No water filtration system? Elvin Pal vows to end the gamble. Here’s why

Water filters are designed to remove unwanted sediments, grit, odours, taste, and even harmful bacteria from the water, but do we really need to use them in our caravan or camper setups?

In Australia we are fortunate to have high-grade drinking water by world standards. However, the result of drinking “bad” water can very easily ruin any trip with more serious cases requiring hospitalisation and even result in long-term health complications. So this begs me to wonder why I haven’t used one in our caravan?

Believe it or not, but we spent the last 3 years travelling all around Australia without using water filters! After a little research and chatting with industry professionals, it turns out we were lucky to have avoided issues along the way. 

Identifying the risks

It comes highly recommended to filter the water, not only any source that you tap into such as caravan park mains or town water hook up, but to also filter the water coming out of your storage tanks on board your caravan. 

This makes sense as you never really know what’s in your water tanks, even if they are brand new. Water tanks and lines can build up with bacteria, algae, sediment and other nasties over time and can be difficult to clean or sanitise. 

So now I’ve decided I do in fact want to filter our water, what should I use?

Double defence

There are many different types and styles to suit all different setups and budgets and they differ in what they do and what maintenance they require. 

The inline type sits between the mains tap and your caravan inlet. These will filter the water if you’re running the caravan off the mains or town water or using it to fill the storage tanks. 

But this filter alone won’t help if the storage tank or your caravan’s water pipes are contaminated. For this, a filter at the point of the tap like a under the bench unit would be ideal. It is common to install both. Usually a basic inline one and a more substantial under bench unit at the kitchen sink. 

Water filter care

So will I now start to use a water filter in our setup? Absolutely! After realising how easily water contaminates and the consequences involved, it makes sense to put in a filter. And considering how easy and seamless the systems are, I feel like a rookie for not having a system sooner, especially given all the remote travels we have done. So which one will I go for? I am going to opt for one at the kitchen tap at least. 

And do like most and use the inline filter when using the hose to connect to the mains when available. 

This way we will have filtered water where we get our drinking and cooking water.