Effects of lake or stream water sources on expedition RV's water systems

biggoolies

Adventurer
Thanks Yves:
Looks like a great option. Not too many amp hours.
Lets see if I get this right........... 2.2 amp at 115v will be 21 amps at 12v plus whatever the inverter uses.


John, How are you?
Really the only reason I went with a 115v pump was because I was cheap and didn't want to pay the crazy price for a 12 volt pump in the GPM needed, I got the pump on sale and is easily replaced.
Also I did not time the emptying of the five gallons but guessed at it as I was a bit shocked at how fast it was emptying and had to run and unplug it, math is not my strong suit but here goes: says 1500 gph on the pump. devide by 60=25 25/60 again = .41 per sec .... if thats right then 5 gals in 12 seconds.??

I also agree with limiting the amount of chlorine, or bleach, I usually err on the "less" side, using around 1 tablespoon for 70 gallons or around there, not very accurate science there, I like to have a slight smell of bleach in the tank but no smell from the drinking water tap.
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Filtering out the free chlorine for drinking is a good idea - though the activated carbon filter adsorbs rather than physically filters the chemicals and physically stops the dead things. Adsorbtion also removes some of the oxidation products of the chlorine reaction with organic micropollutants. Some of those products are carcinogenic - which is probably why ozone is used for water treatment in parts of Europe (and probably further afield).

In an ideal world we would pass the water over activated carbon to remove organic and some inorganic micro pollutants, then chlorinate, then activated carbon again to remove the excess chlorine.

Hi Julian,

Care to elaborate on ozone or "ozonating" for water treatment. I would be keen to hear your views.

I have a small ozone generator that we use at home for this purpose. Small power consumption ..... 220vac/10w at 500mg/hour. It would probably be suitable to use this unit for treating water in a camper.

Does anyone else use ozone for water treatment or any other purpose ?

Kind regards
John
 
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gait

Explorer
I didn't really follow through on ozone research for RV use John.

It has a half life in water at 20 deg C of about 15 minutes and I preferred to keep whatever dead things get into the tank dead.

Just as with chlorine the ozone has disinfection by-products, just not as carcinogenic. Possible to use ozone for initial oxidation then filter, or final disinfection. I'm guessing your ozonator is shortly before drinking.

Ozone is better at removal of inorganic pollutants, typically oxides are produced which are insoluble in water so can easily be filtered out. Chlorine produces chlorides and various other 'ides which are typically soluble and partially removed by adsorption. Ground water (bores and wells) may have higher inorganic pollutants than surface water.

Before we get too deep, my water treatment experience started many years ago with a cooling tower for water circulated through an industrial process which resulted in hot water contaminated with castor oil - nice food for things to grow in. The RV stuff came later.
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Hey John- How effective is ozone vs. chlorine for water treatment, in your opinion?

Thank you Julian. Great response. It is really hard for me to tell how effective ozone is in drinking water. I know it tastes fine as long as you let the ozone dissipate. It only takes 20 minutes or so to bubble out. I do know if I throw ozonated water in the fish tank you can actually see a difference.

I have a distiller too but of course it uses too much power for a mobile vehicle. I just don't like chlorine taste.

Thanks again Julian.

Regards John
 
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whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
OK John, SPILL! Now this thread is REALLY going someplace......:)

Hahaha. First Stu's talking about gender reassignment and here I am now a moonshiner. It' a worry.

No . Nothing as exciting as that. Just a little water distiller.

Regards John.
 
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