Caravan water filters explained - how to choose the right one for you.

When travelling to more remote places in Australia, many people are left high and dry as they realise their caravan water filter isn’t up to the challenge for some of the water sources commonly found in the outback. Bore water and rainwater are often some of the only sources to fill up at remote locations around the country. Campers often make the mistake of thinking that any old water filter is capable of turning this kind of water into drinking water but many 12v pumps and inline water filters have fallen victim to this mistake. In this blog we talk about some of the options available on the market and we delve a little deeper into the science behind water filtration and water purifying. There’s a pretty common misconception that they do the same thing, which usually leads people to installing a traditional caravan water filter into their caravan water tank system, unknowingly subjecting themselves to the bacteria that is not filtered out due to outdated technology.  

The Thirsty Nomad have developed one the first of its kind, a bore water filtration system that is designed to be used directly from a bore water tap anywhere in the outback. They encourage customers to use this device to fill their water tanks with their sediment and bore water pre filter. This is a 5-micron sediment filter with a built-in media that acts through an ion exchange to reduce the dissolved minerals in bore water. This pre filter was designed to protect your expensive appliances from failing due to sediment build up and calcification in the pipes. Each refill should last about 3500 litres, designed for a high flow rate, high service area which is perfect for filling your tanks quickly, so you can get out of the sun faster, even elongating the life of your inline water purifier.  

There are two places you would install a water filter in a van or caravan, right after your 12v water pump or underneath the sink. This gives you the options of filtering all your water (shower, washing machine, ect.) or just the kitchen sink/drinking water. The slight drop in PSI pressure to 50 PSI water pressure which is about a 4L per minute flow rate, which is perfect for caravan appliances and will even save water, an essential in the outback. 

Your more traditional caravan inline water filters that have been around for the last 20 years' work off 1 stage of water filtration which is granular activated carbon, typically found in the most popular caravan water filters on the market today. These water filters have been proven to only filter out taste, colour and smell. That’s it. These are nowhere near as efficient at removing bacteria like E.coli from water. The Thirsty Nomad is currently the only water purifier to meet Australian guidelines for this. The quantum disinfection technology inside the Thirsty Nomad has been trialled and was successful at removing 99.99% of bacteria, microplastics, heavy metals, viruses and chlorine, instantly. In the same test, the more traditional filters took several cycles to remove the same amount of bacteria and the ability to remove chlorine significantly dropped off at about 1000 litres.  

We hope this break down of the science behind why a water purifier is so important to have installed in your caravan or campervan is helpful and if you are after more information visit the product page to find out more about why the Thirsty Nomad is our number one choice for water purifying whilst on the road.