Reddit mentions of American Made Water Bottle, 5-Gallon, Blue

To get an accurate answer, you need to include a lot more information.

1. Where are you going? When are you going? Recommendations for camping a week in NY's Aidrondacks in late December are going to be a lot different than those for south Cali in May.
   
   
2. How big is the family? Two adults and two small kids? Six adults and 8 kids between the ages of 1 and 16?
   
   
3. What is your budget?
   
   
4. Are you car camping or backpacking? While you can use backpacking gear for car camping, there's really no reason to sacrifice comforts for weight savings.
   
   I'm going to assume car camping, with a family of four.
   
   REI's base/family camping checklist is a good place to start.
   https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/family-camping-checklist.html
   
   If you've got deep pockets, go ahead and get whatever they recommend. REI has some great gear; most of it is sold at retail price so it's best to wait for one of their coupons, or shop elsewhere. REI has a great 1 year return policy which is why many of us shop there.
   
   Here are some recommendations for the basics. I'm linking to Amazon so you can see the products; you can buy them there or shop around.
   
   Tent - Coleman Montana 8. It's a well regarded tent for the price. Big enough for a family, can fit a couple of queen size air mattresses in there (kids can share a full size mattress or bring smaller inflatables). The Montana 6 is a bit smaller and more manageable for a family of 4, makes it easier if you've got limited space in the back of the SUV.
   
   Sleeping bags - depends on where you are going and when. You can buy Coleman synthetic bags pretty cheap at most outdoor stores as well as Target and Walmart. Synthetic bags are generally heavy and bulky, but will get the job done. The rating on the bag is generally the extreme rating... as in you probably won't die at that temp but it might be a cold miserable night. Mummy bags save some weight and some bulk and are warmer, but some don't like the constrictive nature of the bags.
   
   Mattress pad - if you're car camping, don't bother with backpacking pads. Bring a full size Coleman air mattress, or even a queen. Remember you'll need some way to inflate the pad; a battery operated pump will work but is slow. You can get a pump that plugs in, but you 1. need an inverter in the car, 2. need an extension from the car into the tent since the inflated mattress probably won't fit through the door of the tent.
   
   Stove - Camp Chef Everest dual burner propane stove. You can get a cheaper Coleman dual burner stove if you need to save money.
   
   Cookset - I actually use full size pots and pans for car camping. Don't bother with backpacking cooksets. You can just bring what you have at home, or you can find "scratch and ding" clearance pots and pans at TJMaxx/Marshalls/Home goods, nice and cheap! You can often find great stainless steel pots and pans at Goodwill (avoid used non-stick). Along with the pots and pans, bring your usual utensils. You can bring paper plates, plastic cups and forks/knives, or buy "camping" stuff.
   
   Water - Is there potable water? Are you bringing your water or do you need to filter? I generally bring a couple of Coleman 5 gallon water jug. They collapse until I need them... but you really can't fill them all the way up since they're really difficult to carry. Some grocery stores rent 5 gallon water bottles full w/deposit, and also sell pumps so you can just pump out the water. Or you can just buy water in gallon jugs.
   
   Washing - if there's no washing facilities, you want to bring a wash basin to clean up.
   
   Cooler - Coleman Xtreme 70quart. Or the Igloo Max. I prefer something smaller since I've got a smaller sedan and will run into town more frequently.
   
   Headlamps - it's good for everyone to have their own headlamps. The Black Diamond Spot is a good headlamp from a great company. You can a cheap Energizer Headlamp for under $15, they're not great but work fine for the price.
   
   Camp lantern - Coleman propane lanterns are the ol' standard, work great and cast great light. Uses the same 1lb propane tanks as the stove. But many are going with LED lanterns... these Cheap camp lanterns on Amazon seem like a pretty good deal, I've got some like them and they work fine. Very bright and very white, but cheap and effective.
   
   Packing/hauling - Rubbermaid tote. These tubs make a great way to haul and store gear.
   
   Tarp - bring a couple. It's good to have one tarp to hang over the cooking / eating area. You'll need some rope or cord to tie these up.
   
   Folding chairs and tables - bring 'em if you've got 'em. It's much easier to cook standing up at a table.
   
   Firewood - call ahead or check online, some campsites have firewood restrictions; some places you can't forage for wood and you need to buy it locally.
   
   Garbage bags - bring a couple of big ones, a bunch of smaller bags if you need to pack up smelly stuff.
   
   Well, I hope that enough for a start. Good luck!

I've never been to NYC but in Phoenix the tap water is usually hard, which gives it a weird chemical taste that makes it impossible to make good coffee.

I will admit, however, that buying a water filter is a better solution than buying bottled.

Another solution is to fill up a few big water jugs like these at your local water store every week (water stores are common in Phoenix, at least, but I don't know whether that's true for other cities).

The point I'm making is that if Phoenix, the 6th largest city in the U.S. by population, can't get perfect tap water, then perfect tap water is likely not available to most Americans, making the water quality just in NYC a moot point.

I got two 5 gallon water jugs and filled them with cheap contractors sand from home depot. Came out to about 75 pounds each iirc.

Theses are the ones I got.

American Made Water Bottle, 5-Gallon, Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U77M004/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_jQQczbMPKA513