Sanitizing fresh water tank? Bleach?

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

I've done roughly this ever since I bought the TC new. Never a problem.
I carry a dilute beach spray bottle, and use it on both ends of my potable water hose and whatever faucet I'm using with every fill.

the bear II wrote:
cheap wine will do the job and taste better than bleach

absolutely not!

hard to tell if poster is joking?

wine is mostly sugar with a small amount of alcohol. it's the exact opposite of what you would want to use to sanitize any system or surface. sugar is food, and that's not something you want to introduce into the water system.

as suggested in other posts, an oxidizing agent like bleach or peroxide is the correct tool.

SidecarFlip wrote:

ScottG wrote:
The standing method is 1/4 bleach (Do not use low splash) to every 15 gallons of water.
On their website, Clorox says that 30 minutes is sufficient but I usually leave it overnight.
To completely kill the bleach in the water and remove any smell or taste of it, poor in a few ounces of hydrogen peroxide (perfectly safe and amount doesn't really matter), run it through the lines and then drain and refill.

I use Hydrogen Peroxide myself instead of bleach. Has no smell, kills everything and is safe to ingest diluted. Never been fond of the bleach smell. I use 35%.

I never could find out how much H2O2 to use per gallon. :?

I also use Chlorine in powder form. Leave it overnight and then flush the next day with no residual taste or smell. It will kill everything. I try to do it once/year to be safe. I have this chore setup in my Automotive Wolf car maintenance software ( www.automotivewolf.com ) on my computer to keep track of it since the program creates a great vehicle maintenance log so I have a detailed record of everything that's been done on my RV. This software makes it esy for me to keep up with the maintenance on all my vehicles.

Boating places like West Marine also have treatment and freshener.

I've used bleach (1/4 CUP to 15 gallons) and left it overnight. Works well, BUT takes a fair amount of rinsing out to get rid of the bleach smell/taste.

I now use hydrogen peroxide. I pour a quart ($1.50 or so) of the 3% drugstore peroxide in the 35 gallon fresh water tank, fill 'er up to the top from the hose, use the pump to fill the water heater and the lines, and let it sit for a day or so. Then dump the fresh water tank and use city water to run water through things for a couple minutes, instead of half an hour. No smell, no taste, and no hassle. Granted that's about $1.25 more expensive than using bleach. But I can afford that.

ScottG wrote:
The standing method is 1/4 bleach (Do not use low splash) to every 15 gallons of water.
On their website, Clorox says that 30 minutes is sufficient but I usually leave it overnight.
To completely kill the bleach in the water and remove any smell or taste of it, poor in a few ounces of hydrogen peroxide (perfectly safe and amount doesn't really matter), run it through the lines and then drain and refill.

I use Hydrogen Peroxide myself instead of bleach. Has no smell, kills everything and is safe to ingest diluted. Never been fond of the bleach smell. I use 35%.

Rather than bleach, I use chlorine granules. About 1 tablespoon for 40 gallons. Let sit overnight, then run through all faucets until empty, then refill with fresh water.

No need for multiple flushings and/or additives to remove the icky bleach taste.

Please, bear II, don't waste wine in water tanks!
1/4 cup bleach for each 15 gallons of water and I agree with Scott that only 30 minutes isn't safe enough.

The standing method is 1/4 bleach (Do not use low splash) to every 15 gallons of water.
On their website, Clorox says that 30 minutes is sufficient but I usually leave it overnight.
To completely kill the bleach in the water and remove any smell or taste of it, poor in a few ounces of hydrogen peroxide (perfectly safe and amount doesn't really matter), run it through the lines and then drain and refill.