It may not be what you think!!! On the issue of a town water inlet, there is a HEALTH issue, there is not one on my van, and it is not part of our standard package for the following reasons...... Yes it takes to fill the tanks on a weekly basis and so the town water inlet is a convenient concept… And yes: You definitely have to have the pressure reducer so as not to harm the plumbing system. But here are two other considerations to take on board besides the obvious convenience view….
1) Mechanical Risk: If a hose blows off due to a pressure spike or if the pressure reducer were to fail when you are away, you would flood the van.. And this is not as uncommon as you might think, particularly at night is small town water supply systems when they do the work at night… There have been reports of water hammer twice the pressure of normal and in the 200psi range… Or damage pumps, or damage the hot water tanks…
2) Health risk: The water in your tanks goes off if you do not use it... So maybe to do it right for health you have to add the time of draining your tanks, and then closing the drain bungs or pumping them out, and filling them back up when you leave... You might as well have kept them fresh by turning over the water each week and filling them...! For shorter stays of two weeks or less I would suggest that to drain and refill your tanks makes the “town water inlet” not as much of a convenience or time saver as you might think…. AS THERE IS A HEALTH ISSUE TO CONSIDER…. With growing unwanted micro-organisms in the tanks while not in use….In my view, this whole pressure water town inlet thing is more for people living full time in a park, not for people that are traveling and passing through, that really would be better off keeping the water fresh in their tanks by using them and turning it over.... It is really a better and healthier way to live, turning over the water in your tanks on a weekly basis in a park, rather than having it go bad... My new van will not have it… And rather than growing anaerobic bacteria or fungus in my water tanks while not being used, I will turn over the water in the tanks and fill them on a weekly basis. There were a number of health problems on yachts the same way, traced down to tanks left with old water in them growing unwanted things… So if you prevent this risk by draining the tanks on stays in caravan parks? Well for most of the time I would suggest that this added time negates the convenience or time savings of the town water inlet itself… Why not just refill the tanks on a weekly basis and keep your water fresh?
Now this is just a lifestyle opinion, and I am sure some will disagree, but they may be just looking at the convenience side of things….! There is more to the picture with a MECHANICAL RISK, and a HEALTH RISK…
It us up to you to decide if it is worth the risks…
And it is up to me to fill in the missing bits that I see, when sometime people put forth ideas with only a partial viewpoint… The choice is up to you, as long as you have the full perspective each issue. Otherwise the inexperienced might be mislead by well meaning but only partial views on some subjects…. I will try and keep up with the
BOG to be of help…. Keep in mind we have an advantage, being more in touch with more travelers and more experience than just about anyone, so we may be able to help…. You can have it if you want, at least you will watch out for the potential problems... OK?
Kind Regards to all, from the “Lone Ranger” trying to look after ya…
