Refilling water tanks - Quality

Just use a normal garden hose, but make sure you let the water run thru a bit first. It's the stuff that's been sitting in the hose for a while that tastes funny. Turn tap on and just take a sip from hose now and then and you'll soon know when you can start filling the tank.

Just buy the food quality hose pipe.. mine is white and there is absolutely no plastic taste in the water of my camper... from memory it isn't too expensive either... of course it will cost more than the hose in the back yard but it will only take one load of foul water to make it worth the while though...

You can buy it at most camping stores and I am sure it will be able to be picked up at somewhere like Clark Rubber etc..

You can buy 10 metre lengths of specified water grade hose at Bunnings. Found it amongst the other garden hoses when I needed some for the boat and cost around $20 from memory.

Purchasing food grade hose does not guarantee freedom from bad tasting water. It just guarantees freedom from the carcinogenic components that leach out of the hose while the water is standing in it. Some food grade hoses are known to taint the water but not make it dangerous to drink.

I carry food grade hose for connecting the van to town water supplies. However at home I just flush the garden hose out and immediately fill the tank so that I am not using water that has been standing in the hose.

PeterD

Never mind what Moose says, if you use green garden hose it will give a bad taste, unless it is very old and well used, I use a short lenght of the proper drinking water hose and force the back through the tap , but you must have a breather to let the displaced air out, with mine I have the breather at the back under the bed [In a Troopy] and connect a 400mm length so when it is full I don't have a pool of water inside, my tank is a 80lt . " target="EOF" class="lbg">www.dynaplas.com.au/

In addition to using food grade hose, I use a charcoal filter. You can get the housing for about $30 and the filters pretty much anywhere for $20-$30

The benefit of this is the removal of pretty much all of the (foul tasting) crud in the commercial water supply, and you can fill tanks with safety wherever you are - eg from an outback tap you know nothing about, or even from creeks with a pump.

It also removes dangerous bacteria which are not removed by boiling - some bacteria/bugs or whatever are converted by boiling into even more dangerous substances than pre-boiled.

Yep, the food grade hose is the go. Very cheap. I also carry the connectors required to connect to a tap. I roll the hose up pretty tight and put it in a cotton draw string bag with the connectors. My wife just loves making me bags for everything. This keeps it all together and stops dust, insects etc from getting in the hose.

With the connectors, you can fill up whereever you find a tap with decent water.

Norm C

All of the above re hose and taste, but might like to consider getting one of these in line filters:
www.bestwaterfilters.com.au/

If you use the standard clip connectors you can use it very flexibly. Use it between a tap and tank when filling unless you are sure of the water quality. Can use it to recirculate the water in your tank if you have an in line pump - ie pump it out of tank through filter back into tank. Good when it has been sitting and you can't dump and refill.

Also have a cheap bilge pump put in bucket, fill from creek or bore etc and pump through filter. I tend to have several plastic jerry cans so I don't have all water in one tank. Good to have a store of good water and separate stuff for washing etc if not sure of quality.

just my way
alastair

Buy a 10 litre container of water, from supermarket, cheapest you can get, once the container is empty use it to top up your tank. Food grade plastic, cheap, disposable and easily replaced. use them all the time. Good way to carry an extra 10 litres too.

Hi Guys and Girls,
Just read all of the above and wish to advise that their is a difference between "Food Grade- chemical resistant" and "Drinking Water Grade" hose.

You will still get a mild taste (plastic) out of "Food Grade" hose but will not out of "Drinking water" hose.

Never fill out of a garden hose as these hoses are not bacteria resistant where food and drinking water hoses are.

E-coli and salmonella are often found in garden hoses.

Nylex make both hoses.

Regards,
Camwill69

LOL I just can't believe how sensitive we've become over the years. Spent a whole childhood and a good many years after that drinking regularly from whatever garden hose was available at the time, wherever we happened to be.

We are becoming picky are'nt we :))))))))))))))))))))))))

What experiences are out there in relation to the use of the carbon type filters, do they really take the bad taste etc. out of the water?

Thanks everyone for their replies to this thread, much appreciated