Fresh Water Holding Tank - Do I need to keep water in it?

[tommygun714]

Hi,

New 5th wheel owner. Wondering if I need to keep water in the fresh water holding tank for any reason other than, I might need water to drink or flush a toilet in an emergency. But today I struck camp to head home from my first trip out with out new cougar 5th wheel. We were only a few hours drive from how and I was thinking of draining the 60 gallon tank for the drive home.

Is there a reason for priming the water pumps of other that I should or should not completely drain?

[Tom_Barb]

We completely drain and purge our tanks. Only time we will hook up water and sewer is when we have guests in. then it is another drain and purge when they leave.

[laknox]

tommygun714 wrote:
Hi,

New 5th wheel owner. Wondering if I need to keep water in the fresh water holding tank for any reason other than, I might need water to drink or flush a toilet in an emergency. But today I struck camp to head home from my first trip out with out new cougar 5th wheel. We were only a few hours drive from how and I was thinking of draining the 60 gallon tank for the drive home.

Is there a reason for priming the water pumps of other that I should or should not completely drain?

Personally, I drained the tank in my now sold Komfort whenever it went into storage. Prior to going out, I'd put a few gallons in for "on the road" use. We tend to go to the same boondock site, so I fill up when we get close to our camp site. With a total of about 9,000 vertical feet to climb, not having to haul 300 extra lbs' weight is nice. If the SHTF, I can always use the 18,000 gallons of water in my pool to pump into my FW, and survive for a while. :B

Lyle

[oldbird1965]

My tank is always full. If it gets old I drain and refill. I've been on the side of the road a few times and after working on something I like to take a shower. To try and save a few pennies on mpg to me is just plain stupid. New, old it doesn't matter, anything can break down.

[sayoung]

Bought our current 5er in 2011 & never have put any water in the tank. Dealer did so only to test.
We carry a couple of gal water jugs to use . We don't stay except at rv parks, never any dry camping in our plans.

[simsfmly]

tommygun714 wrote:
Hi,

New 5th wheel owner. Wondering if I need to keep water in the fresh water holding tank for any reason other than, I might need water to drink or flush a toilet in an emergency. But today I struck camp to head home from my first trip out with out new cougar 5th wheel. We were only a few hours drive from how and I was thinking of draining the 60 gallon tank for the drive home.

Is there a reason for priming the water pumps of other that I should or should not completely drain?

We full time. We keep at least ¼ in ours at all time when we're at a park. There have always been times that the park shuts down the water to work on it and we need water.

We do make sure it's "kind of fresh" in that we dump it every time we get to a park and refill it a bit.

[Super_Dave]

I've always found emptying the tank to be a 1/2 day job and not something I want to do on the day I'm trying to get out of camp.

[MFL]

The only time I completely empty my fresh tank, is for Winter storage. I sanitize in the Spring before first use. We use the tank for all water uses. I try to keep the tank at least 1/3 full, between uses, as I feel the tank stays cleaner that way. Maybe just me over thinking, but a small amount of water, left in a drained tank, would be more likely to deteriorate, in warm Summer temps. I use city chlorinated water, but if FW sits for 2 weeks or more, before next outing, I drain before refilling.

Also my FW has a whole house filter system, that all water from tank, or city hookup has to pass through.

Jerry

[jffnkrn]

Ours is always full. we carry full tank and never worry about not having any or enough. we have been, more than once that we were uncomfortable with what the water may be when we go somewhere, so we steered clear. The other times we simply dry camp and don;t ever depend on having water when we get there. Additionally, when we get home, we drain and fill, this way we always have fresh chlorinated water in the tank. in the event of anything happening, we always have a back up. We use ours about every month so never has water that is not good for consumption. If for some reason it is going to sit longer, we drain and fill minimum of once per month and run all the fixtures, this helps keep fresh chlorinated water in the system, just like our homes. that's us, works for us and always prepared. Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

[eHoefler]

I fill ours when I dewinterize, and empty whats left when I winterize. We have had the park turn off the water to fix a water leak, wife was in the shower when it was turned off, glad we had the tank full.

[CA_Traveler]

If I have good quality water and don't know about the destination I fill the tank. Otherwise about half full.

[Gearitis]

When traveling 15 miles or 5000 miles, we try and keep a half tank of water. It seems to make the ride better and also piece of mind that its there in case of a radiator emergency, or toilet, or even just washing hands. We do drain it when we get home and go to store it for a week or more. If its less than a week, we leave the water in the tank. Also if Severe Weather seems likly, we fill it just in case the utilities goes out and also some weight that is low to help with wind. The RV has been a Godsend many times over the years after storms here in Central Texas. It has kept inconvenience to a minimum.

[md_procouple]

We keep our 5'er's about half full, like for the occasional drink, or flush then drain it out half way thru the season and fill again half way before the next trip out the second half of the season. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

[Artum_Snowbird]

I like to think that having water in your rig is a big part of why we have a rig in the first place. If you have water, you can exist if something happens, drain it when you get home.

[ScottG]

Not really. I like to have mine full at home just in case of a disaster - like an earthquake.
Otherwise unless I'm going to need more, I just keep 5 gallons or so in it for flushing while traveling.