Do you bleach / santize your hot water tank?
I've always just done the cold water system. And only every few years at that since I don't drink it. I had read someone bleached the hot water tank too. What do you recommend?
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46 Replies
- I only sanitize when I first by a rig...new/used.
Guess I would do it again IF some how got contaminated but haven't had that happen......don't fill with untreated water
We only use fresh water tank/pump....and we use that water for everything - I too have never sanitized the water system in any camper. We do drink and cook with the water. Many RV parks and campgrounds have enough chlorine in the water to do the job. We have never sanitized the water system in our house in over 30 years and there is no chlorine there.
- I have Full Timed in my MH since July 2002 and I do drink the water from the fresh tank, use it for cooking etc.
In all that time I have never sanitize the system. A lot of the campgrounds I go to use city water that has chlorine in the water. And in the winter I use well water that is not treated.
As a halogen, chlorine is a highly efficient disinfectant, and is added to public water supplies to kill disease-causing pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoans, that commonly grow in water supply reservoirs, on the walls of water mains and in storage tanks. - I was worried the bleach would interact with the hot tank, so that was what was holding me back.
- Yes, I sanitize the entire system once a year, then fill the tank with our well water. Most of the campgrounds we go to also have well water.
- How do you sanitize just the hot water system? This is a new one on me.
Seems that if you put bleach into the fresh water tank and then run water from it through all the faucets including the hot side (which puts bleach into the water heater), you sanitize the entire system. - Not once in 30 years. The occasional treated city water does the job.
- Nope. Drain it every time. But we don't drink the water we just use it for showers, dishes etc. We carry bottled water for drinking and cooking. Bleach is more caustic than just draining it. And if you fill it with city water, it's already got chlorine/chloramine in it anyway. So what's the point?
- Never have in 15 years. Just drain the water heater at the end of each trip. Never had a problem.
- Yes, we do it all.
