Drinking water

[Karrie]

Hi everyone - we're very new to motorhoming, picking 1st one up next week. Could u let us know please if it is safe to drink the water or do u have to buy bottles of water all the time? Any advice would help.Thank you.

 

[two]

Brita removes bad tastes, but not germs.
Those using such filters are evidence that it may not matter what you drink.

 

[Fontie]

Wonder how long bottled water has been in its plastic bottle before we buy it, longer than we think I bet !

 

[DangerMousy]

We've never sterilised our tank - it gets drained down for the winter or if we're not going to be using it for a while, but that's about it. It gets used for cleaning cleaning teeth and for cooking and making tea and coffee.

We won't buy bottled water so we use one of Link Removedfor drinking water - which sits very nicely in the fridge door. It gets refilled whenever there's a fresh water tap around.

I quite like the idea of the Aqua Sol stuff that was mentioned....not for the sterilising properties but because it says it makes the water taste better....I hate it when my tea tastes funny! Though I'm not sure if I can be bothered adding it to the tank each time we refill.

 

[ceejayt]

Best advice I ever had was that you should "treat water like food". i.e. you can't just let it stagnate kn the tank for days and weeks and then go away - you wouldn't do that with a packet of ham.

Regularly changing, filling and emptying the water is important

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bfb]

Germs build up resistance and for youngsters it’s crucial. Lots of evidence that in the first 5 years of life the more viruses and bacteria kids are exposed to, the better their immune system develops and the less chance of them developing serious diseases in later life.

For older people it’s not that simple. Their immune system is declining and what might be a breeze for a child to throw off can cause complications in a pensioner.

The bottom line is that everybody has a different approach to risk and that’s why the advice on here ranges from the extra cautious to forget it and just enjoy yourself. At the end of the day, you have to go with what suits you as a person.

I quite agree with what you say but if you read my blog, second to last sentence states "SENSIBLE CAUTIONS". Hypochondriacs are by definition not sensible.

 

[bfb]

Best advice I ever had was that you should "treat water like food". i.e. you can't just let it stagnate kn the tank for days and weeks and then go away - you wouldn't do that with a packet of ham.

Regularly changing, filling and emptying the water is important

Next time you buy a bottled water product look at the Best By Date. Most are over a Year not days/weeks.

 

[The Silvers]

Having lived in Spain, never drink the tap water without boiling it!

 

[bfb]

I've heard that myself. Two trips to Spain but I still don't know why.
But it begs the question how come the Spanish don't have a problem even their young and old. Anybody know the the answer to that?

 

[The Silvers]

All the Spanish who I knew and lived near me drank bottled water!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bfb]

So from what you say everybody in Spain only drinks bottled water. Sounds an expensive and bad place to live to me.

 

[DangerMousy]

I think people drinking bottled water in Spain is probably more from habit than from necessity. The EU sets pretty stringent quality standards for drinking water....according to this article from the European Parliament "more than 98.5% of tests carried out on drinking water samples between 2011 and 2013, met EU standards". So unless there are specific local issues then the tap water in Spain is more than likely perfectly safe to drink.

 

[MHdreaming]

Hi everyone - we're very new to motorhoming, picking 1st one up next week. Could u let us know please if it is safe to drink the water or do u have to buy bottles of water all the time? Any advice would help.Thank you.

We buy bottled water it’s so cheap then just use tank water for washing

 

[The Silvers]

I can't speak for everyone, but I lived in a fairly rural area and everyone drank bottled water or water from local sources, not from the mains. The cost of water in Spain is a lot less than the UK.

 

[ceejayt]

Next time you buy a bottled water product look at the Best By Date. Most are over a Year not days/weeks.

Yes, but of course that is properly sealed, not sloshing around in a tank with fresh air and whatever else it contains.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[vwalan]

Yes, but of course that is properly sealed, not sloshing around in a tank with fresh air and whatever else it contains.

and alot of it is only tap water but sold as bottled drinking water.

 

[busbuddy]

we dont drink the water from the vans tank (never in any of my vans) but not for fear of germs but for the taste

i have encountered massive variations in taste on my travels, from metallic to just weird, even on big commercial sites....some are so metallic i could actually smell it as the water boiled and went through quite a lot of kettles before i realised it was the water

as for germs, i would think there would be more germs in the hosepipe most people use than in the tank

 

[Rob Su]

Total newbie (with Swift Escape 674), please forgive my ignorance. Do most people fill water tank from household hose then drive off to a campsite with full tank?

Do they then empty before leaving campsite (onto grass pitch)?
(Same for grey water?)

Someone said “empty hot water tank before winter” - is there a separate release for hot water tank?

 

[charliesgrandad]

Where do you get the replacement filters changed mine 2 years ago?

Just renewed ours from https://www.asap-supplies.com/shop-by-product
Cheapest I could find and paid for 3-5 day delivery and it arrived next day

 

[Reallyretired]

Total newbie (with Swift Escape 674), please forgive my ignorance. Do most people fill water tank from household hose then drive off to a campsite with full tank?

Do they then empty before leaving campsite (onto grass pitch)?
(Same for grey water?)

Someone said “empty hot water tank before winter” - is there a separate release for hot water tank?

There are long threads on here about how much water to travel with, if you're going to a site you may fill up there. Don't drain your water, especially grey onto a campsite pitch. It will turn it into a smelly bog for the nexxt user.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Buzz Baby]

We happily drank the water from our tank before reading about all the gross things that can grow in there. We flush it out when we can, but for drinking water we use a 5L container of water either from home (tea and coffee then taste like they always do) or from mains drinking water on site. We have been recommended to use white wine vinegar for cleaning the tank as it leaves less of an aftertaste. Any comments?

 

[82125]

old post i know, but.
Given the millions all over the world drinking water from sources we'd run screaming from because of what is, in part marketing, to get you to buy "pure" clean bottled water.. ill continue to drink from my onboard water tank.
I lived full time on my boat for 3 years, when i first cracked open the water tank inspection hatches (which were sealed shut and clearly had not been opened in decades) it was pretty grim in there. I cleaned them out best i could by hand, no chemicals, and repeatedly flushed through. Drank nothing but water from the onboards tanks and it tasted better than from any household tap (presumably because the chemicals the water boards add dissipate over time in a holding tank?).
I always run the water through the (non food grade) filling hose for a good while before filling my tank, but other than that I still seem to be alive.
I'll be employing the same approach on my motorhome. I may chuck a steri tab in at some point in the future though because I now have a plastic tank, (the boat tanks were rusty metal).

 

[Lizbiebrowne]

We drink water straight from the tank, no problems. However, the ice cubes for the G&T's are made from bottled water - standards shouldn't be allowed to slip!

 

[82125]

We drink water straight from the tank, no problems. However, the ice cubes for the G&T's are made from bottled water - standards shouldn't be allowed to slip!

I have an ice making machine for this very task onboard! (still filled from the tank though even when im using the Fever Tree good stuff!)

 

[charliesgrandad]

We have used a Nature Pure water filter in all our motorhomes - just use it for drinking and water for tea, coffee etc as it strips out any nasty tastes and also any nasties but other than that we aways use the tank water for teeth cleaning, washing up etc and don't worry about it.

You can see the filter at this link

We have been using Nature pure for about 10 years, maybe it is cheaper to buy bottled water, but then you have to remember to get it then find somewhere to store it

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[GJH]

We have always drunk from the tank in both the vans we have owned since 2006 and are still here.
We do use a Brita filter jug though as we found that there can be off flavours in some supplies, particularly at shows and rallies.
We did look at fitting a Nature Pure filter in our current van a few years ago but it was impossible to fit it without major surgery to cupboards.