Adding Drain Valve to Atwood Water Heater
I'm almost sure I read on the forum about someone replacing the plastic drain plug on a water heater with a valve. But, I did a search and found nothing. The water heater on my old HTT had a Suburba...
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The Atwood water heaters also do not empty completely with the drain plug removed. 2 quarts of water remain in the tank. Not enough to cause a problem if it freezes sold but enough to grow bacteria. I add 1 tsp. of household bleach (which is a 5% solution already)for every 10 gallons in the freshwater tank and then after draining the hot water I run the pump to get the treated water into the hot water tank. It can sit for months and not have problems with the bacteria.
Problem is specific to the hot water tank as it does not have air inside and this is a good environment for the type of anaerobic bacteria that reduces sulfates in the water to produce the gas one smells at the tap.
We were experiencing the problem when the RV would sit unused for several months. The water in the tank was not exposed to the air and at ambient temps of around 65-70 degrees the bacteria thrived. Bleach is a simple and inexpensive fix and one recommended by FEMA for long term drinking water storage.
Problem is specific to the hot water tank as it does not have air inside and this is a good environment for the type of anaerobic bacteria that reduces sulfates in the water to produce the gas one smells at the tap.
We were experiencing the problem when the RV would sit unused for several months. The water in the tank was not exposed to the air and at ambient temps of around 65-70 degrees the bacteria thrived. Bleach is a simple and inexpensive fix and one recommended by FEMA for long term drinking water storage.
