Chinook RV

Blue - you are a BAD influence!! We don't drink the water from the tank in the Chinook so we have one pint bottles of water all over the place. This idea of a separate tank for spring water is very appealing.

So many ideas - so little time (and even less money!)

I have that same thing going on: Gallon jug on the counter and more floating around the rig in various spots on the floor. SO annoying!

I am in the process of trying to put a RO filter inside the rig. RO generate a lot of waste water, so I would only run this when I have full service site. Most pressure tank can hold 3 gals, I think. Should be enough for a few days.

The waste water from most RO units IIRC is about 4:1, which is insane. It's not really waste water though; it's just higher in mineral content than it was before processing, but overall probably cleaner than what originally went through the battery of pre-filters. I was going to install one of the smaller aquarium type units in my Chinook and run the "waste" water back to the holding tank. That's exactly what I do with my system at home; it goes from the RO unit, through 100 feet of HDPE tube, into my main residential supply tank (I'm not on municipal water). I decided against RO in the Chinook because these systems generally run at a slow trickle and in order to be convenient in any way, they really need a reservoir of some type (either with a pressurized bladder or a float valve and gravity feed petcock) which would obviously occupy even more space. So as Blue has posted, a refillable holding tank would be ideal. The only minor change I would make is to have a removable reservoir so I can just stick it directly into the water machine rather than filling it with bottles, but that's a function of the tank location, convenience of removal (it would weigh nearly 30 pounds filled), and other things, so his design is probably optimal for most.

The RO pressure tank will replace the function of the refillable holding tank, so there is not much more space needed.

chin_k wrote:The RO pressure tank will replace the function of the refillable holding tank, so there is not much more space needed.

You have to make additioal room for the RO unit itself, and in a place where you can service the filters. Also, a pressure tank will be quite a bit larger than a poly tank of eqivalent capacity due to the bladder, plus it'd be round, not square. So the overall space consumed would be notably different. These would be trivial differences in a house, but many of us try to utilize every cubic inch in our Chinooks; that's really my point, I guess. But an RO system would be pretty cool. Let us know when you get it in; I'd love to see your install.
Cheers

I do see your point. In the process of cleaning up a leak, and have the sofa out already. Got a better view of available room, and will see if I can put one in there. I use a 5 stage RO in my home, but that will be too large for the chinook.

My buddy replaced his water tank in his 2004 Chinook Concourse with a 50 gallon tank and custom bed. The reason the tanks are the size they are is because the jackknife needs the clearance when folding out. After replacing his tank he had to install a water fill cap so water wouldnt gush out when full.

I agree that "sucking in external bacteria" whenever pumping water is not a first choice. My question then becomes can you use a "studor" type vent inside on your fresh water tank to eliminate that outside connection?

Your're right, we use 1gallon water bottles and keep one in the fridge at all times. However, it's a good idea to keep a 1/4 cup of chlorine in a full water tank at all times. This will eliminate "Beaver Fever" which is the same ameba that it found in beaver dams. One sip of that will keep you busy and cause an appreciated weight loss in 24 hrs. Keeping the water tank clorinated is important for the shower as well. Many people will get shower water in their mouths and then will unknowingly swallow it just by reflex and then wonder why they got sick.
TJ Mackle #429