One thing that every RVer shares is the need for fresh water. Our kitchens and bathrooms, regardless of size and amenities, depend on it. Keeping our RVs supplied with clean, fresh tasting water involves more than just hooking up a garden hose to a faucet. The following tips will help ensure that your water supply is clean and healthy.

Start by picking up a few essentials from your RV or camping supply store. You will need a potable water hose, because regular garden hoses can impart a bad taste to your water. Next, get a pressure reducer. Your RV water plumbing is a low pressure system. Too

Water hookup with filter and pressure reducer

much pressure can cause burst joints which could ruin your trip and cause a lot of damage in your RV. Finally, pick up a good filter. To save money, some campers choose to buy filters from home supply stores and adapt them for use with their RV. Either way, filtering all of the water that goes into your RV will help ensure that you always have clean water available. While not essential, an under-sink charcoal filter for drinking water is a nice addition if your rig wasn’t equipped with one.

Now that you have the necessary equipment, here’s how you use it. Let's start with hooking up to a campground or RV park water supply. First run some water out of the faucet to clear any rust or other material that might have collected. Hook up your hose and run a little more water to flush it also. Now hook up your filter and pressure reducer, flush them, then hook up to the fresh water inlet hose connector on your RV. A second short length of potable water hose may make this easier.

Filling fresh tank with filtered water

Before using your fresh water supply tank for the first time, make sure to sanitize it. Follow instructions in your user manual. If you don't use your fresh water tank for an extended period of time, it’s a good idea to sanitize it again before refilling. Also, if the water from your tank develops an unpleasant taste or odor, it's probably time to re-sanitize.

Filling your supply tank is a lot like hooking up. You probably don’t need the pressure reducer, but otherwise, hook up your hose and filter and flush them as before. Then insert a hose end into the water inlet and fill.

Finally, remember two things when you are stowing your hoses between uses. First, drain them to help prevent the growth of algae. Next, after coiling them up, screw the two ends together to keep out dirt and insects.

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