How long can you keep water in tank?

2gypsies wrote:
As full-timers who use their tank regularly, when we get low on water, we refill.

We have never sanitized our tank in 16 years with 2 RVs.

We always get our water in campgrounds - public and private - all the way to Alaska.

We drink and cook with the water from our tank - 16 years! We have an 'good' ingoing filter which takes out any objectionable stuff and another filter at the kitchen sink for taste. Works for us!! :)

I do the same as you. However, I still drink bottled water. I use the tank water for other purposes (washing dishes, showering, etc.). I use only a sediment filter when filling the tank since I want the chlorine to remain. If I'm cooking a product that absorbs water, such as hot cereal or rice I use bottled water. I'm just fussy that way...

I use my fresh water tank continually so I don't have an answer. I do think there will be some protection for a while since most city water is chlorinated and if you fill the tank without using a carbon filter the chlorine would still be present to some extent. Of course, the chlorine would dissipate over time so it's anyone's guess as to how long protection would last. I certainly wouldn't drink it after several weeks, depending on ambient temps.

I sanitize my tank once or twice a year depending on how much we use it. When we leave I put water in the tank. When we get to the CG I drain the tank. Use CG water. When we leave I put water in the tank. When we get home I drain the tank. It depends on how far we are going on how much water I put in. Under 200 miles about 5 gallons. We drink the water out of our tank filter it going into the tank and also use Brita filter.

Newer drained or sanitized a tank in my life. Many homes in Australia use tank water caught of the roof either concrete steel or plastic no sanitizing only a strainer to filter levees and other large objects from entering tank.No one died jet, al the chemicals you use way worse for you.
Frank

My water tank stays full 24/7, it's part of my emergency preparedness system. Every spring I do drain and sanitize the tank/system. Other than that, when I return home from a trip I fill up the FW tank, and it's ready to go for next time.

sanitize in the spring. just to avoind any issues, i drain tanks after every trip. usually not much left in them. refill before heading out on the next trip.

I drain the freshwater tank if it is going to sit for more than 30 days. The hot water tank cannot be completely drained and a couple quarts remains which is why people get the sulphur smell from the hot water.

It only takes one teaspoon of bleach in 10 gallons of water to keep the fresh water fresh for a year or longer. I add the bleach before putting fresh water in the tank and then this treated water goes into the hot water tank as well.

Double the amount of bleach if you get the smell in the hot water to "shock" the system and kill of the existing bacterial.

The FEMA website has information online for people wanting to store water in containers in places like South Carolina, Lousiana, Florida, etc. in preparation for hurricanes and these apply to water in an RV's tanks.

For regularly used tanks one only needs to add one ounce or 6 teaspoons of bleach for every 200 gallons of water. I carry a 8 oz. bottle with bleach on our travels and add it along with new water when filling the tank. It is enough to treat 80 gallons of water which works for us.

As full-timers who use their tank regularly, when we get low on water, we refill.

We have never sanitized our tank in 16 years with 2 RVs.

We always get our water in campgrounds - public and private - all the way to Alaska.

We drink and cook with the water from our tank - 16 years! We have an 'good' ingoing filter which takes out any objectionable stuff and another filter at the kitchen sink for taste. Works for us!! :)

Some of us live where its cold and the tank has to be drained. The alternative is to replace the broken tank every spring. :( At least it would be clean.:B

The question:

qwerty11 wrote:
How long can you keep fresh water in your tank?

An answer:
No one seems to know.

We drain the water before each trip.

I let the water sit a week or two when the trailer is stored in case I need water at the storage lot.
The water left in the tank for some amount of time has never smelled bad or looked cloudy or contaminated.