Water hoses

[crazie_eddie]

I'm about to buy a new hose for my motorhome, but not sure what to get. If I'm not going to be using either the tank or the "city water" connection for drinking, do I really need to get a potable water hose? And which size works best 1/2" or 5/8"inch?

 

I will be fulltiming, and the plan is to make it a year-round proposition, although the best laid plans....

 

Many thanks

 

Pat

[AFchap]

The bigger the hose the better as far as pressure and volume are concerned. Don't know why you wouldn't use the water system for drinking ...we use a sediment filter outside, and charcoal filter under the sink for drinking & ice maker, and use our system just like we do in a stick house. How about cooking, etc? it's your rig do what you want!

[oldcodger]

There are some who say you need a special hose for potable water and some who say you don't. DW and I are in the don't need section. I would buy a decent quality hose long enough so you can easily hook to to any hose bib where ever it might be in the park or resort site. And even the so called high doller "no kink" hoses will kink IMO and my experience.

 

Dave

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Since we have our water pressure regulator built into the trailer, we use 200 psi water hoses from KwikLink(www.rvh20.com) and RV Water Filer Store to deal with parks with high water pressure.

 

Hoses designed for RV water usage have liners designed to prohibit bacteriological growth that regular water hoses do not have. There are long period where the water in the hose is not flowing and is cooking under the sun. This is where you get stuff in your water your do not want to be drinking, even with good filters.

 

Standard RV water filters are not up to dealing with water microorganisms. Good water filters are household type wit a sediment first filter and a carbon block filter as a second stage.

 

The feeling of a good shower isn't the pressure, it is the water flow. A normal shower is designed for 2-1/2 gpm.

1/2" or 5/8' hoses will deliver about the same pressure. The pressure regulator you use will determine the water flow you get in the RV. You have to have a pressure regulator as some park water pressure can pop some of your fittings in the RV. The cheap 10$ Camco regulator starts out with a 2 gpm flow rate but quickly drops to about 1 gpm. A household regulator can deliver 4-5 gpm.

 

More information - RV Fresh Water Systems

[skp51443]

The hose size will determine the flow rate and the longer the distance the more impact it will have. For living off the hose you could get by with the 1/2 but you'd see reduced water pressure, more so if you were using two taps at once. The larger hose will make a small difference if you just use a 10 footer but if you have 25 or 50 feet of hose out you'll see a big difference. For filling the tank from the outside filler you want the biggest hose possible since the higher the flow rate the less time you'll be standing there holding the hose waiting for the tank to fill.

 

Related to the waiting for the tank to fill from the outside filler, you want high flow filters and no pressure regulator for that process.

 

As to hose type, you can use about any hose to fill but you want to do an initial high volume flush to remove any old water and buildup from the hose before you start putting water into your rig. For constant connection a good drinking hose is essential in my opinion, you do not want to be drinking water that has lingered in a garden hose out in the hot summer sun for a few hours.

 

We bought one set of good hoses (not walmart campingworld junk) and used them for 6 years in the RV and we still have them here at 14 years old and they are still working well.

[Kirk W]

I agree that the potable water grade hoses are worth the extra cost, but like Stanley I spend more to get a good one and use it for a long time. The typical garden hose is no longer made of rubber but rather of plastics and just what compound is used varies widely. Since the compounding is not regulated for them and many of them now come from China, they cost less but will usually flavor the water and may even create health issues if left out in direct sun for long enough. Even if you don't "drink the water" you will probably do other things like wash dishes, brush your teeth and several other uses that could cause you to ingest some of the the out-gassed contaminates. It will impact the RV plumbing over time and it will probably smell unpleasant at least at times.

 

It is true that there are those who don't use potable water grade hoses and have little ill effect, or at least none that they are aware of. It is also true that some people never wear a seat-belt or other safety equipment and suffer no ill effects. Each person must choose the level of risk that they are willing to take in their chosen lifestyle. While I never use non-potable water hoses to supply my RV, it really doesn't bother me that some folks choose to save a couple of dollars by doing so.

[nana25k]

We always use a potable water hose of good quality When exposed to hot sun for over a week we fill our tank and disconnect and use our tank water. We had one summer of exposure and soon figured out that the fresh water thru the hose became nasty even with a high quality hose

[crazie_eddie]

Thank your for all your thoughts.

 

I'm thinking I'll be filling the tank and storing the hose in the shade most of the summer, and certainly using the tank in the winter. The water where I'm parked isn't great, but the water at work is good, so I'll be filling jugs for drinking and cooking. If I camp at a park it will probably be a national camp ground or something a bit more rustic, and the water pressure where I'm going to be most of the time is pretty pathetic.

 

Washing, in all it's various forms, is another thing, so maybe a better potable hose is the best option. I certainly don't like the idea of anything coming from China! So the question is now, which brand - Camco or Neverkink or something else? (the Kwik Link is a bit out of my price range at the moment, unless I do some rerouting of the existing water lines at the shop where I'm parked.

 

Many thanks again...

 

Pat

[mptjelgin]

We use high quality potable water hoses that we ordered from RV Water Filter Store. The hoses are rated at 200 psi and have machined brass fittings. Not cheap, but we don't plan to replace them for a very long time.

[TxCowboy]

For protecting your hoses exposed to the sun, you may want to consider the hose wraps you can get at Lowes, Home Depot, and similar stores, normally found in the plumbing section. They comes in lengths of about 6 feet and varying diameters and have a pre-cut perforation along the long axis that you can easily cut open with a knife or scissors. The wrap then simply slides around the hose.

 

I keep four of them in the RV basement for my 25 foot hose. IIRC, I paid about $1.50 per six foot length.

[whj469]

We wouldn't use a non-potable water hose at all and we don't see much difference in water presser or flow between 1/2 and 5/8 inch hose.

We also don't drink the water from our water tank, we use bottled water to drink, make coffee and tea.

[PeteSKP]

A few thoughts:

 

Fish pee in water, use bourbon to fix the taste.

 

Some of the water supply system is made out of 200 year old Wood!

 

Diameter of the hose will not effect the pressure, it will effect the flow rate! If the water supply is 50psi, you do nothing to increase it short of adding a pump.

[mptjelgin]

 

Diameter of the hose will not effect the pressure, it will effect the flow rate! If the water supply is 50psi, you do nothing to increase it short of adding a pump.

 

Actually the diameter of the hose can have a significant affect on the water pressure inside the trailer. Smaller hose will have a larger pressure drop, especially at higher flow rates.

 

For example, for a 100' length of hose, a 1/2" hose will have a pressure drop of 27.8 psi at 5 gallons per minute, while a 5/8" hose will have a 9.27 psi drop at the same 5 GPM.

 

Here is a source for pressure drop in hoses of various diamter: http://www.jgbhose.com/Data_Returns/waterflow1.asp

 

But you are correct that no hose can increase water pressure, and for static (no flow) conditions the water pressure is independent of hose diameter.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Since most hose bibs are on 1/2" pipe, and you have (or should have) a pressure regulator, and you should go through a filter or two, the difference between 1/2" and 5/8" has no bearing.

 

The water flow is the lowest of all the elements in the system.

[mptjelgin]

The losses are cumulative over the entire system. If you have reduced your flow to (for example) 2.5 gpm at 40 psi through a filter/regulator system, and you have only a 20' run of hose, then the differences are insignificant. At 2.5 GPM flow the 1/2" will have an outlet pressure of 38.5 psi and the 5/8" will have an outlet pressure of 39.5 psi, and I don't imagine that is a difference that anyone would detect.

 

But in a more extreme case, like a 5 gpm system at 40 psi and 50 feet of hose, the results would be 26.1 psi out of the 1/2" hose and 35.4 psi out of the 5/8" hose. You probably would be aware of that difference.

 

For most sites it doesn't make a noticeable difference, but I've been to places where 50 or 75' of hose was required. And hose diameter does impact pressure in those cases. All that being said, most of my hoses are 1/2" and I don't worry about it. If I'm not getting adequate pressure I use the trailer fresh water system to boost the pressure and volume.

 

So going all of the way back to the OP's question, I wouldn't worry about 1/2" vs. 5/8" unless you anticipate unusually long distances from the source to your trailer. I would concentrate on finding good quality hoses with machined fittings, especially if you are planning to full time.