Water Filling

I would go ahead and use water from your outside faucet. If the water system (pump, etc.) is working ok, then add bleach to disinfect the system. Drain that water and fill up with potable water at the campsite.

Thanks. I'll have to buy an additional hose to reach, but that wouldn't hurt to have on hand, anyway. I think maybe I'm being overly cautious...

Outside faucets not drinkable because winterized or?

If you just want to ensure there are no leaks in the system, you can always hook up your air compressor, pressurize the system and listen for air leaks. There is a way to hook up a pressure gauge if you want to do a leak down test properly.

You could also get a 5 gallon water container from WalMart and gravity fill your tank, then use the pump to pressurize the system.

Here is the rub, you need to flush your system first then sanitize it before you even think of filling it with potable water for you to use. Use the outside faucet of your home to flush system and see if there are any leaks. You shouldn't be using any of the water you flush things out with anyway. Look up how to sanitize your system. When you go camping are you hooked up to campground water supply or do you run off of your tanks a lot of the time? I do think you are obsessing a bit much over it. Its not that complicated.

ken56 wrote:
When you go camping are you hooked up to campground water supply or do you run off of your tanks a lot of the time?

For me, this is the heart of the question. We rarely use water from the tank, and when we do, it is to flush the toilet, wash dishes or (once in a blue moon) shower. We never consume or cook with water from our tanks. So, for us, using the outside faucet at the house is perfectly acceptable.

Our house has an irrigation supply, so I'm not entirely sure if the faucet is from irrigation water (though in hindsight, it's more than likely not since it has water to it and I believe irrigation is still shut off for the winter).

We do use mostly the campground water supply.

I'll use the outside faucet to test and sanitize. Now I just need to read up on how to sanitize the system.

Fill up system with air...uhmmm

Dangerous...

fill up how much? Does OP have regulator on compressor?

Sanitizing is easy. Use 1/4 cup bleach per 15 gal. of water. Fill fresh water tank full, then run all your faucets until you smell bleach. Let is sit in lines for an hour, then drain.

You can then fill tank and drain again to get rid of bleach smell, or just know that you'll have a little residual smell first tank of water.

We do a lot of dry camping. We cook, shower and drink from the tank. No issues.

Some folk are very fussy about their water, mine comes from a 130 foot well in northern Indiana. It is hard and a bit rusty; which must be the way we like it because everybody's well is the same no matter how deep. :):)

I try to sanitize my TT tank when I fill up for the spring. We keep about 20 gallons of water in our fresh tank for those occasions when we camp and the camp water is nasty tasting or we pick a campgrounds like our State Parks which are usually electricity only.

We dump what is left in the tank when we return and refill before the next trip. We never had an issue but then I still drink from the garden hose, like I did when I was a kid.

If you are one of those folks who is sensitive to the water they drink, they do make numerous filter to help with that.

Safe Travels