Clean drinking water

Trotter

Trotter

Full Member

Messages
3,264
While in deepest darkest foreign places. Okay, the other side of the channel. I’ve been a bit nervous about drinking local tap water. My digestive system has issues. I’d tell you about them, but you might be eating your dinner.
Bottled water is cheap enough, although carrying it is sometimes awkward.
So was thinking of investing in a water purification system. And then using the on board water.
Looked at the Lifesaver cube, and a inline system also.
Any suggestions? Other than, Man Up!
 
The lifesaver cube , or jerry seem to be the favoured unit , with vehicle based overlanders , dependent on numbers which one . Bigger vehicles often have a on board UV / filter system . The amount of water you need in hot climates is surprising to those from temperate zones.
 
RV2MAX said:
The lifesaver cube , or jerry seem to be the favoured unit , with vehicle based overlanders , dependent on numbers which one . Bigger vehicles often have a on board UV / filter system . The amount of water you need in hot climates is surprising to those from temperate zones.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. As the current situation is going to alter my travel plans for the foreseeable future. I’ll have plenty of time to think about what I’ll do.
Tbh, the question was one of those, I wonder if..... moments. The price of the Cube, buys a lot of supermarket bottled water.

What does the membership think about drinking water in Spain, Portugal, Italy and places further east.

Where I am now, the nearest shop, is a difficult 20 kms away. As I need to do a shop around once a week, I’d need to buy sufficient for the week.

Overlanding? At my age, that boat has already sailed 😤. As has a sailboat cruising the Med and Caribbean. I’ll not be training for a triathalon or starting mountain climbing. Yoof is wasted on the young 😬
 
EJB said:
Is this debate simply for the sake of having a debate?
Are Spain, Portugal and Italy on another planet?:oops::ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Is this a rhetorical question?
Debate? No, a simple request for opinions.
The three countries mentioned, may not have the same stringent public health regulations we are used to in the UK.
IBS is something I live with, any precaution I can take would make my life easier.
 
For cooking the water is boiled as with tea and coffee.
Just boil extra water and let it cool.
and of course buy bottled water eg 5 litre "jars" or 6 x 2 litre bottles

As inferred by another post most drinking water abroad is as safe or now safer than UK.
Yes take care and wipe taps etc. Only once in 10 years have we had to discard slightly brown water taken from a mountainside tap
 
We started using a normal filter jug after watching the Expawers on YouTube, while Brita is the most common make we chose the Aqua Optima mainly because it gets good reviews on the internet, the filters last longer and cost less.

Regards,
Del
 
We have a large stainless water tank slung under out Merc. It is drained and refiled before every trip. Once a year it's filled and treated to some Miltons. Then taken for a drive to agitate it. Drained again and refilled. Miltons never left in for more than 24 hours as it will attack the stainless in time. We do have a inline water filter for the drinking water tap. Though it's not always used. Filter changed after cleaning the tank.
www.finest-filters.co.uk

Undersink Drinking Water Filter System Including Faucet Tap

You are purchasing a high quality under sink filter system which includes a high quality carbon filter, which removes chlorine, organic contaminants, odours and toxins from your water, providing high quality tasting drinking water on tap. This kit will save time and money compared to using an...
www.finest-filters.co.uk www.finest-filters.co.uk
 
alwaysared said:
We started using a normal filter jug after watching the Expawers on YouTube, while Brita is the most common make we chose the Aqua Optima mainly because it gets good reviews on the internet, the filters last longer and cost less.

Regards,
Del
Click to expand...
Hi Del
Sometimes I’m as thick as a brick.
It never occurred to me that using a Brita type filter would of use for filtering foreign water. We use one at home to try and keep down the damage done by limescale, a kettle only lasts around 12-18 months.
Thanks again for giving a simple answer to a not so difficult question.
Del, ‘tother one.😬
 
re previous question. i've always drunk the local water ,tap and springs , always boiled as tea usually ,never in over 30 yr of to and fro ,had a problem
 
mr brown said:
re previous question. i've always drunk the local water ,tap and springs , always boiled as tea usually ,never in over 30 yr of to and fro ,had a problem
Click to expand...
As previously mentioned. IBS plus reflux. Only a problem when it’s a problem. Then it’s a 2 or 3 day nightmare. 🤢
 
Trotter said:
Hi Del
Sometimes I’m as thick as a brick.
It never occurred to me that using a Brita type filter would of use for filtering foreign water. We use one at home to try and keep down the damage done by limescale, a kettle only lasts around 12-18 months.
Thanks again for giving a simple answer to a not so difficult question.
Del, ‘tother one.😬
Click to expand...
We were the same, had a Brita jug in the fridge but it didn't dawn on us to use one in the van until we saw the Expawers video on how they get fresh water in the van. So I did some research for the best price and the Optima came up time and time again and so I got two from Argos and replaced the aging Brita one at home at the same time, they do filters that last upto 3 months. Not sure where you'd get one where you are though.
Stay safe and hopefuly we'll see you soon.

Regards,
Del
 
alwaysared said:
We were the same, had a Brita jug in the fridge but it didn't dawn on us to use one in the van until we saw the Expawers video on how they get fresh water in the van. So I did some research for the best price and the Optima came up time and time again and so I got two from Argos and replaced the aging Brita one at home at the same time, they do filters that last upto 3 months. Not sure where you'd get one where you are though.
Stay safe and hopefuly we'll see you soon.

Regards,
Del
Click to expand...
Of course, the next problem is where to store it. Being plastic it would be fragile in the hands of a cack handed klutz like me. Hopefully it’ll come in a substantial box, suitable for protecting it from damage while being bashed around Europe. Best of luck with that then.
Or perhaps I could find a very useful box from the Really Useful Box Co. to fit. ( see what I did there , clever huh! )
There’s very limited work space in the Twin. So I’d need to decant the water into a bottle, enough for the day, and then store the filter jug. This will take some thinking. In time, I’ll work something out. If nothing else, you’ve given me somewhere to start from.
There might be somewhere on the outside of the wardrobe, by the sink where I could mount a carrier, providing it doesn’t interfere with the sink glass cover. If the shutdown carry’s on, I’ll have plenty of time to work something out.
Stay safe both of you 👍
 
Storage container in the wardrobe, with tap mounted on wardrobe wall above sink?
 
Trotter said:
Of course, the next problem is where to store it. Being plastic it would be fragile in the hands of a cack handed klutz like me. Hopefully it’ll come in a substantial box, suitable for protecting it from damage while being bashed around Europe. Best of luck with that then.
Or perhaps I could find a very useful box from the Really Useful Box Co. to fit. ( see what I did there , clever huh! )
There’s very limited work space in the Twin. So I’d need to decant the water into a bottle, enough for the day, and then store the filter jug. This will take some thinking. In time, I’ll work something out. If nothing else, you’ve given me somewhere to start from.
There might be somewhere on the outside of the wardrobe, by the sink where I could mount a carrier, providing it doesn’t interfere with the sink glass cover. If the shutdown carry’s on, I’ll have plenty of time to work something out.
Stay safe both of you 👍
Click to expand...
We have a large enough fridge now to keep it in but before that, in the old Dethleffs we kept it in the footwell and the door pocket kept it steady, the Aqua jug has a very good sealing lid so it didn't spill over even in the Welsh mountains :)

Regards,
Del
 
You can buy, britax and other brands, filter jugs in Portugal in Leroy Merlin and similar stores. But nothing near you and they are all closed! Maybe amazon.es can do something? If somewhere to deliver to. Maybe just boiling it all and storing cooled in bottles for the time being?
 
Last edited:
Trotter said:
While in deepest darkest foreign places. Okay, the other side of the channel. I’ve been a bit nervous about drinking local tap water. My digestive system has issues. I’d tell you about them, but you might be eating your dinner.
Bottled water is cheap enough, although carrying it is sometimes awkward.
So was thinking of investing in a water purification system. And then using the on board water.
Looked at the Lifesaver cube, and a inline system also.
Any suggestions? Other than, Man Up!
Click to expand...
EU drinking water standards are at least as high as the UK ones. So unless you're going further, I'd not worry.
However, in my view, bottled water is definitely not safe to drink. It is very unlikely to have bacterial contamination, but the phenols that migrate from the plastic are endocrine disruptors.
The longer the water is stored in the bottle, the worse it is. That's the reason for the use by date on bottled water.
Best to tip the water out of the bottle you buy it, and refill with fresh tap water.
As for inline filters, they can remove particulate matter, and they can improve the taste of water, but they are more likely to become a breeding ground for bacteria than a way to remove them.
Something like a Lifesaver Cube is designed for use where the water is known to be dirty. Far better not to have to use such water.
It is really expensive to use. A filter works for 5000 litres. That's about 30 or so fills of my water tank. So it works out at £3 per tank of water.
 
Last edited:
The lifesaver products look like a complete rip off taking advantage of peoples fears. The injection moulded parts cost pence to produce. If you regularly found your only source of drinking water was a stream or worse pond it would make sense. Potable water should be possible to find in most European countries.
 
Rec said:
You can buy, britax and other brands, filter jugs in Portugal in Leroy Merlin and similar stores. But nothing near you and they are all closed! Maybe amazon.es can do something? If somewhere to deliver to. Maybe just boiling it all and storing cooled in bottles for the time being?
Click to expand...
Thats exactly what I did when I got snowed in for a week. Gathered fresh clean snow each morning, melted and bolted it then decanted it to bottles. When I got out after 8 days I still have about 17 litres
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top