Sanitizing my fresh water tank

rmcarthur

How often should I sanitize my fresh water tank during camping season?  I sanitized the tank when I de-winterized the system (I of course did not sanitize the alde heater, that's a no-no I believe).  How long can the water sit in the fresh water tank unused before I should be concerned about sanitizing the tank? I might go about a week at a time without using water from the fresh water tank. We will be using a Brita water filter container to drink our water. Thoughts? 

VictoriaP

Honestly, don’t ever leave water in the tank when not in use for more than a day or so. It very rapidly can develop bacteria that at best turns into a terrible stench (especially in the summer) that you’ll have to bleach more heavily to remove, and at worst can make you sick either when consumed or when aerosolized via the shower or sink and breathed in. Drain the tank after every trip, sanitize at least twice a year per most online recommendations.

Brita does not filter all bacteria or viruses, by the way. In fact, carbon filters can grow bacteria in a fairly short time.

Cbusguy

@rmcarthur be careful trusting a Brita filter, it is not a viral bacteria filter.

I never drink the trailer water, we wash dishes flush toilets and shower with it.  Plus the water inlet does not lock... Just sayin

We sanitize at the beginning of the season, and every other month after that or if the campground water was suspect

Like Victoria we store the trailer dry

dragonsdofly

@rmcarthur, we sanitize only at the beginning of the season. On our way home from each trip, we open the fresh water tank drain. That way the tank drains well with the road bouncing the trailer. We leave the tank drain open until the next trip so everything dries and there is no stagnant water providing a place for germs/bacteria to grow. 

GatorEgg

We don’t sanitize the tanks.  Bleach and similiar chemicals are detrimental to rv water systems components and human life.  We drain the tank and leave drain open after each trip.  We run all our potable water through our Berkey Water Filter but we don’t get that water from our tanks. If water is not available on grounds we have a 5 gallon jug with us.

MuttonChops

I don't do the bleach soak/flush yearly, every few.
Do use the Camco brand TastePURE Drinking Water Freshener with each tank fill.

Mainly use home bottle water for drinking, T@B tank water used in Coffee, but mostly for cleaning & toilet.

Michigan_Mike

I’ve never drank any water from any of these trailers and like others, we use bottled water for drinking and cooking.  I always dump the majority of water before heading home and leave just enough for toilet use while in transit home.   

Cbusguy

We fill the black tank just before the dump station visit with the left over water...for a more thorough flush

dCliffhanger

I never, ever will use bottled water. That's and environmental statement. Besides, it costs more than gasoline!  I have no problem drinking from the fresh tank. For cold or short trips I'll drink\cook from a 5 gallon jug, which is just a miniature of a fresh water tank. Drain tank after each trip. Flush and treat before each trip.

Sharon_is_SAM

We use a filter and fill 2.5 gallon jugs from the campground tap for drinking and cooking.  Reserve the tank for showers etc.

VictoriaP

I hate carrying along bottled water because I prefer to travel light, and have always been a “drink from the tank” or “the campground water is fine” type of girl, but after getting sick on a trip last year (source unknown), I’ve been leaning towards adding in another layer of protection for safe drinking water.

Something like this gravity filtration setup for backpackers:
https://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-SP160-One-Gallon-Gravity-Water-Filtration-System-with-Dual-Threaded-Mini-Filter/dp/B06XZVBSMX/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8

or the Steripen, which uses UV light.

Tundra57

I use the backpackers filter with container. You fill up the container then push it through the filter and get a tumbler size cup of water. For cooking and cleaning I use my tank, which I fill at home and carry an additional 6 gallons from home. I empty the containers when I get home and sanitize them. I dont like using bottled water, some of it is not as clean as you think. Plus it wastes plastic.

Boiling water pretty well kills everything biological in it.

Its unusual to get dangerous chemicals in it but you would never know, plus you would still have a problem if you showered in it.

To date in 20 years of scout camping, backpacking and caravanning, I have only been sick once. That was when we camped mistakenly at a farm which was not a campground and unknowingly used, without treating, water the farmer used to clean up the cows for milking. It was kind of funny really. We parked there in the dark. Missed the camp site by about 800 yds.

Saw what we thought was the owner and she told us where the water was and how much a night. Turns out she was the farmers mother, the farmer knew nothing about us being there, and told us his mother had dimentia and was incredulous she could even converse with us at all. He then pointed out the camp ground but said we could stay as long as we wanted for free. But not to drink that particulat water- too late lol. Only was runny for two days.

ScottG

I follow the time honored tradition of avoiding water altogether and sticking strictly to beverages that have innate antiseptic properties.  ;-)

KAR

These are so fun to read and are also helpful! THANKS! Yet another question answered with a simple query in the search box:)

BrianZ

Improvised Bleach Funnel

Most of us with older model fresh water fill ports (pre-nautilus) have likely used some sort of threaded hose adapter filler tube when using a water hose to fill the fresh tank through the port above the city water hose connection.  I've used a homemade one for a few years, but this year when doing the annual dewinterizing & sanitizing routine, I wasn't sure how I had previously poured my gallon jug of diluted bleach solution into the tank.  Because I didn't have a funnel handy, I thought of using the funnel-shaped neck of a small plastic coke bottle instead, by just cutting off the bottom.  What I didn't expect was that the threads for the cap was a good match for the female garden hose adapter on my filler tube..  

It worked great, so one more thing to add to my box of miscellaneous maintenance parts.  Not sure if this is commonly known, but it was a surprise to me, so thought I'd share it.
PS:  It may be necessary to add an extra washer or two for the bottle to seal against.  Since its threads are not continuous, it could leak, but I only saw a few drips.

pthomas745

Ok, the Coke Bottle Mod is now a thing.

Need more research on what other bottles might work, especially the Pepsi drinkers!

Bayliss

The "real" thing, @pthomas745.

https://www.creativereview.co.uk/its-the-real-thing-coca-cola/

Mickerly

I made something like that to fill the Alde. Never thought about using for bleach. I mix it up in a bucket use a big funnel. I think I'll be making one. By the way, we sterilize every spring.

I'll give you another option on the water. We use a 5gal drink cooler for our iced drinking water. We fill it at home. It rides in the shower (320CS). Mostly we camp at state parks, so we have pressurized water from the state. Make sure you use every faucet each time and drain the trailer on the way home. You don't want stagnate water staying in the trailer.

We have camped a couple places that don't have water. We fill the fresh tank, pressurize, and top off at home. Always drain on the way home; the tanks and the hot & cold drains.

Everyone is correct, the Brita won't stop anything that will make you sick. It will remove excess chlorine and therefore make the water taste better. The RV bullet filters are about the same. Don't use them for more than 6 months. Stuff will begin to grow inside. The problem is time and not gallons passed.

Bill&Suze

It sounds like many owners sanitize their fresh water tanks twice during the camping season. Our camper is still pretty new and was "prepared" by the dealer when we got it in late June. Assuming that the tank was sanitized before picking it up, is it recommended to sanitize the tank prior to winterizing? In order to do the job correctly, should the tank be filled full (22 gallons) or is a partial fill all that's needed? What are the recommended proportions of sanitizer to gallon of water?
The Nautilus instructions for sanitizing clearly show diverter handle positions. The red handle is shown facing up which indicates that water goes to the hot water heater. Again, I'm assuming that as long as the pump is not run, no sanitizing water will flow to the Alde system.

Horigan

You want to get the sanitizer into the water lines, except the Alde hot water tank.  You want to avoid long expose of chlorine on stainless steel as it will cause pitting corrosion on the stainless. The solution varies, depending on how long you keep it in there.  Stronger requires less time, but requires more rinses to get the smell out.  I personally put in a 1/4 of chlorine, fill the tank, run water through the hot and cold water lines, except the Alde boiler.  Be sure to include the outside shower.  Let sit for 24 hours.  Drain the tank, then fill it at least twice to rinse the water lines.  For a rinse run water in the lines until you know the fresh tank water is in the lines.  Then I drain the tank and refill with fresh water again.  Others will chime in with different concentrations and soak times.

Sharon_is_SAM

Recommended bleach concentration is 1/4 cup per 10-11 gallons water.  To sanitize the entire tank, add some bleach/water solution, then fill the tank with water.