Bad taste/smell to fresh water

memilanuk wrote:
Recently started noticing a nasty taste/smell to our fresh water system. Initially I attributed it to the DW using a 'new' garden hose.......

The water *still* tastes/smells kinda funky. I have somewhat of a hard time thinking that using that one hose, one time, would have contaminated the *entire* system that badly.

I don't have a hard time believing that. I recently bought a new garden hose. It has been used a dozen times or so to wash the car, water the lawn, etc. The water coming out of the hose still stinks with a chemical odor. After sitting for a while the first few gallons come out really, really stinky and actually sudsy.

Even when you use a hose designed for drinking water, you should run a few gallons before filling your RV water tank.

In addition it is important to sanitize your water system. That means 1/4 cup bleach for every 15 gallons of water and at least a soak of 1 hour or more. Sanitizing should be done at least at the start of every season. I also sanitize if the RV has not been used for several weeks. In some camping areas, the water is clean but not chlorinated. If you fill your tank with non-chlorinated water, consider more frequent sanitizing.