How long do you store fresh water in tank?

Busskipper wrote:

TNGW1500SE wrote:
How long do you store CITY fresh water in the fresh water tank before you get concerned?

Drain before it freezes - that's it - it's water it will not go BAD.

JMHO,

Water goes BAD

I have lived on two coldesacs and the water would start smelling when snowbirds left for the season due to low flow. Chlorine dissipates over time.

"Clean" water has microbes in it at low levels tolerable to us with no ill effect. Once Chlorine dissipates microbes can multiply.

The quicker you use it or drain it the better, but I do not know the shelf life of clean water and your plumbing system. It is a good question.

We use a pur filter to reduce Cryptosporidium levels or drink bottled water

TNGW1500SE wrote:
How long do you store CITY fresh water in the fresh water tank before you get concerned?

I don't concern myself with that. I fill the tank in the spring and then throughout the season. when we're parked between trips I don't drain the tank. at the end of the season I drain and winterize. in your case drain and re-fill according to whatever schedule gives you peace of mind.

I'm with "Jim@HiTek"....we live out west and water usage is an issue. My RV parking spot on my side yard has full hookups. I use to come home after a trip and flush my grey and black tanks thoroughly. Now I do it at the campground when we go someplace local and won't be using the toilet on the way home. Our water is pricey so we watch how we use it.

With that said, our CITY water is well treated. I've been RVing for almost 40 years and I can only think of a couple of times I've drained my tank. Usually I do it once when I buy a new coach. The water in my Dutch Star has not been drained in two and half years. It gets replaced a little at a time on each trip.

I know a lot of people have phobias about water and that's fine, you have do what makes you feel comfortable. When I'm working in the yard, I still like taking a long cool drink out of the hose when I'm thirsty.

The water supply to our coach is filtered and the water in the refer door is filtered. I drink 90% of my water from the refer door, so I'm getting double filtered. My previous coach just had a single lever faucet at the sink that had a filter built in, so I guess I'm filtering twice now versus once!

I have one of those water ionizers from Costco for spot free rinsing of the coach. I was washing the coach on a hot day and started to take a drink from the rinsing hose and after a quick drink, realized you're not suppose to drink that water.....oops....got to pay closer attention!

I've had my motorhome for almost 2 years and have never cleaned the fresh water tank. I only drink bottled water when on the road. Is it still a good idea to sanitize the tank?

yes, the hot water steam in a shower increases the chance of bacteria getting into your body thru your nose.

How long do you store CITY fresh water in the fresh water tank before you get concerned?

City, well or chlorinated city water. They ALL can bloom bacteria. It's being put into a 'holding tank' and in some RV location of tank is exposed to ambient outside temps. Which can accelerate bacteria bloom.

What I have done over the years as I evolved into different types of RV'ing.:

Weekend warrior - disinfected after each trip
Snowbird - once a week if using it.
Full time - I leave only a few gallons in the fresh water tank while traveling. I always fill up the fresh tank at a CG for in case of an emergency and then dump it before leaving. Disinfect once a month.

And NO I don't ever drink from the fresh water tank.

I drain every thing and refill each time, clean in the spring.

I've had my motorhome for almost 2 years and have never cleaned the fresh water tank. I only drink bottled water when on the road. Is it still a good idea to sanitize the tank?

Most of the west is in a continuous state of drought these days. Your tank is made from water safe plastic and can hold water for years without issue as the system is closed. Keep the water, don't dump for frivolous reasons, even cold can be accommodated. Big tanks of water have 'thermal inertia' and it takes days to freeze a large tank of water at 20 degrees in a closed compartment. Even longer if a small heater is put in the bay.

BTW, sometimes, the water in the water heater can develop a skunky, rotten egg smell. You can either drain it, flush, and treat it, or just ignore it. You don't usually drink hot water anyway. It'll go away after a few gallons have been run through the tank. The water in the main tank is usually fine.

For future reference, the following was developed by a RV'ing city water master who has a PHd in Chemistry, adjust the amounts of additives to your tank size:

Springtime Preventative: Add 1 oz bleach per 60 gallons of water
Troubled system: Add 8 oz of bleach per 60 gallons of water
To remove smells: 1 & 1/2 cup vinegar per 60 gallons of water
To sweeten water: Add 1/2 cup dissolved baking soda per 60 gallons of water.

Notice that the amount of bleach is minimal. That's all that's needed because it's that strong. Adding too much is as bad as adding too little.

For me, I tend to store some when we are going and drain when storing. That way I don't have to question it. I've heard of people storing for a long time however.

I have a big boat and I store fresh water for a very very long time in it, boat or RV, about the same YMMV

In our previous coach I would drain the main tank every month or so (100 gal)..... just the remainder, it was never full.

Our new coach uses all water from the fresh water tank only. The shore water connection is only used for filling the fresh water tank. It also has an automatic water fill if I keep the shore hose connected (and turn on that feature). When the water level reaches 25%, it will fill to 75% and cut off. If we don't use the coach for 4-6 weeks or more, I'll empty and refill with fresh water.

One plus with this set-up is that our water pressure is not dependent on the RV parks water pressure. We always have an even flow of water from our pump and it keeps the fresh tank water circulated from it's constant use. Our tank has a capacity of 189 gal.

Of course anyone can keep their fresh tank circulated by always using their fresh tank as their water source.

Safe travels.
MM.