Water filter

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davidsimmonds

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2005
Posts
58
Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I have a Forestriver Wildcat fifth wheel trailer. It has a water filter built in. That's probably not odd, but my filter is attached to the incoming water. Thus, the entire trailer water system is filtered; toilet, shower, et al. That doesn't seem to be necessary. The water flow is weaker through the shower due to this. I have taken out the filter from it's canister and tried the shower and found that the stream is twice as much. Is there a good reason why everything goes through the filter? A friend of mine has a Thor Jazz unit and their filter is below the kitchen sink.

I was thinking of putting in a bypass line, either with a valve so I can bypass temporarily or bypass straight through to the shower. If I bypass the filter with a valve simply by allowing water flow through the filter AND through the bypass, logic and physics indicate to me that the very little water will flow through the filter since water likes to take the easiest path. Is my thinking accurate? It would simplify the bypass if that would work. I would not need a valve that switches between bypass and filter.
 
If the filter cartridge was a charcoal filter, that will reduce the flow rate.? We use a whole house filter (Amtek) with a sediment filter only in it to filter all incoming water, and a separate sub-micron filter on the kitchen cold water for drinkning and cooking.  The Amtek doesn't affect the flow rate.
 
A charcoal filter will look black, a sediment only filter will be white when new, yellow as it gets used.
 
It may be more than just a sediment filter.  Unless it's marked in some way, there is no easy way to tell by looking at it.  It's also possible it's just clogged.  Did you try a new filter cartridge?
 
davidsimmonds said:
I have a Forestriver Wildcat fifth wheel trailer. It has a water filter built in. That's probably not odd, but my filter is attached to the incoming water. Thus, the entire trailer water system is filtered; toilet, shower, et al. That doesn't seem to be necessary. The water flow is weaker through the shower due to this. I have taken out the filter from it's canister and tried the shower and found that the stream is twice as much. Is there a good reason why everything goes through the filter? A friend of mine has a Thor Jazz unit and their filter is below the kitchen sink.

I was thinking of putting in a bypass line, either with a valve so I can bypass temporarily or bypass straight through to the shower. If I bypass the filter with a valve simply by allowing water flow through the filter AND through the bypass, logic and physics indicate to me that the very little water will flow through the filter since water likes to take the easiest path. Is my thinking accurate? It would simplify the bypass if that would work. I would not need a valve that switches between bypass and filter.
Click to expand...

I purchased my '96 Adventurer earlier this year. The frig has an ice maker (my first in an RV), but my excitement waned when the dealer told me it had a leak somewhere so he turned it off. The leak I quickly found -- in that the incoming water connector was loose. While fooling around with that, I found that the EverPure water filter under the sink was filtering the cold water faucet with a shut off valved line to the ice maker.

I figured that I didn't need filtered water to wash dishes and such so had a mobile repair guy that was repairing my water heater re tube that line. He put a "T" in the line before the filter. One leg from the "T" fed the cold water tap and the the other became the input to the filter. I then had him install a smaller filtered water spigot which is fed by the output line from the filter. Also, in that line, we installed a cut off valve and line so filtered water also feeds the ice maker.

It wasn't that big a job -- so perhaps you cold do something similar with a "T" install on the intake side of your filter.
 
It's not whether the filter is charcoal or not that is important - the filter simply needs to be sized large enough for the expected flow. The typical RV water filter is far too small for servicing the entire rig (e.g. shower) and should be replaced with a "whole house" size filter of whatever filter type you choose.

Yes, it might be a good idea to re-plumb the water lines to provide a bypass of the filter when serving the bath, toilet, etc. This may be anywhere from easy to impossible, depending on how the water lines were originally set up.
 
I can try a "whole-house" filter. Are they available at RV supply shops or is this a filter for a "brick-and-mortar" house? Otherwise, the bypass looks like it would have to bypass the filter completely when the shower is in use or service the entire unit. It does not look easy to do anything else. Actually, everything is easy, nothing is simple.
 
If you get them at the RV store, you will pay more.  Get one a the local big box or hardware store.  Do not get the charcoal type, just the sediment one.
 
Most RV's do not come with any filter other than an inlet screen (It will stop a pebble but not a grain of sand) and many (I hope most) RVers use in-line filters so every drop entering the rig is filtered, this includes shower and toilet water.  I have several filters ranging from some low cost charcoal ones to a fairly decent multi-stage Camco that has a white ceramic sediment filter surrounding a charcoal filter.  Cleaning the ceramic when it turns yellow really improves the flow.

I do like filtering the water, several places I've been you don't want to drink it straight out of the tap. or smell it for that matter (Which argues for whole system filtering like you have)

At this time I use a BRITA for drinking water, I may change that and use a better (But slower) Camco
 
I have a question.  Is it possible to run without the filter?  I have tried a few filter setup and have abandoned the use of any over the past 10 years of touring in the 11 western states.    I have never noticed the loss.  I tend to camp in commercial CGs with decent Trailer Life ratings -- especially in sanitation. 

 
Dave

I too have a filter canister under the stove, tough to empty out full when replacing the element. Here is what I do on the out side. The first thing the incoming water hits is a high volume pressure regulator then a whole house filter with cotton filter element to catch sand rust etc. That filter goes to a second filter using charcoal whole house element this filter removes the smell of sulphur  etc. When the trip is complete remove the filter place in a plastic bag and store in the freezer til the next time. Came in handy for the last three weeks in Cape May sand and sulphur in the water.

Nelson
 
If it's not a whole house type filter, definitely replace it with one.? Gary is correct that the typical RV filter does not allow sufficient flow.? Go to Lowes, Home Depot, etc. and find an Amtek or similar filter holder and cartridges.? You may need a few fittings to adapt it to your RV, but it's worth the effort.
 
There are several kinds of filter you can use.

First, check the micron rating of the filter. The lower the number, the finer the filtration. For you whole system filter, all you need is 10-20 microns. If you have 5 microns, the pressure drop will be much higher.

Second, there are several types of filter construction. The two main types you normally see are the yarn wound element and the pleated, porous paper. The lower the amount of surface area of the filter, the higher the pressure loss. The pleated paper filters have much more surface area than the wound yarn filters and will pass much more water at a lower pressure drop.

It does help the filter water, the quality of which can very widely from campground to campground. I always purchase the pleated paper filters in the 10-20 micron range and never seem to be bothered by reduced shower water pressure.

Chet18013
 
i have an 06 forestriver sierra with an inline water filter for entire system too. water pressure terrible with filter in place. i removed the filter element after having used it awhile. no water even dripped out of it when i took it out. water flow thru was terrible. i left it out and water pressure is now great. i'm looking around for a different
filter element to try.
 
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