Toilet Bowl Water is Souring

Is the outside faucet you used to fill the RV tank on the same filtering and softening system as the house? I have a well and the outside water is not plumbed through the softener.

calebsg wrote:
. . . The RV right now is on the well water that my house is on -- no difference between the RV and the house how it is treated.
. . .

The RV toilet is clean -- first thing I did. Even did it again to be sure :-)

. . .

I would sanitize the RV water system, regardless. Your description tells me there are some sort of bacteria growing in the RV plumbing. It only costs you a cup of bleach, a few tanks full of water, and an hour of your time split over two days.

I sanitize mine every time it has been more than a few weeks between uses.

Wayne

Appreciate your thoughts, everyone.

The RV right now is on the well water that my house is on -- no difference between the RV and the house how it is treated.

In the house the water can sit in a toilet after flushing and cleaning for 3 weeks and it is just fine when I get home again. It only needs 8 hours in the RV toilet and it's clearly changed colour and odor.

The RV toilet is clean -- first thing I did. Even did it again to be sure :-)

I'm gonna turn the water off in the RV, empty the water from the toilet bowl, then pour RO water in there from our kitchen sink in the house. And I'll see what happens to that overnight. I'm thinking if it's OK in the morning I likely need to sanitize my RV water system. If it's not OK then there has to be something going on in the toilet itself methinks. I'll keep you all posted. Appreciate what each one has suggested.

Sanitize your entire water system and disinfect the toilet. You have something growing from your water.

I use olive oil.......keeps toilet bowl seal flexible and provides the vapor barrier (which is why water should be in bowl-----residential toilets have built in 'P' traps/rv toilets don't)

OP..you need to sanitize your rv plumbing system
Standing water after a few days should NOT turn color or have an odor.

I am on well water in my house. As such, the water looks apparently clear when it comes out of the faucet. But let it sit for just a few minutes, and it begins to get gray. It's very noticeable when taking a bath, and the stains in the sinks, toilet, and tub all turn red with rust very fast, regardless of cleaning. The smell of the water seems to sour after a while (like if you don't flush the toilet for a few hours and then flush).

My suggestion, check your water source. Experiment with a bucket of water from the source. That may be all the problem.

By the way, the solution to our house problem, we had a Kenitico Water system installed (whole house), and all of that is now gone. Only cost (after purchasing the filtration (sand and charcoal tanks), is the cost of salt for the water softener feature. It uses no electricity.

Water in the bowl also prevents odors from escaping the black tank. When my 5er is stored for the winter than I put anti freeze in the bowl and all p traps.

phillyg wrote:
I never leave water in the bowl while in storage.

I always leave water in the bowl.
It helps keep the seals from drying out. For winter storage I put pink antifreeze in the toilet.

I always leave water in bowl to keep seal wet. When I'm prepared to leave RV I'll clean and drain toilet, fill with distilled water and a dash of Thetford toilet seal conditioner. It has kind of a fresh smell. Once in a while I will see some of what you describe-suspect it may be hidden deposits leaching from the seal area. I'll just drain it again and repeat with the distilled water. I have so much water hardness and this eliminates deposits.

tenbear wrote:

phillyg wrote:
I never leave water in the bowl while in storage.

I have always understood that you should leave water in the bowl to prevent the seal from drying out. I always leave water in the bowl and the water has never changed color.

Me too.
I think the OP needs a good dose of disinfectant (chlorine bleach) in ALL of his water tanks and then drive it a few miles to slosh it around. Don't get too carried away though. 1/4 cup per gallon of water is plenty.

Of course if you do that, you will probably want to empty and refill your fresh water tank before the next trip.