Being new to the RV life, we often don’t know what we don’t know! But we’re learning.
A good friend and neighbor, Jay Meyer, who has a fancy Class C motorhome, pointed out that we needed an external water filter. It hadn’t even occurred to us.
Of course, the water you connect to is generally safe in campgrounds, but there are some “buts” in this equation.
Typically, a camper will attach the gray water or sewer connections immediately before or after connecting the water. Hence, the last thing the hands touched before the water spout might have been contaminated. A water filter can provide meaningful protection.
Less dramatically, the water filter will clean up all the minerals in the water, which vary from place to place. You’ll experience more consistent tasting water as a result.
The good news is that a water filter isn’t expensive. As we write this post, the filter we bought is selling for less than $10 per filter in a two-pack.
The filters are easy to use. We connected it directly but temporarily to the water supply in the campground to flush it. The water poured out black as you’d expect when you rinse the charcoal from the filter.
Next, we detached the filter from the water supply and connected the hose. We made the mistake of connecting the adapter to the RV and then the filter to the adapter and then tried to connect the hose to the attached adapter. That order of operation isn’t optimal.
Instead, attach the adapter to the RV and then attach the water filter to the hose. Finally, connect the filter to the adapter.
If that is confusing, be sure to watch the video to see the mistake and why you want to use the recommended order of connection:
Adapter to RV
Hose to water supply
Filter to hose
Filter to Adapter
It is easy and doing it in the wrong order can be immediately corrected. No big deal.
We hope this is helpful. We wouldn’t know about this if Jay hadn’t shared it with us first!
Note that we have not received any compensation or free product from any vendors. We chose these products purely on the merits. Having done that independent research, we have used affiliate links to the products in the descriptions that allow us to earn small commissions if you make a purchase. The links do not result in an increased cost for you.
How and Why to Use an External Water Filter on Your RV