Water Filters

Matching an RV water filter to your water

Filtering starts by knowing what you're taking out. Sediment and rust need a screen or coarse filter; chlorine taste and odor need carbon; heavy metals and that rotten-egg sulfur smell need KDF media. Most RV setups layer a couple of these:

• Inline vs canister. An inline filter, like the Camco Evo and the Watts Flow Pur, is a disposable cartridge you splice into the hose: cheap and simple. A canister or exterior kit like the Valterra AquaFRESH holds a replaceable cartridge in a housing you mount and reuse.
• Micron rating. The lower the number, the finer the filter. A 5-micron inline catches sediment and most grit; a 0.5-micron carbon block (the Camco Evo X2) also traps cysts and gives the cleanest taste, at the cost of some flow.
• Filter media. Carbon (GAC) kills chlorine and taste; KDF adds heavy-metal and sulfur-odor reduction and resists bacteria; a stainless screen, like the Valterra inline, is just a pre-strainer for grit. The Watts GAC/KDF cartridges combine the first two.
• Replacement schedule. Cartridges load up and slow down. Most inline filters are a once-a-season swap, sooner on bad water. Buy the replacements, like the AquaFresh 2-pack, alongside the housing so you're not caught with a clogged filter.

A filter runs after the pressure regulator and on a clean drinking-safe hose, since filtering water that then sits in a garden hose defeats the point. Housing and thread adapters are in hose fittings & adapters.