Water Out Of The Campground Faucet, YUCK!!

Well,  I suppose that most of you enjoy Artesian spring water with just a touch of Evian for good taste at your campground.  I know I do. NOT!!  While most city water is ok (well some is less than ok but just barely drinkable). Most campground water is not even ok but is drinkable.  With just a little bit of  DIY skills, you can improve your drinking, cooking, and shower water to be something to be proud of.  Enter the RV water filtration system.






Let's look at the simplest of these non-RV filtration systems and see what makes it filter.  The carbon/charcoal filter is the simplest of the non-RV water filters.  The filter holder can look like this

Culligan HF-150A Filter Holder

So how do you hook this blue thingy up to your RV?  You will need a few more simple parts.  The input and out put of the holder is 3/4" so any big box DIY store will have the needed plumbing parts.

You will need 3/4" Garden Hose to 3/4" Brass Coupler/Adapter  it looks like this

3/4" Garden Hose to 3/4" Brass Coupler/Adapter

This screws into the filter holder and allows the drinking water hose to hookup to it. (this attaches to the output of the filter holder)

For the input of the filter you will need a Female hose to Male pipe  It will look like the following.

Female hose to Male pipe 

You can mount the filter holder to the rig or you can just set it on the ground.  If you want to mount it you will need a Filter Mounting Bracket The filter mounting bracket will look like this.

Filter Mounting Bracket

You can use the bracket if you wish or just sit the filter canister on the ground.  Next, comes the Drinking Water Filter with Carbon  The filter comes in a two pack and looks like below.

 Drinking Water Filter with Carbon

So you are saying to yourself  why do I want to DIY this type of project when I can just go and buy one of these,

RV Water Filter

The answer is, that once the big blue filter is put together, you can get two of the filter replacement cartridges for big blue for less than one of the above filters.  Also, there is the chance of bacterial build up because, unless you are a full timer you are not using the filter enough.  With the replacement cartridges, you can just take it out and throw it away and use a new one next time you go out and you will still be saving money.

But wait there is more.

What if we add a second big blue filter?  Would we gain anything?  You bet.  So let's do it.

The two stage filter

For a two stage filter, you will need everything we listed for the one stage filter plus a 3/4" Brass Nipple that looks like this,

3/4" Brass Nipple - Length you must determine

You will need to measure the length that the nipple must be and buy one from one of the Big Box DIY stores. This nipple will be used between the blue filter cans and the other fittings will be the input and the output of the filters just as before.  You now have a chance to increase the filtering of your drinking water.  Now you will start to use Sediment Replacement Filter which looks like this,

Sediment Replacement Filter

A sediment filter gets rid of: sand, silt, dirt, rust particles and scale particles The park water should come into this filter first, then go through the Drinking Water Filter with Carbon and finally into your rig.  So now we are done, right?  Not so fast RVer slow down and keep reading.

The Triple RV Filter

With this type of filter system, you have the best possible filter system for still not a lot of money.  So what do you need?  Everything listed above plus an additional 3/4" Brass Nipple of the correct length to go between two more blue filter canisters.  Plus one more special type sediment filter the Special RV Filter which looks like this,

Special RV Filter

This special filter goes just before the Drinking Water Filter.  I know this looks like a lot of work but it really is not.  It is just a lot of hooking up of pipes to plastic.  You will need some Plumbers White Tape which looks like this,

Plumbers White Tape 

I would suggest getting several rolls as the tape tends to tangle and get wasted.  You will want to check for leaks after assembly by hooking up your filter system and be sure to let the water from the filter system to run on the ground for five minutes or until the water is running clear.  Some black pieces of carbon may come out onto the ground and this is normal.

Mounting the filters

You can use a 2"X 4" (2x4) of the length you need and mount the filter holders to that as a way of keeping them corralled together or you could mount them in one of the service bays on the rig. It is up to you.
The water you will get from the triple filter has to be drunk to be believed.  This system will not take pond water or salt water and make it drinkable.  This will, however, make city treated or treated well water taste just great.  And the wife's ice tea will be out of this world.






Until next time


And finally, please remember that this blog is an Amazon affiliate. When you order something through any of the Amazon links, it doesn’t add anything to your cost, but I do earn a small commission on everything you buy. Just click on an Amazon link, then shop as usual.

Campfire Safety

As we all get ready to start camping or have already started.  I am reminded that in many parts of the USA you can not have a campfire do to outdoor burning restrictions.  So many of us remember the nights spent by the fire watching the sparks work their way up into the air from the burning logs and hearing the original snap, crackle, and pop. (sorry Kellogg)  Well, things have changed that's for sure.  First in many states now you can not bring firewood from one state to another or even from one part of a state to another do to bugs, worms, and what have you.  You must use the firewood that is at the park store or Ranger station.







How far is too far to move firewood? And what is meant by "local" firewood?  When discussing local firewood, I am referring to the closest convenient source of wood that you can find. That might be from down the street, or a state forest in your county. As a general rule of thumb, 50 miles is too far to move firewood, and 10 miles or less is the max firewood should be moved.  In many, states there are rules, regulations, and quarantines that clearly state how far is too far. Always acquaint yourself with local rules and regulations when transporting firewood from one jurisdiction to another.  Find out more here Don't Move Firewood .
So you buy some firewood from the Ranger's supply at the park and you can burn it during the time you are in the park but you should leave what you do not burn behind.
You have firewood from the local area and you have piled it up in the fire pit and you get ready to light it, but how do you get the green wood, high in moisture content, to burn without dumping a bottle of charcoal starter one it.  One fun idea is to use to get the wood burning is InstaFire .

InsaFire Fire Starter

These little fire starter pouches can get a fire going almost anywhere and burn hot enough to get not so great firewood started.

How can you make a campfire fun and exciting?  Well, S'mores are fun to make S'mores.

S'mores 

When you are done making the S'mores you might want to be amazed by the camp fire northern light show.  Camp Fire Northern Light Show .

Camp Fire Northern Light Show

Now sit back and enjoy the rest of the evening and watch the light show from your camp fire.

What happens when you can not burn wood but you still want to sit around a campfire.  Well, the solution for that is the gas campfire.  Most RV camping areas do not have a problem with the gas campfire even if there is a burn ban because the fire does not give off sparks and with the turn of the gas valve, the fire is off.  You can still make those S'mores the kids want and you can still enjoy sitting outside of the RV around the campfire.  See Portable Gas Campfire for what I am talking about.

Portable Gas Campfire

This portable gas campfire runs off of LP gas either the little 1lb green cylinders (runs for 2hrs) or the 10lb gas tanks.  It runs for hours and the red cover is used for storage and to elevate the gas campfire off the ground.  Also, the red cover has the carry handle attached.  With an extra accessory, you can even cook on the campfire just like a fire log one.

With any fire outside you need to have a fire extinguisher at the ready just in case.  Not just for grass fires. Fire Gone White/Red Fire Extinguisher - 16 oz 



Fire Gone White/Red Fire Extinguisher - 16 oz

Until next time.

Don't forget to join the Weekend RVers group on Facebook a no DRAMA place with Hints, Tips, Free Stuff, Recipes, for every kind of RVer.

And finally, please remember that this blog is an Amazon affiliate. When you order something through any of the Amazon links, it doesn’t add anything to your cost, but I do earn a small commission on everything you buy. Just click on an Amazon link, then shop as usual.

911, What Is Your Emergency? ------- Water!!!

Have you ever opened the Kitchen or Bathroom under sink cupboard doors only to find the contents wet or a bit damp?  To make  matters worse, you are dry camping (boon docking) and have no one around to ask what to do.  Well, wonder no more just keep reading to find out.







First you need to find the source of the leak.  This could be from water seeping around the top of the sink and draining inside the cupboard.  This is a simple and quick fix. Just use some Kitchen and Bath approved caulk, such as,

Kitchen and Bath Caulk

Follow the instructions on the tube and that water seepage should be a thing of the past.  I keep a tube of this product in white and clear in the RV all the time because you just never know.  But, what if that is not the problem?  

Next check all the black sewer pipes to be sure the fittings are good and tight.  The black drain pipe fittings should be hand tight not wrench tight.  Do be careful not to over tighten these fittings as you can break the pipe or strip out the plastic threads on the pipes.  I check these fittings every time in the Spring before the first camping trip and several more times during the year to be sure they are tight and doing just fine.  I did find a loose one in the Master Bathroom last year.  So all the black pipe fittings are tight and you still find water and things damp.  Now, what?

Well, there is really only one thing left.  The hot and cold water fittings.

From the picture above you can see the red (hot) and, in this case, the white (cold) water lines as well as the black plastic sewer pipes. Getting a bit closer, we see where the problem is.

The metal clip that holds the screw on connector has come a bit loose and the water is dripping out from that fitting on to the stuff under the sink.  It is not a flood but a constant drip.  This scenario is not good for lots of reasons and needs to be taken care of right now.  If you do not have the PEX crimping tool you will never get the metal squeezed tight enough to stop the slow leak.  

There is a quick and sure fire way to fix this problem and end up with a far better connection than what the RV manufacture used.  It is called a Shark Bite connector.

Shark Bite Push-on Connector

This is a push-on type of connector for the plastic hose and does not need any special soldering or tool to install.  You just cut off the leaking end and push on the Shark Bite.  Screw the female end to the faucet and you are good to go.

Please note to double check that after you cut off the old leaking connection, that you will still have enough plastic pipe to reach back to the faucet once you put on the Shark Bite.  The plastic pipe used in most RVs is 1/2" and the Shark Bite Connector you will need is the 1/2" type.  This connector is available in most hardware stores and the Big Box retailers of plumbing supplies. The packaging looks like below.

The package and product at my big box retailer was not hanging just stuffed  into a box on the shelf so I had to look a bit for it. 

So here is what I ended up with.

You can see on the red plastic pipe what I had before the switch and you can see by the white pipe what I have now.  My plan is to change over the red pipe connector to a Shark Bite type to ensure no more future leaks from this area.

Here is a convenience add on that I bought, just to help in replacing future connections with Shark Bite.  It is called the Shark Bite Deburring Tool. After cutting the old fitting off the PEX plastic pipe you use this tool to deburr the pipe and the tool shows you how much of the plastic pipe you have to push into the Shark Bite connector to make a good water tight seal.

Shark Bite Deburring Tool

Again this tool is not mantatory.  It is just a nice convenience tool to have around.  One last tool you might want to pick up is the PEX plastic pipe cutting tool.  Again not a mantatory tool to have just a nice tool to have.

PEX Plastic Pipe Cutting Tool

Well, that is it.  If you have a water leak anywhere even a constant drip you need to fix it fast and the Shark Bite pipe fitting system is the fastest and easiest system I know of.  I keep a couple around because you just never know when you will need them and the cost is cheap insurance against a faucet connection leaking and damaging the rig.

I would like to thank Michael Cook who's Facebook posting gave me the idea for this post.

Until next time.

Don't forget to join the Weekend RVers group on Facebook a no DRAMA place with Hints, Tips, Free Stuff, Recipes, for every kind of RVer.

And finally, please remember that this blog is an Amazon affiliate. When you order something through any of the Amazon links, it doesn’t add anything to your cost, but I do earn a small commission on everything you buy. Just click on an Amazon link, then shop as usual.