problem and suggest the let everyone in the park know they should check their filters but you never know if they followed through.

[Fiesta48]

Always keep a 1/4 tank of fresh water aboard. During recent TX winter storm in RGV our water supply was shut down 4 times. Gee it got down to 25.
Both sewer and fresh hoses were pulled in.