RV Water Filter Store: Standard Filter Canisters for Whole RV

Information About:
Choosing A Filtration System

Determine Your Needs
To get the system that meets your needs, you must first determine what your needs are. How much of the water used in your RV is going to be filtered? How clean and pure do you want the finished product? How often do you use your RV? These are some of the questions you must answer before you can choose the system that is best for you. Let's explore these

questions in more detail.

How Much Water Should I Filter?
Basically, the choices here are all of it or part of it, although it's not as easy as it first appears. If the water that you typically have available is dirty and/or tastes and smells bad, you will probably want to use sediment and taste-and-odor filters for all of the water that you use. Many people go this route. There have been ideas mentioned in forums or campfire chats that may cause some RVers to avoid using carbon filtration for the whole RV. They hear that this may result in potential stagnation in their freshwater tank due to the removal of the chlorine present in city water. We do not agree with this concept, especially when it leads to customers thinking they can avoid the need for tank sanitation chores. Periodic sanitizing of the freshwater tank is always the best way to prevent stagnation issues. This will involve various intervals, depending on the RVers use of the tank. The more it is used and fresh water allowed to be filled into that tank, the less stagnation issues will come up. Some full-timers that use their tank all the time may get away with once a year, or so, whereas the part-timer that leaves the RV in storage during hot weather may need to sanitize several times during the year. Remember that not all RV parks have chlorinated city water. Some RVers may go to parks that are all on untreated wells. The tank is open to the air through the vent and will eventually evaporate the chlorine gas out, anyway. So, to rely on the chlorine residual in water sources to keep stagnation from occurring, may actually increase the chances of developing the very problem trying to be avoided. Nothing beats the periodic need to sanitize the tank. If this is done the way that best suits the RVers use of the tank, then it will not matter if chlorinated water is used and left in, or if that smelly and distasteful chemical is removed through the use of a carbon filter. One thing for sure, if the chlorine from treated water is not removed, then the customer will have to endure the smell and taste from chlorine, sulfur, and other contaminants carbon can remove. Some may choose to install the carbon filter after the tank, as many RV manufacturers do when installing whole RV filtration. Then the chlorine encountered in city water can serve whatever minimal benefit it has, and it will be removed after it comes out of the tank. If a carbon filter is used for drinking water only, then the customer will have to deal with taste and odor issues for brushing teeth and showering. So this is why we have no concern about using carbon filtration for the whole RV or drinking water. It is certainly easiest to use a portable sediment and carbon filtration system for the whole RV due to installation involved when using it for drinking water only. We offer systems that can be installed or not, and for the whole RV or drinking water only.

If the water is usually not too bad, or you are concerned with space or cost, you can filter only the water you use to cook with and drink. If you are concerned about health-threatening contaminants, which are only a problem if ingested, then applying a higher level of filtration to the drinking water supply might be in order. Ceramic filters or ultra violet units would be most helpful.

If you want to achieve a very high level of purification, then reverse osmosis (RO) units are what you will want. There are a myriad of ways in which the various components can be combined to create the system that best fits your needs. Let's look at some systems in depth to show you typical uses. These are merely examples and by no means represent the total range of choice.

Filter All the Water Used in the RV
To filter all of your water, you'll need a filter that attaches to your hose and processes all of the water before it enters your RV. The smallest and easiest-to-use filter for this job is an in-line unit that combines sediment removal and taste-and-odor improvement in a compact package. These filters provide limited sediment capacity, but decent taste and odor capability, and their compact size makes them easy to use. However, the small size also means they have a relatively short life and limited flow rate. Nonetheless, they might be perfectly adequate if you do not use your RV a lot. The in-line filter we sell contains KDF, so it works well in intermittent use.

If you want better flow, longer life, and the most versatility in customizing your system, we recommend installing a standard-size canister system. Systems can be configured with a single canister, two canisters in series, or even three canisters for specialty purposes. Since the canisters are a standard size, there is a wide variety of filter cartridges available for them. Let's consider the choices and see what works best for each system.

In a one-canister system, the filter cartridge you select needs to perform all the functions you require, such as sediment removal and taste-and-odor improvement. You will want to use a sediment only cartridge or combination cartridge for this purpose.

If you go with a dual-canister system, each canister can contain a cartridge dedicated to a specific task. This is what we recommend and is our most popular filtration system. The first canister should contain a sediment cartridge and the second canister a carbon cartridge. There are many filter cartridges available, and they are discussed in more detail on our Water Filtration page. A good combination for most people is a 1-micron disposable sediment cartridge(RV-SED1) paired with a solid-block carbon taste/odor cartridge (CBC-10). This was our most popular system for many years and still is a good seller. Our SED1/F1 modified carbon fiber block combo has in recent years surpassed the CBC-10 due to faster flow, longer life, and natural resistance to stagnation during storage, and has become our most popular dual canister system. There are several combination dual canister systems to choose from, depending on the features of the cartridges you may wish to try.

If you want to add an additional function to your system, this is best accomplished by adding a third canister. The first two would contain the same cartridges as a dual-canister system, and the third canister would house the specialty cartridge, such as a Birm or phosphate cartridge. If sediment problems are extreme, triple-canister systems could utilize two sediment cartridges, for example a 5 micron first, followed by a 1 micron and finally a carbon cartridge.

If you are a full-time RVer, consume a large amount of water, or just use your rig a lot, you may want to consider the Jumbo-size System. These are larger than the standard size and provide better flow. The cartridges have a larger capacity and longer life than the standard systems. One downside is that there is less choice of cartridges available for the jumbo systems, but the ones we do have are very good and comparable to the best available standard-size cartridges .

Filter Only the Drinking Water Supply
If your only concern is filtering your drinking water, you have several possible choices. Most of these systems are installed under the kitchen sink with a special spigot for the filtered water, although countertop filters are also available. Since drinking water usually represents a small portion of the total water used, a filter system for drinking water is smaller than a whole-rig system. Also, because you don't need as great a flow rate, you can use cartridges that just wouldn't work for your whole RV.

Many RV manufacturers install drinking water filters, and they are typically one of two different styles. The first style is an in-line filter installed under the sink, and most are either a Flo-pur, Aqua City, Hydro Life or Shurflo brand. These are fine filters, and we sell direct replacements for these units. Our replacements are even made in the same factory as most of the originals. They are bacteriostatic for long life without stagnation during storage.

The other style of filter installed by some coach manufacturers is a one-cartridge, under-sink system in which the cartridge screws into a metal filter head. The manufacturer of this product is Everpure, and the cartridge does sediment removal, including cysts, and granular-carbon taste-and-odor improvement. It is also bacteriostatic, which makes it good for intermittent use. We have the replacement cartridges for this unit, plus two upgraded cartridges that will fit right in the Everpure head that provide solid-block carbon, increased longevity, and easier changing. We also offer a similar system called the Q-Series. This is a better system in that the filter cartridges are either solid-block carbon or ceramic with granulated carbon, and they will filter smaller particles from your water. The system also has an automatic shut-off valve that makes it very easy to replace cartridges without a mess. We also offer the 3M filtration line that offer high end cartridge replacement options.

For a wider variety of filtration capabilities, a canister system can be installed under your sink to filter your drinking water. In addition to the standard 10-inch tall canisters we described above, you can also use 5-inch tall canisters to save space. Due to space constraints under a sink, we recommend a single-canister system, and for this purpose, a solid-block carbon cartridge or a ceramic cartridge is usually the best choice.

Filter All of the Water + Filter Drinking Water
You may want to filter all of the water you use to clean it up, then add more filtration to the drinking water to provide an added measure of safety. This is a very common practice. To do this, you would select equipment using the same guidelines discussed above. However, if you do a good job of removing sediment and taste-and-odor contaminants from all of the water, your drinking water filter may only need to remove the remaining biological contaminants. This situation is best addressed with an under-sink ceramic filter cartridge in either a standard canister system or a Q-series system. This would be coupled, of course, with a whole-coach canister system to remove sediment and improve taste and odor.

Higher levels of Purification
If you may want to get even closer to that highest plane of water quality - purity - there are several systems available. The cost of operation is higher and the flow rate is lower than a standard canister system. These systems are best used in conjunction with some type of filtration system as discussed above.

Ultraviolet Light Neutralizes Living Microbes
If you are concerned about infection by water-borne pathogens, you can employ an Ultraviolet Light Sterilizer. These systems sterilize living microorganisms in the water, but don't usually affect the spores and cysts that the microbes use to reproduce. The cost of these systems is reasonably low, and the flow rate is adequate for drinking water use. They can be paired with a canister system to filter the water as well as sterilize organisms. Our Triple Canister UV System utilizes a 5-micron filter cartridge to remove large sediment with a 1-micron cartridge next in line and a solid-block carbon filter last. This will give you clean, good tasting water with virtually all pathogens removed. This system can be used to process the water for your whole coach.

Reverse Osmosis - The Best Alternative for Near-Pure Water
Reverse Osmosis (RO) is an outstanding technology that will remove most contaminants from water as well as most minerals and salts. This is by far the most cost-effective method of producing clean, mineral- and microbe-free water, both in terms of initial cost and operating cost. We carry Whole-coach RO systems and Drinking-water-only RO systems.

Distillation - The Pinnacle of Purity (And Cost)
For those seeking the best level of purity for their water, distillation represents the best reasonable technology. Unfortunately, distillation is an energy-intensive, more time-consuming process for water purification, and good-quality equipment is quite expensive. We generally do not sell distillation systems, but if you want one, please contact us for more information.