Water draining after camping protocols

Susan0214

I am looking for a walkthrough of what and how to drain all the water lines and tanks after a camping trip. We have a 2020 320 Boondock Lite.  I live in SW Florida and am fearful of growing bacteria in my lines or tanks. We took our first trip and upon returning opened our kitchen faucet, opened the fresh water tank drain under the stairs, and I just found the yellow valve on the Alde hot water heater to drain that tank. Some of my questions include. Do I need to open every faucet and shower head on the trailer including the exterior shower? We haven’t yet used the interior shower yet. How long do I leave the valves open? Are there any additional areas that I need to drain? When and how do I rinse out with a bleach solution to clean out the tanks? Also, for the black tank, do we just leave it alone after dumping at the dump station or should we rinse out or treat when we get home. I used the search feature but didn’t find what I needed. Feel free to point me in the right direction if this exists somewhere. I just need a comprehensive “after camping” trailer reset for all the liquids. Also, a “before camping” trailer readiness wouldn’t hurt either. 😉 Thanks in advance for your processes or for a link to a pre-existing post. 

Sharon_is_SAM

While I think most owners only drain their fresh water tank and the Alde water tank, you can raise the tongue and open up the hot and cold water drains to encourage as much of the water in your lines to drain.  I suspect more will drain from your lines if your lines are pressurized via the pump or disconnected city water connection and you do this first before emptying the Alde.  It doesn’t hurt to open all of faucets that you used and close once they no longer drip.

This is what we did today - after dumping our black and gray tanks, we opened the fresh water drain and the Alde yellow valve and drove home.  Motion while traveling may help empty the tank further.  After towing, you can then raise and lower the tongue to encourage more drainage.  Remember to close your valves so you don’t get any surprises when you try to add water the next time you camp.

Most owners sanitize their fresh water tank (excluding the Alde) once or twice a season usually in conjunction with de Winterizing.  In your case - at the beginning of your camping season.  Check out this info:  https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8904/de-winterizing-and-sanitizing#latest

Black tank:  the rule of thumb is to fill the tank before dumping to help prevent accumulation of solids and better emptying with a higher volume.  With full hook ups, make sure your dump valves remain closed until ready to drain into the sewer at your campsite.  You don’t want a dry tank and you don’t want gases coming up from the sewer.  At the dump station, after emptying your black tank, you can fill it back up or add additional water to rinse it better and dump it again.  Then you should add your treatment with adequate water.  If home isn’t too far away, you can do it at home.  After we dump, I always add a little water on top of the valve so the rubber does not dry out.  We dump the gray tank after the black to rinse the hose using the gray water.  You can also rinse your hose at the dump station if there is portable water available.

So basically, empty your plumbing and fresh tanks, empty your black and gray, then add tank treatment - all ready for your next camp!

If no water has run through the outside shower yet, I don’t think you need to worry about that one😊

I searched for Checklists and came up with this:  https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/2971/t-b-task-lists/p2

TNOutback

Through trial and error, I have determined on our 400 that if I lower the tongue and then jack up the door side of the camper with a bottle jack, I can drain a surprising amount of water out of the fresh tank - even after it stops draining while sitting level.  This trapped water is due to the tank drain being on the side of the tank.  I don’t know how your fresh tank is tapped, but you might do some checking.

Now, I don’t do this after every trip, especially if we are going camping again relatively soon as it is a bit of a pain. If I haven’t done this “extra” drain, I will flush out the “old” water before we depart on the next trip by filling the tank and adding a bit of bleach.  Let it sit for a few hours, then drain.

If you don’t use your fresh water in the tank for drinking or cooking (we do), these extra steps may not be necessary.  We err on the side of caution; no fun being sick while camping!

Susan0214

Thanks so much for your informational posts. It seems straightforward but I certainly don’t want to miss anything and wind up with a problem later. This forum is the best! 🤗