Clean water is something many of us take for granted—until we go camping. Adventure vehicle owners have come to assume they need to bring bottled water onboard for drinking water rather than drink the water they have in tanks. And there are good reasons to think this. Onboard water tanks are often contaminated from years of neglect, harboring debris, mold, and bacteria. There are also contamination issues with water supplies in remote campgrounds where water may be treated locally by seasonal caretakers who are not water treatment professionals. Infrastructure in campgrounds is often a patchwork, leaving the quality of water questionable at best. As a result, many campers end up buying bottled water or hauling extra water in separate containers to ensure they have safe drinking water. This is an inconvenient solution that takes up space, and generates hard to dispose of trash.
So what can the trailer enthusiast do? Guzzle H2O has a range of products to tackle clean water onboard your vintage trailer. Here are five suggestions to help you take control of your water supply and make it do more for your hydration. Keep in mind that water treatment in off-grid applications is often about layers of redundant protection so incorporating as many of these options as possible will help you build a fail safe solution. Some of these options use LED ultraviolet treatment, which is a newer technology that is rugged, low power consumption, and maintenance free, making it ideal for mobile applications.
- Storage prep – shock treat your water tank. Once per year, add a light bleach solution to your onboard tank and pump it through all the fixtures. Let it stand for 30 minutes, and then pump it out of the system. This gives your water system a baseline sanitiation.
- Use an Inline filter when filling onboard tanks. Always use some sort of filter when accessing water on tap to fill up tanks. There are a range of products available for this, from 0.5 microns to 20 microns. Guzzle H2O offers the Eddy which is very thorough at 0.5 microns, and works for 1000 gallons, or 6 months.
- Whole house LED ultraviolet treatment. Having a sterilization treatment for all the water coming out of the tank is a great way to set a baseline level of cleanliness to your onboard water. This is a great option for larger trailers, look for an ultraviolet system that treats around 4-6 gallons of water per minute. Install the UV unit just after the pump or accumulator tank.
- Install point of use treatment at the galley sink. One of the most popular products from Guzzle H2O is the Stealth 5 and Stealth 10 onboard systems which bring filtration and purification to the galley, treating water directly from your tank with advanced LED-ultraviolet technology and a 0.5-micron solid activated carbon block filter. UV inactivates any microbiological hazard from your tank that could make you sick, and the carbon reduces chemicals and makes sure your water tastes great. This is key, because filtration methods on their own do not sterilize water.
- Bring a high-volume water purifier. For the ultimate mobility, check out the new breed of powered water purifiers, such as the Guzzle H2O Stream system. This system fills a 5-gallon Jerry can in 7 minutes out of any freshwater source, such as a lake or river. It can generate up to 35 gallons on a battery charge. This is a great tool, especially for those who enjoy boondock camping, to access nearly endless clean water supply.
These products and techniques take the anxiety out of having enough clean water when camping. Using these suggestions in concert can add redundancy to a water treatment program and can offer peace of mind and convenience for any adventure.
Every Guzzle H2O system is designed and assembled in the USA in Bingen, Washington. For more information on their systems, check out www.guzzleh2o.com.
