Do you drink the water in your freshwater tank?

[sunnyone]

We will be picking up our new Scamp 13 at the factory in a few days, and I’ve been obsessively reading everything relevant on the forum.
One thing I’ve noticed is that some folks do not drink the onboard water in their freshwater tank, they bring along separate drinking water.
Do you drink the water in your freshwater tank? Why or why not?
Also, do we need to wash out the new tank before using it for drinking water?

[Raz]

I generally camp in public campgrounds. At one NFS campground there was a small easily missed sign on the entrance bulletin board saying the water had failed testing. I've seen yellow to dark brown water. In most cases I don't know the source, or if or when it's been tested. So normally I don't drink campground water. I will cook and make coffee with it if it is clear but I always get fresh. I use tank water for washing up. I sterilize my tank at the beginning of the season by adding 1/4 cup of bleach to a full tank and letting it sit over night after briefly running the faucet. It usually takes two flushes to get rid of the chlorine smell. Enjoy your new egg.

[patrick crawford]

Yes, i drink the water out of the fresh water tank...because it’s water.

And yes, you should wash it out before drinking and sanitize that tank on a regular basis.

P@

[Doug Arthurs]

I do not. We mostly boondock and have occasionally run out of water and refilled from a lake for showering and dish washing. I don't regularly disinfect the tank so we don't take a chance.

[steve dunham]

We drink , cook and wash with water from our onboard tank .

[AdamNH]

We are new to camper-ing. So far we have not drank from the tank. But I think I'd rather drink our well water out of the regularly sanitized tank rather than drink out of the above ground network of black ABS piping that I see strung around most campgrounds.



But so far we've been bringing separate drinking water.

[Thane]

I filter all water going into the tank and fill up at home before going out, we drink that water. My wife likes the taste of bottled water better than the trailer water so she brings that along.

[Deb Mac]

I drink out of the tank, but still bring small jugs of drinking water (more for the dogs. For some reason, their systems seem more sensitive to odd water than me - dogs and diarrhea on a camping trip is not fun!).

I regularly sanitize my tank, (at the beginning of the season, and usually part-way through, if it's going to sit for a bit) and my previous rv had a filtration system on a separate drinking water spigot. Filters everything from VOC's to bacteria, etc. I also have an in-line filter on the hose before it hits the tank, so it gets a double filtration. My thought is, if it isn't safe to drink, would I want to wash my face in it? Or brush my teeth? Hard to pack enough bottled water to do all of that on a week-long trip. Hard enough to do even using the fresh water tank. It's not that big. So if i don't use shore water some where along the line (directly or from the tank) I'm going to run out really fast.

Haven't been anywhere in this little trailer yet, and still getting her organized to my tastes, but that is the set-up I have had and will be using here as well.

[Spongelander]

It depends where we are, and where we're going. Much of the Southwest has near-undrinkable water, so we have been known to carry bottled water. Otherwise, we generally use the locally-available water.

[Tom Y]

We don't drink the tank water, but use it for everything else. We do the 1/4 cup bleach and flush every spring.
We almost exclusively boondock, carry 4 gallons of drinking water separate, this also extends the time we can stay before we have to re-up everything.

[C&G in FL]

I generally purchase bottled water for making coffee and drinking. Water can taste very different in varying locations, and I am not a fan of the taste imparted by heavy chlorine or chloramines.

[CasitaMiner]

Same here we bring along several one gallon containers water and bottled water for drinking and coffee. We do the bleach thing for freshwater tank every season but do not drink out of freshwater tank. Probably ok if needed but we don't. Some of the campsites have running water they do not recommend drinking as well. So best to be on the safe side.

[Ttocs M]

I only use bottled water for drinking. Campground or trailer tank water is used for everything else.

[Bob Penn]

I bought a Berkey travel water filter (1-1/2 gallons). A pricey but effective solution regardless of the water source and the location. Buying bottled water quickly pays for the Berkey. I felt the Berkey was worth the space/weight penalty for a small trailer.
I use my fresh water tank water for everything else. I also have a water filter on the input to the city water on the trailer.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by patrick crawford

Yes, i drink the water out of the fresh water tank...because it’s water.

And yes, you should wash it out before drinking and sanitize that tank on a regular basis.

P@

[Glenn Baglo]

I advise to Google "bacteria in bottled water", unless you just don't want to know.

[JonRaw]

Originally Posted by Bob Penn

I bought a Berkey travel water filter (1-1/2 gallons). A pricey but effective solution regardless of the water source and the location. Buying bottled water quickly pays for the Berkey. I felt the Berkey was worth the space/weight penalty for a small trailer.
I use my fresh water tank water for everything else. I also have a water filter on the input to the city water on the trailer.

I have the same sized Berkey filter. I previously used RO water at home and after getting the Berkey I ended up using it at home as well so it was worth the money to me. Before I travel I either do a flush or I sanitize the water in the tank depending on how long the Bigfoot has been sitting since the last time I traveled. I shower and wash dishes from the tank but I drink, cook, make coffee, and brush my teeth with Berkey water.

[GatorCasita]

I don't use filters. Most give a false sense of security. Be advised that the Berkey filters make claims of effective filtration, but they have never submitted their filters to organizations that could test and certify those claims. Thus, you are just taking the manufacturer's word when you buy/use one.

[Darwin Maring]

We freeze bottled water, the day B4 departure we adjust the fridge to the coldest temp and then on the morning of departure we put items in the fridge and fill in any extra space with the frozen water bottles and put the remainder in a cooler.
Bottled water is way to cheep to take a chance on drinking tainted water from the tank or campground. Think about it.

[Arthur II]

Originally Posted by GatorCasita

Be advised that the Berkey filters make claims of effective filtration, but they have never submitted their filters to organizations that could test and certify those claims. Thus, you are just taking the manufacturer's word when you buy/use one.

Actually, when I was researching filter systems I did find third party testing for both the 'Berkey' and 'Alexapure'. I was interested in both at the time.



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