Protecting Yourself and Your RV From City Water
There are several essential items you will want regarding your City water supply. If you just hook up any hose to the City water connection at the campground and attach it to your trailer you could have serious issues. Among these are:
- contaminated water from a dirty hose,
- chemicals in the water from using a non BPA free hose,
- particles and debris entering your trailers pipes / screens / pumps,
- excessive high pressure from the City water potentially damaging the trailer’s pipes,
- damage to your City water connection attachment from the weight of the hose / filter
Using the following essential products will greatly reduce the risk of a problem caused by the City water supply and enhance your enjoyment while camping.
Camco (40055) RV Brass Inline Water Pressure Regulator: This device should be the first thing to be attached to the city water spigot. It will limit the pressure to acceptable levels so your RV pipes don’t burst from excessive water pressure. Additionally, it is brass so it is lead free and safe.
Camco (22783) 25ft TastePURE Drinking Water Hose – Lead and BPA Free: RV City water hoses should be white, and lead and BPA free to ensure your trailer sink and shower water is safe to use. I’ve found the 25’ length to be a good size. The hose may also be used to fill your Fresh tank when not connected to City Water. You want to make sure you use your own hose to fill your trailer with water because public hoses at campgrounds may have been used to clean septic systems and, in turn, may be contaminated.
Camco 40045 TastePURE Inline RV Water Filter: Your white hose should be screwed into a water filter so that contaminants and sediment will be prevented from entering your trailer’s water system. The filter may also reduce chlorine and odors from the water.
Brass 90° Lead-Free Hose Saver: This clever brass right angle device attaches to your trailer’s city water port and allows your water filter to attach hanging down so that less weight hangs from the port.
Another great option is Camco 40043 TastePure RV/Marine Water Filter with Flexible Hose Protector:
Camco Water Tank Filler with Shutoff Valve: This little spout can be attached directly to the white water hose to make filling the Fresh water tank on the trailer much easier. It can also be attached to a Water Bandit* on a water jug spout. It has a valve so you can easily turn off the hose water without being next to the spigot.
Camco (22484) *Water Bandit: This is a cool little product that allows you to connect a hose or water filler to a water spigot without threads (or one with stripped threads). It probably doesn’t support a lot of pressure, but is a nice small tool to carry just in case. I use it to attach to a jug spout to fill the Fresh water on our Scamp.
Ozark Trail Desert Patrol 6-Gal Water Jug: This water jug is BPA free and does a great job of holding water to fill up the Fresh water tank at campgrounds not equipped with direct hookups. Simply take the jug over to the nearest water spigot and fill it up. I always take a collapsible dolly as well since water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon – meaning this jug will weigh almost 50 pounds when full. I recommend using the Water Bandit on the included spout and have someone help in lifting the jug to fill the Fresh tank.
Vergo Industrial 275 lbs Capacity Folding Hand Truck Dolly (Model S300BT): This dolly easily fits in the car and is great for moving heavy water jugs.
Disclaimer: You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale. These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences. However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer. It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.
