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JRJR's avatar
JRJR
Explorer
Apr 23, 2018

Sanitizing fresh water tank? Bleach?

What is a good way to sanitize my fresh water tank? Should I use bleach? If so how much?

Thanks
John

22 Replies

  • JRJR wrote:
    What is a good way to sanitize my fresh water tank? Should I use bleach? If so how much?

    Thanks
    John


    There's a couple formulas, let these solutions soak 24-48 hours after running water to every faucet and showerhead:

    Troubled System (green things floating around): 0.13oz/gallon of tank size = oz of bleach to use, Exp - 7.8 oz/60 gallons

    Preventative = 1 oz bleach / 60 gallons (you can still drink and use it).

    And then other things:

    Remove Smells = 1.5 cups vinegar/60 gallons
    Sweeten the water = 1/2 cup Baking Soda/60 gallons

    You can see that it doesn't take much. These amounts are from an honest to goodness scientist and RV'er who also was a city water manager for several decades.

    Also, the Bear II is right about that wine.

    In these days of growing zones of drought, it's best not to fill and dump your tanks over and over if avoidable. Also, city sewage systems don't need really strong bleach water hitting their bacteria so use the Baking soda after a troubled system wash. Dump it into the tank after the 24-48 hour soak, and let it neutralize the water for a few hours.