Do you know what’s in your campervans water tanks? Analysis of a water filter has revealed there are almost certainly microplastics, nylon fibres and more.
Access to clean and safe drinking water in a campervan, or motorhome usually relies on single use plastic bottled water. It’s an expensive option both financially and in terms of sustainability. But at least it guarantees purity of the water you’re ingesting.
Wave International’s Flostream is a compact water filter. It is available through Penguin Refrigeration Ltd. They will be at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show, in the NEC from 18-23 February.
Easily fitted
Exhibiting on Stand 5.029 they will display the Flostream 3 stage pre-filter and Micro HiFlo 10, suitable for onboard tanks. Designed to be easily fitted in campervans and motorhomes it provides flow rates of 10 litres per minute.
Wavestream’s multi-media filters are specifically designed to remove all types of contaminants found in water. These include harmful bacteria, heavy metals and minerals such as calcium and limescale. As well as microfibres and microplastics. The filter also ensures cyst reduction and remove contaminants. These can cause health problems. In addition to ensuring only clean and clear water comes out of the tap. The filters also improve the taste of the water. No matter what the source is. Whilst the filter’s bacteriostatic control also controls microbial growth in the water system.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the Wave filter, Wave International fitted a Flostream filter into a VW campervan. They then replaced the filter cartridge after 12 months. The camper van has a small water tank, which was only refilled using the owner’s UK home domestic water mains, using a hosepipe.
Analysis
The filter and its contents were sent to a specialist micro plastics laboratory for analysis. Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and imaging at x30 magnification, the testing explored the quantity of pollutants and chemical compositions. This created a spectral ‘fingerprint’ which identifies the polymers found on the filter. These were revealed to include nylon and cotton fibres, commonly found on clothing and seatbelts. It also found polyethylene fibres used for packing film, bin bags and agricultural mulch. As well as traces of PET, used in plastic bottles and clear plastic food wraps.
Paul Gullett is the Managing Director of Wave. He said, “The content of the water in the filter casing. And the pollutants found on the filter cartridge itself were quite shocking. However, it demonstrated exactly what’s in your water. And what the filter was capturing.”
That included microscopic amounts of plastic pollutants which otherwise would have been ingested. This lab testing shows how important it is to have a water filter. So you know what’s in your water or more importantly what’s not.
Wave’s Flostream water filter systems come in a variety of sizes depending on flow required, enabling the filter to also be used for showers. All comprise replaceable cartridge filters which fit into the different sizes of houses – the smallest being the compact Flostream Micro HiFlo10. The Flostream Micro HiFlo10 costs £158.54 inc VAT and a replacement filter is £48.56 inc VAT.