Message Forums

Quote: Originally posted by jjim on 09/4/2009

---

 Hi all, a good tip is to invest in a water filter jug they fit nicely in the fridge and give you nice clean cool filtered drinking water for under a tenner look on ebay.

---

We ave both a filter jug and kettle.

We have camped and caravaned for years and neaver taken all the precautions that people seem to take nowadays.  I was brought up on Spring Water and my children drank Spring Water. At least no chemical addatives in that.  So where do you think bottled water comes from ????? Never did any of us any harm.  Now there are so many chemicals put into water that you don't know whats getting into your system.

We use bought bottled water from Lidl, as its cheaper, for the kettle cooking and drinking but use the aquaroll water for washing hands and dishes. I may invest in a filter jug though.  

The water on sites in the UK should indicate by law it is drinking water. This is just a pipe coming from a big pipe in the ground in exactly the same way as you have at home.

HOWEVER the debate is still around on whether you should 'trust' the caravan system. The pipes in the van SHOULD be (unless someone has modernised the system and got it wrong) food grade piping.

From what I can gather from reading the internet this type of piping is internally smoother (on a microscopic level) and therefore more resistant to organisms sticking to it and also you get no after taste due to the type of material used. No doubt someone will know than me but food grade is safe for use in pubs and hotels etc.

I do on a rare occasion drink the water from the van supply and have never had a bug in my years of vanning. I avoid it as I dont really drink water and usually have a bottle of diet coke in the fridge anyway.

The only real issue is the van stands around a lot, at home you regularly flush the water supply but in a van it can hang around for weeks not being used. Also as they are usually in storage and exposed to the elements, they go through sun and frost which can promote mould and fungus things.

As has been said on other posts we always sterlise with Milton beginning of season and change the filter (although this doesn't sterilise the water) - we then use purification tablets for the first fill of every trip.

My advise is avoid drinking water from the caravan supply if you are very old, have poor immunity or very young babies as the 'runs' can be dangerous for these folk.

However if you filled a drinking bottle from the site drinking water tap this is no difference from the water you get at home..

We don't & never have drunk water through the caravan tap, we draw our drinking & tea making water straight from the site tap. We only use the aquarol water for washing & showering.

BB 

Wife and I had decided a while back that the water from our taps no matter how much we cleaned the system always gave a "taint" to the water and we didn't enjoy the perfect cuppa!

Bought a cheap water filter unit including 9 spare filters all for £9.99 at Robert Dyas homestores and all we do now is take an empty 2 or 5 litre water bottle with us and fill it up from site drinking water taps - thats enough for several days. We fill the water filter unit and put it in the fridge door.

Here is a tip from the filter manufacturer - when you are finished on site and going home, take the cartridge out and put it in a sealed plastic bag with some water inside the bag and then put it in your fridge at home for the next journey away. That way the cartridge won't dry out and be ruined....just dump the first two fills of the filter jug next time you use it. (You could of course use the water filter jug at home and aso when away.)  

Just to mention we now only use our water from onboard taps for washing up and showers etc.

Result is a totally clean taste and a lovely cuppa.

Kevin