Super-Sized RV Water System

This new RV water system works much the same as the one I installed in my previous RV. The exception is that every part of my RV water system of it is bigger. This is the biggest water filter that I have ever seen in an RV. The filter is about four times the size of our previous RV water filter and the water softener is twice the size of the previous RV water softener. It truly is a super-sized RV water system.

This article is an update to our 2020 article (same name). I have added some additional comments about how well the super-sized RV water system is performing.

The hope of super-sizing the RV water system is to make filter changes and water softener regeneration easier and less frequent. Here is the post that I created about our previous water filter system. RV Water Treatment System Our super-sized RV water system works the same way as it did in our previous RV.

Specifications

I did change some things. Our previous one-half-micron filter is now a one-micron filter, but instead of having two filters (the first one that would filter out items greater than 5 microns and the second filter that would remove items greater than 1/2 micron), I am now using a single filter that removes everything down to one-micron. The new filter is called a depth filter and has four stages built into the single filter. The idea is that as the dirty water flows into the filter the biggest stuff is removed first and the smaller items then pass to the second stage, where progressively they also get removed.

Water filter housing: Big Blue Filter Housing Filter Element Whole House or Commercial NSF Polypropylene Sediment Water Filter Cartridge Water Softner Mobile-Soft-Water Portable 16,000Water Softener These links are only for your convenience. We do not participate in any affiliate programs. We get no compensation if you use these links.

Science Moment

As a review, because I often forget, the diameter of a human hair is about fifty microns. Some bacteria are around two microns. All in all, we are talking about very small sizes.

Why is the middle filter empty?

You may notice a small canister between the softener and the filter is empty — and it is upside-down. This is an idea I stole from the RV Geeks. We met Peter and John in Lake Havasu in January. They are also producers of the TV show the RVers on The Discovery Channel with a second season starting next Saturday. The RVers

Anyway, I can’t remember if I implemented the idea the same way, but the purpose of the empty filter canister is to create a salt chamber to regenerate the water softener. If you need a review of water softener regeneration, again it is in our first water filter article RV Water Treatment System

Regeneration

To regenerate our water softener you open the upside-down filter canister and fill it with a brine solution. Of course, to fill it you need to have it right-side-up. The reason that it has so much extra hose attached to it is to have enough room to pull it out of its storage position, fill it with a brine solution and then place it upside down back in its original location The reason that it is upside down is so that the brine solution can easily flow to the water softener without leaving salt at the bottom of the filter canister.

No pipes?

You might also see that I used a water-fill hose for the pipes on the system. RV water fill hose is superior to a more rigid pipe, both for moving the brine tank around and for general vibration issues that every RV experiences, every time you move it.

I think of our RV as super-sized and I know a super-sized RV water system fits the bill. This should make our RV work better with less work from me. Besides that, the water does feed our super-sized refrigerator, where we have both ice and water in the door.

Results after two years of continued use

Overall I am very satisfied with the new improved Super-sized RV water system. Every part of it is easier to use. Now I regenerate the water softener about ten times before I have to replace the water filter. Our current filter is still flowing fine after more than a year of full-time RV use. Because the filter is so big maintenance is nearly zero. I discovered that the filter really didn’t need changing when I took it apart after the first year and inspected it. So I have only replaced it one time.

Regenerating the water softener is also much easier than it was in our previous RV. The remote empty filter canister is much easier than putting salt into the top of the water softener. Perhaps I may re-pipe the water softener so that it is even easier to use but it is working fine. When that happens, if that happens I will make sure to update this article.

Since this article doesn’t go into how the RV water system is actually designed make sure that you check the original article (also updated). RV Water Treatment System

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