Your Go-To Guide To RV Water Softeners and Filters
The RV industry is huge. In the United States, the industry generates $50 billion USD annually. When you talk about an RV, the first things that come in your mind are probably nature, road trips, mountains, and lakes. However, to make the above possible, your RV needs to be equipped with necessities.
One vital aspect of an RV is its water system. Water treatment is not an often discussed topic when talking about RVs, but it is very important for the water system to run smoothly as it can affect your health, and damage the recreational vehicle if ignored. It is just as important to get clean and good tasting water in your RV as it is at your home.
About 85 percent of the US is a hard water area, including many campgrounds in the area. Hard water contains minerals and sediments that cause damage to the RV and its appliances. The problem of hard water can be fixed by using an RV water softener and filter, as they remove these harmful particles from the water supply.
What Is Hard Water, And Why Is It Bad?
The water that falls in the rain is pure and does not contain minerals, and such water is known as soft water. However, this rainwater is mixed with minerals like magnesium and calcium once it starts flowing through the ground. It then becomes hard water once it has collected large quantities of minerals.
These minerals can be destructive for the tank and pipes of your RV. Hard water can also leave your skin feeling itchy and sticky after a shower. Additionally, minerals can give water a bad smell and taste, and the colors of your clothes can fade faster once they're washed.
If hard water contaminates the freshwater tank of your RV, you will need to disinfect the water system of your RV thoroughly. All this hassle can be avoided by using an RV water softener.
Now we take a look at what precisely are RV water softeners and water filters, their similarities and differences, their benefits, and their usage.
RV Water Softener
An RV water softener is similar to the stationary water softener installed in homes, with the added advantage of being portable. It is a device that treats water so that minerals can be removed, which are typically present in the water when extracted from the ground.
These minerals, such as magnesium, iron, and calcium, make the water hard and damage the plumbing of your RV. The water softener removes these minerals through a process known as ion-exchange.
RV Water Filter
The primary purpose of an RV water filter is to process and filter the water to make it safe to drink. The water is made fit for drinking by removing the bad odor, bad taste, and contaminants such as bacteria, sediments, and heavy metals.
Internal RV water filters can be fitted inside the RV by the kitchen sink or the external RV water filters that treat the whole water supply coming into the RV. The primary purpose of RV water filters is to filter out the impurities and sediments from the water that affect its taste, and they are not meant to convert non-consumable water into drinkable water.
How Are Water Softeners And Water Filters Different From Each Other?
Fundamentally, both RV water filters and softeners filter the water. However, they are still not substitutes for each other. This is because a water filter removes contaminants from the water supply more efficiently than the water softener and improves the taste and quality of water significantly.
Water softeners primarily remove scale-causing elements from the water supply through a chemical process that uses salt, and this softened water might still contain bacteria and other contaminants that can be dangerous for health.
Thus an RV needs a water softener and water filter, both. The water softener is primarily beneficial for the RV's health, while the water filter is mainly beneficial for the health of the people in the RV.
Benefits Of RV Water Softener
Scale build-up, which is the dried up deposit of hardened minerals and calcium adhered on to the fixtures, is dangerous for the pipework, sinks, faucets, toilets, and other sanitary appliances of the RV. It can alter with the natural contraction and expansion of the pipework and block it over time.
If you keep on letting scale inducing hard water to pass through the plumbing system of your RV, its eventual treatment can be costly and time-consuming.
The main benefit of an RV water softener is to avoid these costs as it will remove these scale-causing minerals from the water supply before they enter the RV. Thus the pipework and appliances of your RV can be saved from damage, and the financial and time costs associated with repairing that damage.
The only maintenance you will need with the RV water softener will be to top up the mineral removing salt in it. Hard water can make it difficult to lather up with soap while taking a shower, and a water softener solves this problem. RV water softener also prevents rust stains and water spots.
Benefits Of RV Water Filter
The main benefit of the RV water filter is the removal of foreign contaminants by treating the water supply to improve the taste and quality of the water. Your RV can take you to many different locations and geographies, and some places have their water supply contaminated with pesticides and chemicals from agricultural and industrial processes.
A water filter will remove these contaminants and make the water safe for consumption. Another benefit of RV water filters is that they are straightforward to install, and you do not need a professional to install them for you.
As you travel to different places, you have no way of knowing if the water supply is safe or not, and the benefit of water filters of filtering out the microbes and potential carcinogens can be a life-saver and protect you from potentially fatal situations.
Invest in RV Water Softener and Filter
You can only have a great experience in your RV if you and your RV are healthy, as any deterioration can disturb your trip and turn a dream journey into a nightmare. One of the main factors that determine your health and that of your RV, is the water supply.
An RV water softener and RV water filter reduce the chances of you getting ill and your appliances and pipework getting damaged. In short, both of these tools are important as you protect your property by installing an RV water softener, and you protect your health by installing a water filter.
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