Fresh Water Tank
We do a lot of dry camping and have never had this problem but the last two times we have filled our fresh water tank our water smells like rotten eggs. It seem to be worst on the hot water side. The ...
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Hi,
How much bleach?
Did the water smell like bleach too?
It does not take much, 4 ounces can treat about 100 gallons. How large is your water tank?
What I normally do is add some water to the tank, then about 2 ounces of bleach to the fill hose, and then finish filling the tank to about 3/4 full. Drive around a bit to slosh the water around, and it will clean the tank. Be sure to drain the hot water tank, then run the pump a bit to flush the water lines, put in the drain plug loose, fill the hot water tank, and hot water lines, clean the cold water lines, so you will smell the chlorine a little bit from the water.
Let it sit about 1 hour, and the free chlorine will kill any bacteria, but also go from being about 2 PPM free chlorine to 0 while killing bacteria. Flush all the lines again (start by drain the hot water tank, and then flush all the other lines with strong chlorine water from the fresh water tank. Let that water sit overnight - it should still smell a bit like chlorine still in the morning.
What brand is your water heater? One brand uses a anode, the other brand will not have a place to install a anode, because it has a glass lined tank, and the anode will not help it.
Of course before leaving on the trip, fill the fresh water tank with clean water, remove the WH drain plug again, pump out some fresh water, fill the tank, dump again, and refill with clean chlorine free water. (a little residual chlorine will not hurt, but it should not smell as strong as a swimming pool).
Good luck,
Fred.
How much bleach?
Did the water smell like bleach too?
It does not take much, 4 ounces can treat about 100 gallons. How large is your water tank?
What I normally do is add some water to the tank, then about 2 ounces of bleach to the fill hose, and then finish filling the tank to about 3/4 full. Drive around a bit to slosh the water around, and it will clean the tank. Be sure to drain the hot water tank, then run the pump a bit to flush the water lines, put in the drain plug loose, fill the hot water tank, and hot water lines, clean the cold water lines, so you will smell the chlorine a little bit from the water.
Let it sit about 1 hour, and the free chlorine will kill any bacteria, but also go from being about 2 PPM free chlorine to 0 while killing bacteria. Flush all the lines again (start by drain the hot water tank, and then flush all the other lines with strong chlorine water from the fresh water tank. Let that water sit overnight - it should still smell a bit like chlorine still in the morning.
What brand is your water heater? One brand uses a anode, the other brand will not have a place to install a anode, because it has a glass lined tank, and the anode will not help it.
Of course before leaving on the trip, fill the fresh water tank with clean water, remove the WH drain plug again, pump out some fresh water, fill the tank, dump again, and refill with clean chlorine free water. (a little residual chlorine will not hurt, but it should not smell as strong as a swimming pool).
Good luck,
Fred.
