The longer you live on the road, the greater the odds are that you’ll encounter terrible tasting and potentially contaminated drinking water. It’s happened a few times to us because we don’t have the storage space usually required of RV water filtration systems. We’ve tried to protect ourselves with an exterior RV water filter on our hose and a Brita filter on the kitchen sink faucet, but still never get the best quality drinking water. Now after 11 years of doing this, everything’s different now that we have the ApaPure2, the best compact RV water filter on the market.

Head’s up readers: LifeSource sent us a complimentary ApaPure2 unit in exchange for an unbiased look at how it works for our full-timing life. They are not responsible for the content in this post.

Bye Bye Water Quality Blues

There’s something wrong about getting your drinking water just a few steps away from where you dump your poop water. But that’s the dump station reality we as RVers have to accept. Jim and I can’t count the number of times we’ve put such bad tasting, discolored, or over-chlorinated water in our holding tanks that we question its safety. And buying bottled water is not something we care to do.

When we began planning our 2018 Alaska road trip (and considering a winter snowbirding in Mexico when we return), water safety became paramount. Our camping choices usually put us in rural locations that rely on wells for drinking water. Since Alaska is the most rugged and remote destination we’ve tackled, it got us thinking we need a better filtration method. Once we headed north, we discovered we were right. For instance:

Three weeks ago while traveling through the Washington and British Columbia borderlands, we went through the Okanogan Valley. The area had just experienced epic flooding caused by rapidly melting snow. Local water wells got contaminated and residents were warned to boil their water. Thankfully we didn’t have to refill our tanks during our visit. If we had, it would have been a gamble.

Then last week while staying at a rural RV park in Northern BC we tasted some excellent drinking water, but got a little uneasy when we noticed the source was straight from the mountain stream diverted to the campground water system. Nobody got sick, but it lit the fire for Jim to install the ApaPure2 undersink water filter that we had just received in the mail.

Introducing the Best Compact RV Water Filter for Full-time RV Living

LifeSource Water Systems has built its reputation on whole house water systems. If anyone knows how to make an effective RV water filter, they do. The LifeSource ApaPure filters are American-Made filtration systems that:

• Removes over 99.9% of bacteria and viruses.
• Lasts an average family one year and protects their water for 10,300+ gallons.
• Requires no maintenance, chemicals or electricity.
• Fits in tight spots like RV kitchen cabinets

Don’t let the $299 price tag freak you out. I’ll admit, it caught me off guard. But when I did the math I was thrilled to discover that it costs less than three cents per gallon. So with our 50-gallon fresh water tank, we are paying just $1.50 a week for the cleanest, safest drinking water we’ve ever enjoyed.

There is no comparison to the $15 Brita faucet-mounted filters we’ve been buying. Those non-recyclable, plastic filters do a decent job with water safety, but they don’t get rid of bad taste. Plus, Britas are expensive! They’re only good for 100 gallons, at 15 cents per gallon. To filter the same amount of water as the ApaPure2, we would need to purchase 103 Brita filters for $1,545!

How to Install the ApaPure2 RV Water Filter

I’m not the most qualified person to cut into RV water lines. I let Jim handle those duties, but I can tell you the project didn’t take him very long and it looked pretty straightforward. Here’s what he learned during the ApaPure2 installation process.

1. Measure twice, cut once. The ApaPure2 has a wall-mounted inline filtration head designed to fit 1/4†Pex flexible plumbing lines. The installation instructions state: Product includes 3/8†QC connections for inlet and outlet valve head ports. It is important to note that 1/4†Pex has an OD (Outer Diameter) of 3/8â€. Pex plumbing sizes are specified by ID (Inner Diameter) so 3/8†Pex with an OD of 1/2†will not fit the ApaPure2 filter head without adapters and extra tubing.

2. Make sure you have enough slack. If you’re lucky enough to have enough flexibility in your plumbing, you can simply cut the cold water line to your faucet and attach each side to the ApaPure2 valve head ports (paying close attention to the indicated water flow direction). Our kitchen sink plumbing was installed pretty tight, so Jim had to add an extension to bend the Pex enough to reach the outlet port without kinking it. Finding bulk 1/4†Pex in the small town where we were staying proved difficult. See note #1 about Pex sizing. Jim was finally able to find 3/8†OD flexible water filtration tubing and a Pex compression connector at a local plumbing supply.

3. Pressure test the system before cleaning up. The Quick Connect ports on the ApaPure2 are simple to use. Simply insert the tubing into the port, remove the retainer clip from the compression fitting, and firmly seat the Pex in place. It is important to ensure a square cut of the tubing, so using a razor blade is best. Connect both the inlet and outlet ports and have someone turn on the water supply while monitoring for leaks.

4. Installation of the ApaPure2 is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1) Mount filter head to wall.

2) Cut cold water line and insert into valve ports

3) Attach replaceable filter cartridge.

Installation Tip: The ApaPure2 did not include mounting screws for the filter head. Since Jim could not get a screwdriver into the mounting location behind our sink, he used 1†x 3/8†hex head lag screws to attach the filter head to a stud for a secure mount. He also removed the filter cartridge to make mounting the filter head easier, and made note of the water flow direction since the illustration in the manual is pictured in reverse.

Once You Taste It, You’ll Never Go Back

The ApaPure2 puts us light years ahead of our old RV water filter system. With a 1.67 gpm flow rate, the water pressure from the kitchen tap is 1,000 times better than before.

It used to take minutes to fill our teapot from our old faucet-mounted filter—which only got slower as it reached its expiration date. Plus, we feel much better knowing we are covered against contamination whether we’re pulling water from a mountain stream or a dump station in Mexico. We’ll never be without safe, fresh tasting water ever again.

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