One of the most important considerations for full-time travel in an RV is how to ensure access to potable water in the places you plan to explore.
Although most places in the U.S. have reliably safe drinking water, and most RV parks undergo periodic testing to ensure compliance with safe drinking water standards, some hose spigots certainly inspire more confidence than others.
If your travels will take you off-grid for a few weeks, or across international borders (or both in our case), you’ll needs will be significantly different from someone traveling from RV park to RV park in the U.S. For starters, you’ll need to find water.
Where to Find Water on the Road
Finding water on the road in the U.S. can sometimes be challenging, especially if you are looking to fill up for free. Although hose spigots are everywhere, most of them aren’t for public use. To save you time and effort locating public water sources, we highly recommend downloading an app like iOverlander or Sekr. With either of these apps, you can easily search for publicly accessible water near your location or along your travel route.
In addition to using an app, you can almost always find water available at these nine places:
- RV fill stations
- Public campgrounds (along with private campgrounds if you’re staying there)
- Gas stations and truck stops
- Public parks
- Rest areas
- Fire stations
- RV dealerships
- Camping World or Cabela’s
- The homes of family and friends
If you find yourself filling up at a private business, like a gas station, it’s always a good idea to check with someone before filling up.
How to Ensure Your Drinking Water is Safe
As mentioned above, most drinking water in the U.S. meets strict health and safety standards. That being said, we have definitely come across some pretty questionable water sources during our travels, and have even had issues in RV parks. In many rural areas of the Western U.S., water is made available through public and private wells whose water quality can change drastically — especially during long periods of drought.
We’ve come across many sources in the desert that are discolored or smell funny, and there was really no way to know what was in the water. We’ve also had two separate occasions where an RV park warned us not to drink their water because of contaminants. Older RV parks can have problems with algae in their water lines and have to bleach them out periodically, and old septic systems next to old water pipes can be a truly toxic mix.
Do how can you ensure your drinking water is safe while RVing? There are basically two options – you can submit a water sample to an independent state certified laboratory and wait to get your result before drinking, or you can invest in a water filtration system for your RV.
The Evolution of Our Water System
When we transitioned from van life to our Airstream, we knew we’d have to upgrade our water system. In the van we stored water in two seven-gallon water jugs and used them to refill a 2.5 gallon jug under the sink for washing dishes and several 1L water bottles for drinking. We did our best to be mindful of where we sourced our water, but sometimes we had to make do with what we could find. We carried a small backpacking water filtration system in case of emergencies, and we sometimes resorted to buying large bottles of water when safe drinking water was especially difficult to find. It wasn’t great, and we drank some water we definitely weren’t stoked on, but we made it work.
However, after purchasing our Airstream, we knew we needed to upgrade our water system. We wanted a system we could use easily at RV parks and still rely on while dispersed camping. Not being sure where to start, we reached out to some of our favorite full-time travel families and asked them what they were using. They all had slightly different systems, but they all agreed that a good water filter was the most important component. Several of them recommended Clearsource as the best in-line filter on the market, while a few others preferred products that filter water from the tap.
After doing some research, we decided against all the “after the tap” water filtration systems. They either did not provide the level of treatment we were looking for or took up too much valuable counter space and required constant re-filling. With four of us drinking water, we needed something that could filter at volume and could handle the questionable water sources we often encounter in remote parts of the Western U.S. and along Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. With all of this in mind, we decided to build our water system around the Clearsource Premier.
Here’s why: The Clearsource RV Water System utilizes a hospital grade, 0.2-micron filter that captures even the smallest of contaminates – better than all other in -line, single or dual canister RV water filter systems on the market. This two-stage system removes and reduces sediment, chlorine, pesticides, and most bacteria while also improving taste and smell. All this while still managing to filter 6.5 gallons per minute. This means we can fill our 39-gallon fresh water tank with filtered drinking water in just over six minutes!
Once we settled on the Clearsource Premier as our water filter, the rest of our system came together pretty naturally. After we received our filter, we purchased a short 3’ drinking water hose to run water from a spigot to the filter and a longer 25’ drinking water hose to run from the filter to the Airstream. We also picked up a water pressure regulator, which was recommended by a fellow camper. High water pressure can sometimes overwhelm RV plumbing, so a regulator can help you avoid a disastrous leak. This is the extent of our water system while camped at an RV park or campground where water is provided at our site.
How We Get Potable Water While Dispersed Camping
When we’re camping off-grid, things get a bit more complicated. If we aren’t driving too far, I will fill up our freshwater tank before we leave. If we’re driving over 150 miles, I will usually only fill the tank 25% or less to provide just enough water for the drive and the first night/day camping. If there’s water easily available in route, I’ll fill up on the way to our dispersed campsite using the setup outlined above. Once we’ve set up camp, I don’t move the trailer again unless our black water tank gets full (which usually takes 7-10 days) or it’s time to move to another campsite.
So how do we get water out in the boonies?
Glad you asked! ? When we start getting low on water I will run into town with our truck and fill our 32-gallon portable water bladder using our 25’ drinking water hose. The bladder is super compact when not in use and has performed remarkably well despite its fragile appearance. Once I get back to camp, I use a 1/10 horsepower transfer pump I picked up at Harbor Freight for $60 to transfer the water from the portable water bladder, through the Clearsource water filter, and into our Airstream’s freshwater tank. The transfer pump is a little slow, and requires a 120v outlet, but it gets the jobs done.
Fortunately, our tow vehicle has a 120v outlet in the truck bed, making this a pretty simple process, but others may be interested in Clearsource’s Nomad Water Filter System, which features a built in 15AMP pump that allows you to easily pull and filter water from natural sources like a lake, stream, or a portable water bladder. In hindsight, this model would have probably been the best choice for us, but we are super happy with how our water system came together and how it has performed.
Final Thoughts
If your RV travels will be primarily taking you to the same 1-2 RV parks where you feel confident in the water quality, you can probably get by without a water filter and just good maintenance of your water lines. But, if you plan to travel extensively and want the peace of mind that comes with having a top of the line water filtration system, the Clearsource Premier is our top recommendation.
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