Best way to sanitize all the plumbing in a new rv?

When I bought my Winnebago, the manual recommended the following.

FOR EACH 15 GALLONS OF CAPACITY (I have a 40 gallon tank):

1/4 cup of bleach diluted into 1 gallon of water poured into the fresh water tank. Fill the tank with water. (If you don't have a gravity fill, pour the undiluted bleach into the fill hose then hook up to the water.)

Drive for a few minutes to mix the bleach/water and to slosh it onto the top of the tank.

Run every faucet/shower/toilet until you can smell the bleach odor.

Let it sit 4 hours, then drain and rinse with fresh water.

If you double the bleach, you can cut the wait time down to 1 hour.

So, since I have a 40 gallon system, I use 3 of those for a total of 3/4 cup of bleach with a 4 hour wait.

tenbear wrote:
I believe the recommended amount of Clorox to use is 1/4 cup for every 15 gallons. If you don't like Clorox you could use Trichlor, the stuff they use for spas. It is much stronger than Clorox so you only need a tea spoon or 2. You might as well sanitize your hoses while you are at it.

I do it every spring.

Trichlor is easy to over do it, recommend stick to liquid. Bromine is better for sanitizing for a hot water spa with out a very low pH.

go by the book as suggested.

Or do like me and fill her up with city water and drink her down.

Here is a quote from the Keystone Owners Manual (April 1, 2013):

Sanitizing the Fresh Water System

Keeping the fresh water system clean and free of any potential contaminations should be a top priority. Sanitizing the system before initial use and thereafter annually, or whenever water remains unused for prolonged durations,
is recommended. This will help keep the water system fresh and discourage harmful bacterial or viral growth. Tosanitize your system, perform the following:

1. Drain the tank by opening the low point drains. Close the drains after water has drained.

2. Prepare a chlorine bleach solution of ¼ cup to one gallon of water for every 15 gallons of tank capacity.

Example: Use 2 ¾ gallons of the solution for a 40-gallon tank. If using Ultra bleach concentrations,reduce bleach to 1/8 cup to one gallon of water.

3. Add solution to tank and fill with water. Open each faucet/fixture until a distinct chlorine odor is smelled. Close faucets and let stand 4 hours.

4. Drain system and flush with fresh water until chlorine odor and smell is gone. (If a water filter has been added, change it at this time).

yes, bleach is the common way to do it and works fine. we also have two filters on our water. one for all water coming in from outside and the other is on the kitchen cold water tap. that takes care of funny tasting local water.
we've never had a problem.

I believe the recommended amount of Clorox to use is 1/4 cup for every 15 gallons. If you don't like Clorox you could use Trichlor, the stuff they use for spas. It is much stronger than Clorox so you only need a tea spoon or 2. You might as well sanitize your hoses while you are at it.

I do it every spring.

I don't ever drink the water out of my RV tank. We carry bottled water for coffee, brushing teeth and drinking.

B.O.

Moved from Forum Technical Support

I use 1-1/2 cups of Clorox to a full water tank twice a year. I follow the method that Powderman states above. Turn on every faucet until you smell bleach, then let it sit.

This is the detailed method I follow:

1. Open the pressure valve on the hot water heater.
2. remove the drain plug on the hot water heater and drain completely.
3. Put the bleach in the fresh water tank.
4. Put the HWH drain plug back in and close the pressure valve.
5. Turn on the pump and let the HWH refill.
6. Open the faucets one-by-one starting with the farthest from the pump.
7. When you smell bleach, shut off the faucet and move to the next one.
8. Wait several hours.
9. Drain and refill the fresh water tank.
10. Drain and refill the hot water tank as described above.
11. Repeat the faucet exercise until you don't smell bleach.
11. Then, I repeat steps 9-11 one more time.

By this time, I usually can't tell whether there is a bleach smell or not, so I have the DW come in and check each faucet to make sure it smells bleach free.

That sounds like a plan. I usually put in the clorox, then turn on each faucet till I can smell the cloroine and let it sit in the lines for a few hours before draining and flushing. BTW I use about a cup full.