RV Water Filter Tips

After nearly a lifetime of RVing, I have come to the conclusion that filtering the water you use in your camper is a MUST.  Even if you don’t drink your RV tap water directly, most still use it to wash hands, shower, and brush teeth. 

That is enough to get “baddies” on you and even in you.  So this post is how to stop the baddies from even getting into your RV water pipes and fresh water tank…from an RVer and RV Technician’s point of view.

Here’s “why”, “what’s not very good”, and what “is good” as a MINIMUM because there are a lot of excellent (and more costly) water filtration and purification systems out there that do better…sort of “you get what you pay for”, but this is the best advice for RVers to start with. And it’s what we use.

Why Filtration is Needed 

My thoughts center around sediment and chemicals.

Sediment is what I call floaties in the water.  Dirt or sand, undissolved minerals, cysts, amoebas, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and similar.

Many of these can clog up your RV water system, such as the aerator at the end of your faucets or the small piping in your tankless water heater.  Some can coat shower heads and electric elements in your tank-type water heater, rendering them less than effective.

What scares me the most is the Giardia parasite (because my Wife and I have had it, and the sickness is terrible. And, the other is the Naegleria Fowleri brain-eating amoeba that tragically took the life of an RVer in Texas recently. It has made countless RVers sick, and luckily, they received treatment in time.

I looked up the size of most of those two, and they are just larger that 0.5 micron (1 micron or so).  So choose a sediment filter that is 0.5 micron (half a micron) or smaller to filter those out of your RV.

Chemicals are dissolved in the water, some of which are good for us, but most are bad…some are REALLY bad. Pesticides, herbicides, volatile organic compounds, lead, nitrates, micro-plastics, pharmaceuticals, and even chlorine, to name several, should be removed as best as we can. A block of carbon that water can flow through works well at removing most of those.

What’s Not Very Effective

Some RV filters are not very effective or are effective only for a short time.

Sediment filters that are 1 micron or larger just don’t filter out all of what was mentioned above; they do some, but not all. Many RVs from the factory, if they have a canister filter, install a 5 micron sediment filter. Ineffective at filtering out the “baddies” mentioned above.

Granulated carbon filters are little pieces of carbon that you can hear when you shake the filter.  Those are prone to channeling, which is the water burrowing straight through the carbon pieces, pushing them aside, and eventually not going through them at all.

You know those blue, in-line water filters that are available at any RV section at hardware/big box stores or even RV Dealers? I like to call them “weekenders” because they are what I just described; they work okay, but not as long as you assume, and the water pushes aside the carbon, rendering the filter basically useless…giving you a false sense of effectiveness.

What’s Better for RVers

The very minimum for RVers is to use a 0.5 micron sediment filter, and a solid carbon block filter. Either a 2-stage filter, or a single stage that has both of those in one filter. I suggest the latter.

Also, avoid in-line filters, and use a canister-type filter that forces the water through the sides of the filter and its solid carbon block. Here is a photo of one I installed for an RVer, and how it works:

So here is the canister housing and filter I suggest, or ask me for it if I’m servicing your RV, this is the only water filter system I keep in my truck for customers, and use myself (I have the Pro version).

https://amzn.to/4nKVnck  A good canister filter housing, but toss the filter it comes with in the trash.

https://amzn.to/44SOqhI Is a link to the 0.5 micron sediment and carbon block filter. Oh, and these seem to last around 6 to 10 months. I have not noticed any reduction in water flow either.

Bonus Tip: 

Prior to connecting your potable water hose to the hydrant, open it up for a few seconds to flush out anything that may have settled in the hydrant (or crawled up inside, you know the song “The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout…”)

I hope this helps your RVing experience to be “Fun, not frustrating!”

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