Hi folks. I have what appears to be an orange/rust colored sediment in my travel trailer’s fresh water system. I had been using the freshwater tank without issue, and then filled it up at my last campground and noticed severe discoloration of the water coming out of the faucets and into the toilet bowl. I tried sanitizing the tank with a bleach mixture (I hadn’t really observed the issue to be sediment at that time) and it is still orange water when I run the water pump. I plan to drain the remainder of the fresh water tank tomorrow and capture as much of the water as I can in a bucket to see if it’s discolored. I can also try using the bypass on my pump to pump what I know to be clean water through the pump and see if it runs clear or not. Any other suggestions on what to try and troubleshoot, and if it is sediment deposits in the tank, how do I flush it out? That stuff just settles and seems like just filling the tank with clean water a few times might not wash all the heavier sediment deposits out. Thanks in advance for your help.

Time will flush it out. It's probably just iron deposits from some place that uses well water. But a filter for your filler hose.

Sanitizer does nothing for iron deposits, which is probably what you have. Drain and flush should do the trick. If there remain stains in fixtures, oxalic acid will remove them. It is the primary ingredient in commercial rust stain removers. Chlorine bleach will not do the job, don’t try it as it will make things worse.

From clear to severe discoloration in one tank?Umm, was it orange coming out of the spigot?The rest of your post is also confusing. You have what appears to still be the offending water in the tank and wondering why it’s still discolored?

I agree with above, likely iron deposits from well water at last CG. A friend purchased an older CG in the SD Black Hills that had this issue. It had a filtration system, that would fail (shut down), and all water, including the washers in laundry room would turn orange.I would drain your tank, flush if possible, and time should remove any further discoloration. Using any type filter, is usually a good idea.Jerry

Thanks all. I flushed the tank a bit today and collected some of the water as it drained, let it sit in a bucket, and about 20 minutes later could see the iron settled at the bottom of the bucket. Will continue to fill and drain until it seems to be gone. When I filled the tank with the bad (iron filled) water, I could not detect any discoloration as it was going into the tank. The water was going in at a good clip and looked clear as it was filling. I will use an inline filter from now on when filling the fresh water tank. I always use one when hooked up to city water connection, but will cover this base from now on. Funnily enough, I saw a fellow camper using a filter on their fresh water hose to fill their tank today and thought, see, that’s what I need to do….until I noticed they were using the (clearly marked) non-potable water spigot at the dump station used for flushing! Whoops.

Sediment in Freshwater System - Need Help! | Good Sam Community

InTheRockies
Explorer
Sep 19, 2021
Thanks all. I flushed the tank a bit today and collected some of the water as it drained, let it sit in a bucket, and about 20 minutes later could see the iron settled at the bottom of the bucket. Will continue to fill and drain until it seems to be gone.

When I filled the tank with the bad (iron filled) water, I could not detect any discoloration as it was going into the tank. The water was going in at a good clip and looked clear as it was filling.

I will use an inline filter from now on when filling the fresh water tank. I always use one when hooked up to city water connection, but will cover this base from now on. Funnily enough, I saw a fellow camper using a filter on their fresh water hose to fill their tank today and thought, see, that’s what I need to do….until I noticed they were using the (clearly marked) non-potable water spigot at the dump station used for flushing! Whoops.
MFL
Nomad II
Sep 18, 2021
I agree with above, likely iron deposits from well water at last CG. A friend purchased an older CG in the SD Black Hills that had this issue. It had a filtration system, that would fail (shut down), and all water, including the washers in laundry room would turn orange.

I would drain your tank, flush if possible, and time should remove any further discoloration. Using any type filter, is usually a good idea.

Jerry
Grit_dog
Navigator
Sep 18, 2021
From clear to severe discoloration in one tank?
Umm, was it orange coming out of the spigot?

The rest of your post is also confusing. You have what appears to still be the offending water in the tank and wondering why it’s still discolored?
naturist
Nomad
Sep 18, 2021
Sanitizer does nothing for iron deposits, which is probably what you have. Drain and flush should do the trick. If there remain stains in fixtures, oxalic acid will remove them. It is the primary ingredient in commercial rust stain removers. Chlorine bleach will not do the job, don’t try it as it will make things worse.
jdc1
Explorer II
Sep 18, 2021
Time will flush it out. It's probably just iron deposits from some place that uses well water. But a filter for your filler hose.

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Sediment in Freshwater System - Need Help!

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