We’ve been on the road full time for almost two and a half years. We love our little vintage coach. A 1979 Avion, 34V. Triple axle, all-aluminum classic. We upgraded all the utilities when we built her out to hit the road. A tankless water heater, new furnace, new 12-volt fridge, and a solar system to provide 12-volt, and 120-volt electricity.
When we moved into the coach, we installed our under kitchen sink water filter from our previous house. It’s a good filter, carbon block filtration down to 0.2 microns, and a UV lamp. With all this in mind, I was still unsettled about our freshwater tank situation. We operate almost 100% of the time using our onboard freshwater tank since we are in cold weather a lot, stay in primitive sites, and sometimes simply can’t park close enough to an available spigot to make hooking a hose up practical. Water across America is found in all kinds of conditions and quality, and the taste of water can vary greatly in different locations. The under-sink filter takes care of the taste in our drinking and cooking water, but we brush our teach and shower in the water straight from the freshwater tank. On occasion, we stay at places where we are warned by the property owner to not drink the water. It’s usually well water, but sometimes city water is foul too and smells so bad we can’t stand it.
So what to do? A couple of popular water filter systems for RVs are available, but they are bulky, expensive, and lack the UV light necessary to kill living organisms like E. coli and giardia, and other pesky living things. These systems are also designed to sit on the ground outside the coach while in use. Fine if you’re just filling the freshwater tank, and packing it back away. But I didn’t want to leave an expensive water filter system outdoors, where it is in the weather, freezing temps, or easy to be stolen. I did some homework, starting with trying to find a filter system made in the US. It’s hard, and the systems start to get really pricey, fast, even the systems built overseas.
After a long internet search, I found a system made in Canada. Funny enough, our 12v/120v fridge came from Canada too. Because of its compact size, and purpose, the filter system is affordable. I plan to install the water filter system in a cabinet near the water fill hose and city water connection. I’ll plumb it in so it will filter the freshwater tank, or the city water hook up. This means we can fill our freshwater tank with whatever water is available, and thanks to a sediment filter, a carbon block filter, and an ultraviolet purifier chamber, our water smell, taste, and worries will be behind us. I can already count on one hand the locations we stay where the water has been iffy at best, and it’s a big relief to know that won’t be a problem from now on. I’ll have to drain and sanitize the freshwater tank on occasion just to keep it from getting too slimy, but I won’t be taking a shower wondering what kind of contaminates are in my water. The system should arrive in less than a week. We’ll be in Galveston Texas then, and I’ll probably install it while I am there. I’ll post some pictures and show the installation then. In the meantime, I feel relieved knowing the last of our utility goals is about to be finished. One that will provide clean, safe water, no matter where we go.
This is the water filter system we have ordered on the way. Really compact, and complete.
https://www.toboaenergy.com/product/uv-250-system-complete-4-0-gpm-water-purification-system-12v-dc/
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