Having reliable drinking water in your RV is an ongoing priority.

During any given week, we may be in multiple cities, in multiple regions, connected to multiple water sources.

Sometimes a campground has its own well. Sometimes a state park is fed with municipal water. Sometimes that faucet with the barely-legible “potable water” sign off the sign of the highway makes you wonder. Sometimes the water is so full of minerals that your hair feels like straw, and sometimes you can taste the chemicals used to treat the water.

Here are the steps we use to keep our drinking water fresh. Most RVers would consider this a bit overdone, but we are used to NYC tap water – the cleanest and best-tasting water in the country. We want our sink to dispense the best water possible and to never have to think about it.

Of course, we start with a water regulator for safety and to protect our plumbing. This doesn’t affect the water quality, but it does guarantee that your hoses and connections don’t blow out if the pressure is too high.

First, we give all our incoming water a quick rinse with an in-line water filter. Directly out of the water hook-up using a little extension hose, all of our water is filtered through this before any other processing steps. We replace this filter monthly or more, as it tends to get clogged quickly because it is the first line of defense against sediment.

Then, the water feeds into our Clear Source 3-step filter.

• Micron filter to remove rust and sediment (which helps keeps our dog Brutus’ eyes clean as well)
• Coconut carbon block filter to improve taste while reduce chlorine, volatile organic compounds, and other contaminants.
• VirusGuard filter reduces bacteria like e.coli, cysts like Giardia, and viruses.

From there, we hop out to our On The Go water softener. Softening the water is our favorite way to ensure it tastes perfect and makes showering more pleasant because your soaps will lather easier. Once every week or two, we pour a container of regular table salt in to recharge.

All of that filtering so far happens before the water even technically enters the RV. Built into the RV is an internal filter, for one last cleansing of the filtered and softened water. You’ll probably want to get this one professionally installed unless you’re the DIY type when it comes to RV plumbing.

If you follow these steps, you’ll notice your water tastes better, there will be less filmy residue to clean, and your showers will feel more refreshing.

For a little added fun, replace your RV sink with this Alexa-powered faucet from Moen like we did!

What steps do you use to filter your RV water? Are you as intense as us? Or is this too much? Let us know in the comments!