For a year and a half of full-time RVing, we hooked our Brinkley up to whatever came out of the campground spigot and hoped for the best. That worked right up until the stop where we found a sign on our door warning us about lead in the water. Lead. In the water we'd been drinking, cooking with, and brushing our teeth with. That was the push we needed to fix the biggest oversight of our RV life so far: we had no real water filtration system.
First, a flood we didn't plan on
Before we get to the filter, this episode opens with a mess. A small toilet paper mishap turned into a running toilet, which turned into water flooding our basement storage at midnight. We spent a very unglamorous hour pulling everything out, mopping up, and running fans to dry the compartment. The fix afterward cost almost nothing: we stuck a cheap water leak sensor near the toilet so the next time something starts dripping back there, an alarm goes off before the basement turns into a pool. If you have a rear bath over your storage bay, get one. It's a few dollars of insurance against a very bad night.
Why we chose the Blu Tech AR3
We met the Blu Technology team at the RV Content Creators Convention in Tampa, and they sent us their AR3 Essential Bundle to install and review honestly. A few things stood out to us before we even hooked it up. It's a three-stage system with NSF certified filters, it goes down to 0.2 micron in the final stage (which matters when you're boondocking off questionable sources), and it's built in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Nathan being from Michigan, that last part didn't hurt. The whole unit weighs 7.75 pounds, so it's not another back-breaking piece of gear to haul out at every stop.
The install
Installing it on our Brinkley Model Z 3515 was simpler than we expected. The bundle comes with stainless steel quick connects, and after fumbling with cheap plastic fittings for a year and a half, those alone felt like an upgrade. We walk through the whole setup in the video: where we mounted it, how the three stages connect, and the flush you need to run before drinking anything. New carbon filters put out black water at first, which looks alarming and is completely normal.
Pressure, taste, and the one-week check-in
Two things surprised us right away. Water pressure through the system was noticeably better than what we'd been getting, and the taste test was a genuine pass. Fabiola is picky about water, and she drank it straight from the tap without a face.
A week later we checked back in, filming from a Renaissance Festival in South Carolina of all places, and the honest review held up. Better pressure, water that tastes clean, and no more wondering what's in the campground supply. Our only real regret is waiting eighteen months to do this.
If you want one, Blu Tech gave us a link for 7% off their products at goblutech.com/NomadsAmor with the code IEOHHWNJ. And if you've been running your rig on unfiltered campground water like we were, learn from the lead sign on our door. You don't get a warning most of the time.
Watch the full install, the flood, and the taste test on YouTube. We also send a short weekly newsletter about where we are and what broke this week. The signup form is on our newsletter page.