Inlet Water Filters

[Laneway]

Hi all,

Picking up the new Starcraft in four weeks and chasing a little knowledge on water filters to fill my tanks with. I optioned against having a water filter to the main sink as i thought that i may filter all water that i pump into my tanks so all outlets on the van are filtered.

So firstly, do people do it this way?

And secondly, what would be a suitable type filter to do this?

Sorry for the vagueness as I'm not too sure on the process of filling tanks with the Starcraft just yet. I must add that I haven't owned a van before, just a camper trailer which i never worried about filtering as we never used it for drinking water.

Cheers,
Laneway

 

[Drover]

A Best inline filter which you hook onto your hose when you fill your tanks is the way to go but only needed if you think the water could be dodgy, I have found most towns the water is better than the city stuff by a long shot.................these filters can be reverse flushed to clean where all the others are throw away and if you do encounter dodgy water they will clog quickly...................

 

[Dean81]

We use B.E.S.T. Inline water filter and love it.

 

[Laneway]

Thanks gents! I have just had a look at the Best filter online and looks perfect for what i want to do. I think its just that peace of mind of having filtered water inside your tanks and available on the drawerbar, shower ect and not just filtered to the kitchen sink. You never know what dirt and muck is in some water and I don't want to be settling that in my tanks if I can help it.
Good looking filter

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Another vote for the BEST filter. I also add a particulate filter before the BEST when I'm pumping from a river or dam.

We also have the internal filter tap on top of filtering whenever we fill the tanks

 

[Drover]

Places like Richmond QLD have better water filtration than most cities I would say, it's all brand new. If it looks dodgy filter it, you dont want any dodgy water in your system at all.

 

[yabbietol]

We use the BEST filter and it is great, we always connect it when filling or even just using clean water in van parks or even our clean tank water at home. The main reason for this is a good friend of ours got some water with sediment into his tanks and then the sediment went through every tap and their pumps. They had to pull apart and clean every tap and replace one pump which was damaged. Town water in Australia is very safe and in most cases clean, but water mains can build up sediment which moves around and sediment once in a caravan diaphragm pump can really do some damage. We also draw some large arrows on the filter so it is always connected in the correct direction, not much use of put it in the wrong way around and push rubbish into your tanks.

So we suggest always run water going into your van through at least a sediment filter or better still a good quality filter like the BEST. When you are sure the water is safe and clean back flush the filter. If you do back flush into a bucket you will be surprised as the stuff that comes out even when the water looks clean. Most muck comes out when the tap is first turned on so always run the tap for a few seconds before connecting this will get rid of the first plug of sediment and insects that are up the tap. We usually back flush when packing up, but only if we feel the water is good quality and OK.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

We also draw some large arrows on the filter so it is always connected in the correct direction, not much use of put it in the wrong way around and push rubbish into your tanks.

We were told that our BEST filter is omnidirectional, and doesn't matter which was you put it. They have the silver at each end, so the crap stays inside the filter no matter which way you plug it in.

 

[yabbietol]

We were told that our BEST filter is omnidirectional, and doesn't matter which was you put it. They have the silver at each end, so the crap stays inside the filter no matter which way you plug it in.

That is correct the first time you use it. However, it will still develop a build up of spores, bacteria, slime and crud at the inflow end. If you flush it out well you may be OK, but I am a biologist and would not take the chance. BEST to stick to one end as inflow and one end as outflow (sorry for the bad pun). The silver will kill a lot of stuff that gets into contact with it in the filter, but some bugs especially cryptosporidium spores or Giardia spores are very tough can tolerate drying out and will happily sit in the inlet side of the filter for months and when you use it the other way around you flush them into the nice comfortable water tanks in your van.

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/giardia
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-re...ts/removing-giardia-cysts-from-drinking-water

If you are already using the BEST filter in random directions go for it, but I would suggest the arrows and give it a good flush out with safe treated town water on a regular basis.

"What does not kill you can make you stronger"

 

[Bellbirdweb]

That is correct the first time you use it. However, it will still develop a build up of spores, bacteria, slime and crud at the inflow end. If you flush it out well you may be OK, but I am a biologist and would not take the chance. BEST to stick to one end as inflow and one end as outflow (sorry for the bad pun). The silver will kill a lot of stuff that gets into contact with it in the filter, but some bugs especially cryptosporidium spores or Giardia spores are very tough can tolerate drying out and will happily sit in the inlet side of the filter for months and when you use it the other way around you flush them into the nice comfortable water tanks in your van.

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/giardia
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-re...ts/removing-giardia-cysts-from-drinking-water

If you are already using the BEST filter in random directions go for it, but I would suggest the arrows and give it a good flush out with safe treated town water on a regular basis.

"What does not kill you can make you stronger"

Great info. I have been using it from random ends, but only a couple of times so I'll directionalise it from now on.

 

[Drover]

It is a must to run tap before hooking up hose than flush hose before connecting to dam, my gkids hooked us up once, I spent the next 2 hrs cleaning the van filter and inlet of mud and bugs.

 

[Dobbie]

Yep. Agree with that...it also flushes the mud wasps and dust in the pipe out as well.

Also agree with B.E.S.T filter ....when we use one.

Our water at home is tank and tested regularly so our priority is to avoid tank sediment......we know that water is ok so don't use a filter on that. We don't always use a filter when refilling / topping up and avoid filling up tanks with bore water if possible.

If doubtful about water quality we just stick with the bottled water for drinking and test anything going into the tanks before we fill...if it tests ok we use the filter if we've got time (and if I remember) ....if not enough time and it tests ok we wing it.
It takes ages to fill the tanks with the filter attached, but worth it for better quality water.

We find the testing gives us confidence that we're minimising the bugs!

and we always top up the tanks by harvesting rainwater.

 

[Drover]

When we were in the jungle, if unsure of the water you kept your teeth clamped together to filter it as you drank....................fair dinkum.

 

[Dean81]

That is correct the first time you use it. However, it will still develop a build up of spores, bacteria, slime and crud at the inflow end. If you flush it out well you may be OK, but I am a biologist and would not take the chance. BEST to stick to one end as inflow and one end as outflow (sorry for the bad pun). The silver will kill a lot of stuff that gets into contact with it in the filter, but some bugs especially cryptosporidium spores or Giardia spores are very tough can tolerate drying out and will happily sit in the inlet side of the filter for months and when you use it the other way around you flush them into the nice comfortable water tanks in your van.

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/giardia
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-re...ts/removing-giardia-cysts-from-drinking-water

If you are already using the BEST filter in random directions go for it, but I would suggest the arrows and give it a good flush out with safe treated town water on a regular basis.

"What does not kill you can make you stronger"

Didn't know that. Thanks for the info, will label ours up also. I always flush before use!

 

[Laneway]

And that's why this forum is great....you get answers from people that have been there and done that and are more than happy to give you a straight and informative answer. Appreciate all the replies so far.
Looks like BEST it is!