water quality

dishlicker · Senior Member

water quality

The Phantom · Guru

Just check the streets. If they are full of dead people, don't trust the water.

The Phantom

briche · Guru

we bought a water quality tester on EBAY, was cheap and does a good job

briche

Bruce and Bev · Guru

most country towns are on scheme water of some kind and the water is usually either piped in from a city with full water treatment facilities or a group of towns share a treatment plant (run and funded normally by the State water company or corporation).

The easiest way to tell is pour some into a glass and give it the sniff and look test, or even better, ask the locals at a servo or IGA.

You can also buy pills or liquid to add to your water tanks to purify the water, but usually you cant drink it for 24 hours.

We have drunk tap water in all the towns in the States we have visited, but always boil a kettle of it first. We also lug around a big pack of bottled water from the city supermarkets when you can buy them for typically $5 for a large pack.

As an aside, we empty out our water tanks about every 3 months, fill them and treat them with a purifying tablet. Tanks have breathers so that air goes out as you fill them and dust gets into these vents leaving your tanks with a slurry of mud in the bottom if you don't clean them out

Some GN's actually take their tanks off from time to time and really give them a good clean out

sufil · Guru

Do the taste test. If it is town water it will be ok but it may have a taste you don't like. In that case buy bottled water to drink and use the town water for washing up,showers etc.
.We cant drink the water in Joondalup despite filtering it several time but our kids say it doesn't have a taste! It is a personal thing. We are used to rain water so every other water has a taste. We have potable bore water here that we don't like the taste of but others say it is ok. We use it for everything bar drinking and have rainwater for that.

Izabarack · Guru

briche wrote:
....... does a good job

How do you know? Some water borne diseases don't show up for some time.

Iza

TheHeaths · Guru

Our process is this.

1) Rather than constantly trying to get used to changing water quality, taste etc., we use cask spring water for drinking once we head into country areas.

2) We also use a BEST filter when in parks. This removes much of the taste. We filter into the tanks when we fill them for remote travelling. After the taste test by Kathleen Evelyn when connected to mains, if the tea tastes good, we can use the mains water. If not, refer to #1

3) We only fill tanks from known potable water sources (we do limited free camping ~ 10% of the time). The tanks are for wash up and emergency supply only. Refer to #1.

4) When in parks we ask the managers about the source of water before we taste. We often still use spring water, as it saves our system getting used to different taste and quality of water.

I know it is more expensive, and I know many will feel it is overkill, but Kathleen Evelyn insists, and as I have to sit next to her for weeks at a time in the car and van, I use discretion, and only mutter under my breath occasionally about weight and cost!

Hope this gives you some useful info to consider

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

We chlorinate all water we put in our tanks and then use a 1um household size carbon/silver filter after the pump and before the tap.
That renders all water safe, so we never have to think about it.

Cheers,
Peter

kenmarg · Veteran Member

a lot of outback towns ,have treated bore water. so be careful of calcium build up,as this attacks the plastic water fittings ( the fittings go hard, and the van vibration cracks them ) this happened twice with my hot water service. I have since replaced all my plastic fittings with brass.

Geeco · Senior Member

I dislike the taste of chlorined water so even at home I drink bottled water. On the road bottled water for tea/coffee and the tank water is used for non drinking tasks - washing up showers etc. All water is filtered with a BEST inline filter pre tank. As our journeys are no longer than 6-8 weeks at a time I empty the tank on returning to home and also drain down the combi boiler. So far that has worked for us.
Cheers,
Gary C.

gemmybob · Veteran Member

We boil our drinking water, and when cool we run it through one of those Britax water jugs. We have the same quality water and good coffee where ever we go.

-- Edited by gemmybob on Friday 15th of January 2016 11:24:52 AM

Brenda and Alan · Guru

We don't have a problem. Alan tastes the water in country towns and if it is OK we use that. (If he drops dead I'll know not to drink it). We are on tank water at home and when travelling if we come across a water tank filled from a roof we use that too. What's the worst thing that can be in it, besides bird poo and possum poo. Think what goes into the reservoirs for major cities. I know they filter and purify it, but still ... I've seen what's on the banks of our local river - dead kangaroos, household rubbish bags, babies' nappies - and all this goes into the reservoirs. Brenda.

Casualkev · Senior Member

Brenda, Dead rats,birds,possums and frogs can all be in water tanks if not maintained properly so best to be aware of this when filling up.

Kev

dishlicker · Senior Member

Thanks for the reply's I fillter our water so we should be ok have just got hold of the multi tap handle so should be ok cheers

Swoffer · Senior Member

The Phantom wrote:
Just check the streets. If they are full of dead people, don't trust the water.

The Phantom

Hahahahaha

This made me blow my coffee out thru my nose .

kiwijims · Guru

Kalgoorlie in W.A. is a place where you can get some pretty stale tap water, This is because the water is piped all the way from Mundaring Weir, in the fool hills of Perth. a distance of 530km, this water takes between 7 to 8 weeks to travel this distance, for most of this distance, the water pipe sits in the sun above ground and is subject to the suns heat in the Summer and has been that hot that it couldn't be touched by uncovered hand,

This pipe is more than 100 years old and is in constant need of repair, with flaking lining coming loose inside, leaving the pipe inside exposed to rust, hence the taste of warm, rust tasting water, "been there, done that" while working for the Water Corp, as a pipe line maintainer based out of Merredin in the Wheatbelt.

The quality of Perth water is now not much better, with all the desalinated sea water being mixed with dam water and bore water.

At one time we used to get clean, freezing cold water, straight from the hills catchment areas, not any more, it's that warm, it's almost sickly to drink, We use bottled water in our caravan for drinking and cooking, and fill the water tank for shower use only ,

K.J.

jules47 · The Happy Helper

We have mostly used the water in our tanks for everything, but recently, we had a thought about the state of the anode we have to change regularly in our hot water system, and think if it does that (eats away the anode, is crusted in what is possibly calcium or other things) maybe we will start buying drinking water, which we also use in the kettle for coffee etc., ok costs a bit more, but better than a visit to a doctor, or worse hospital, with a tummy bug caused by bad water.

D and D · Guru

If your definition of "safe" means water that won't make you sick then be aware that some bacteria and almost all viruses are smaller than 1 um. Chlorination doesn't necessarily kill all bugs, some actually go into a form of hibernation on contact with chlorine and they can "wake up" pretty quickly once chlorine or other chemical disinfectant is no longer present - see www.wqa.org/Learn-About-Water/Common-Contaminants/Bacteria-Viruses. Not all water born illnesses are caused by ingestion, illnesses such as Amoebic Meningitis are contracted by water entering the nose and the bug passes through the membranes into the brain - www.public.health.wa.gov.au/cproot/2404/2/Amoebic_Meningitis.pdf

If your definition of safe means water with low mineral content that won't damage various parts of your water system then that's a whole different matter - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softening

You can have water that's too pure. Water produced in desalination plants, for example, needs to be mixed with less pure water to make it palatable and cause less damage to water reticulation infrastructure.

For drinking we buy spring water and keep our fingers crossed.

Regards

Dave

-- Edited by D and D on Friday 15th of January 2016 09:37:33 PM

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Geeco wrote:
I dislike the taste of chlorined water .......

The active carbon filter removes the chlorine before it comes out of the tap, but before that it makes the water biologically safe.

Cheers,

Peter

The Phantom · Guru

I read some of the rubbish above and wonder how I'm still alive. I have drunk water from ponds, filtered through a dirty sock and once I was pushing cows out of a soak to get to the water. I have drunk tap water in China and other parts of Asia and Europe and never been sick. i even tried urine when I was a kid.

I'm still here although there are some that wish I wasn't.

Sometimes I think we can get a wee bit precious about what we ingest. Have a look at a few of the stories about the early settlers and read what they put up with. You might change your mind a bit or just stay home cosseted in your bacteria free existence.

The Phantom

Casualkev · Senior Member

I can tell you've been drinking some odd stuff by your photo. biggrin

D and D · Guru

The Phantom wrote:
I read some of the rubbish above and wonder how I'm still alive. I have drunk water from ponds, filtered through a dirty sock and once I was pushing cows out of a soak to get to the water. I have drunk tap water in China and other parts of Asia and Europe and never been sick. i even tried urine when I was a kid.
I'm still here although there are some that wish I wasn't.
Sometimes I think we can get a wee bit precious about what we ingest. Have a look at a few of the stories about the early settlers and read what they put up with. You might change your mind a bit or just stay home cosseted in your bacteria free existence.

The Phantom

And because you got away with it means that everyone else did and will continue to do so? Water borne diseases kill thousands if not millions of people every year and not just in developing nations (http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/burden/en/). Do you want to go and tell these folk that their child's death was just one of those things that happens when you "stay home cosseted in your bacteria free existence" or the people in Sydney some years ago who were hospitalised because of a Giardia outbreak?

The development of reticulated water systems and the collection and treatment of sewage brought about the greatest public health benefit of any other public health initiative. Before this, diseases such as cholera were endemic as were the number of deaths from ingesting or contacting contaminated water and your ignorance about the causes, consequences and alternatives to preventing water borne diseases should dissuade anyone from taking your comments on this topic seriously.

Dave

Bruce and Bev · Guru

And because you got away with it means that everyone else did and will continue to do so? Water borne diseases kill thousands if not millions of people every year and not just in developing nations (www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/burden/en/). Do you want to go and tell these folk that their child's death was just one of those things that happens when you "stay home cosseted in your bacteria free existence" or the people in Sydney some years ago who were hospitalised because of a Giardia outbreak?

The development of reticulated water systems and the collection and treatment of sewage brought about the greatest public health benefit of any other public health initiative. Before this, diseases such as cholera were endemic as were the number of deaths from ingesting or contacting contaminated water and your ignorance about the causes, consequences and alternatives to preventing water borne diseases should dissuade anyone from taking your comments on this topic seriously.

Dave

____________________________________________________________________________________________

No one in their right mind would disagree with you Dave. I think he made the comment to wind up people and get a reaction...........

The Phantom · Guru

Bruce and Bev wrote:
No one in their right mind would disagree with you Dave. I think he made the comment to wind up people and get a reaction...........

Quite the contrary B&B. The OP was Hi filling water tanks in country towns water quality.Where and how can you know how good is the water?? and there has been a number of replies that answer that question, including my initial reply.

Why do some people think that as soon as you venture more than 10kms from a city centre their very existence is fraught with danger?

I grew up in country towns and there was never an issue with the quality of water (and that included Kalgoorlie and Leonora) but as soon as one buys a caravan, water quality deteriorates in some opinions. As I said, some people are being a bit precious here.

As with all things in Australia (other than illegalities) you have a choice. If you are not happy with the water, buy it, but do not try and convince others that water quality in country towns will cause sickness or death.

My last post on this thread.

dogbox · Guru

The Phantom wrote:
I read some of the rubbish above and wonder how I'm still alive. I have drunk water from ponds, filtered through a dirty sock and once I was pushing cows out of a soak to get to the water. I have drunk tap water in China and other parts of Asia and Europe and never been sick. i even tried urine when I was a kid.
I'm still here although there are some that wish I wasn't.
Sometimes I think we can get a wee bit precious about what we ingest. Have a look at a few of the stories about the early settlers and read what they put up with. You might change your mind a bit or just stay home cosseted in your bacteria free existence.

The Phantom

the ghost who walks never dies

dorian · Guru

D and D wrote:
You can have water that's too pure. Water produced in desalination plants, for example, needs to be mixed with less pure water to make it palatable and cause less damage to water reticulation infrastructure.

For drinking we buy spring water and keep our fingers crossed.

Too pure? You're kidding, right?

And spring water? That's a scam, isn't it? Choice Magazine found no discernible difference between "mineral" water and tap water. When I was living in Singapaore, 9 out of 10 bottled waters were just filled from the tap.