fresh water tank sanitizing???

[annfrancis_lett]

Hello; I have a 35 ft. Holiday Rambler class (A) motorhome RV.
My wife & I purchased it new in 2006.
I have NEVER sanitized the fresh water tank!
I drain it along with the grey and black water tanks and flush fresh water into all three tanks upon returning from any camping outings we have been on!
I am able to park right next to my home, and I use a Maserator for the black & grey tanks right into my home clean-out.
While they are draining, I open the fresh water drain and let what-ever water is still in the tank to drain onto the grass.
I would then refill the fresh water tank again, and then let it completely drain until empty, and that's all I've ever done!
I am being told that I should sanitize the fresh water tank at least once every year. I don't ever do this!
Can someone explain how this is really done, so I could do it.

[msmith1199]

BarbaraOK wrote:

moon.lake wrote:
We use bottled water to be safe! Have you ever owned an aquarium and watch the algie grow on the sides of the tank? Picture that inside the fresh water holding tank of your camper! We did the bleach cleaning a few weeks ago,, and remembered to run the hot water tap too to get it into the hot water tank.

You do realize that any aquarium has fish which give off wastes and light - food and light and algae grow. Have you got fish/light in your fresh water tank? No - then your comparison is invalid.

Barb

Unless you keep fish in your fresh water holding tank, then it's completely valid. I just haven't figured out how to get them through the hose bib yet but I will. 🙂

[BarbaraOK]

moon.lake wrote:
We use bottled water to be safe! Have you ever owned an aquarium and watch the algie grow on the sides of the tank? Picture that inside the fresh water holding tank of your camper! We did the bleach cleaning a few weeks ago,, and remembered to run the hot water tap too to get it into the hot water tank.

You do realize that any aquarium has fish which give off wastes and light - food and light and algae grow. Have you got fish/light in your fresh water tank? No - then your comparison is invalid.

Barb

[moon_lake]

We use bottled water to be safe! Have you ever owned an aquarium and watch the algie grow on the sides of the tank? Picture that inside the fresh water holding tank of your camper! We did the bleach cleaning a few weeks ago,, and remembered to run the hot water tap too to get it into the hot water tank.

[Go_Dogs]

Well, I hope everyone stays safe, with whatever method they use. To each their own. Us RVer's, much like turtles, take our homes wherever we go-but at least the turtle is smart enough not to haul his poop with him!

[workhardplayha1]

I drain and refill with city water every month or so and leave the tank full. Never had a problem and I do drink the water (but not the kool-aid).

[427435]

Another MH owner that has never sanitized the clean water tank. Drain it at the end of the year, and that's it. By the way, it gets filled with well water (no chlorine) at home and whatever the campgrounds provide. We also drink and cook with the water.

The biggest risk is probably from campground water, but so far (38 states and counting), we've not had an issue. Nor would sanitizing once or twice a year do any good if you ran into bad campground water.

[2gypsies1]

We've been full-timing for 17 years and travel constantly. We fill our tank with water from any campground, including public parks.

We have never sanitized our fresh water tank and we use it solely for drinking and dishes. No problems here!

[RayChez]

I have two filters on my coach, but I still sanitize once a year. I pour about half a cup of Clorox into the hose and then I open the faucet to get it into the water tank and the water heater. I run lots of water through the hot water faucet to make sure that you dump all that sanitized water out after you have let it slush around for a few hours. I also dump all the water off the 100 gallon water tank. Then I refill, and the smell of the Clorox will be gone in a few days. We also drink only bottled water, but in an emergency I would not hesitate to drink the water off my coach.

Since everybody seems so safe drinking bottled water, let me remind you that not all bottled water is that pure. I have seen some funny looking stuff floating in bottled water that has not been kept in a cool place. So just to say that you feel safe drinking bottled water is a joke.

If you use your coach all the time and keep the water moving THEN I agree with Tundra. But if you store your coach for lets say six months the water will start smelling terrible. You better dump that water. And where most people make the mistake is that they will forget to dump the water off the water heater.

[Fresno_Tundra_D]

Go Dogs wrote:

Fresno Tundra Driver wrote:
If what you have not done thus far has worked for you why change? You'll be fine never sanitizing any of your tanks. Drain and fill is all that is required. Any germs you encounter help keep your immune system tip top. All those germaphobes that sanitize their black tanks always make me laugh!

Laugh away! Some of us 'germaphobes' have worked in healthcare, and have seen some mighty bad germs. Also, if you happen to have a depressed immunes system, (from chemo, illness, etc.)you are vulnerable, to anything you have not encountered before. Again, better safe than sorry!

I too am one of those former healthcare workers(Medtech)with a bacteriology background. Keep sanitizing everything and you continue to make bacteria stronger. Just like antibacterial soap and misuse of antibiotics. In 12 years we have never done anything but fill and drain. No sickness, no odors, no problems whatsoever. And we do drink water straight from the tank, either city(chlorine)water or campground water. To each his own.

[BarbaraOK]

Pop-Pop C wrote:
We fulltime. Have forever 2 years. Have not sanitized the fresh water tank.
Don't drink it or cook with it. Drain and refill every couple weeks.
Am I asking for trouble?

We have been fulltiming for over 7 years. Don't dump ours out as often as you do, otherwise usage is the same, and we are still going.

Barb

[Pop-Pop_C]

We fulltime. Have forever 2 years. Have not sanitized the fresh water tank.
Don't drink it or cook with it. Drain and refill every couple weeks.
Am I asking for trouble?

[msmith1199]

J-Rooster wrote:
First of all Welcome to RV.Net Frank! You asked a great question! I'm on city water at home and that is where I fill my RV fresh water holding tank. There is chlorine in our city water so that's why there is no need for me to sanitize the tank. Also we do not drink any water out of our fresh water holding tank! We don't like chlorine! We only drink bottled water that has gone thru a RO process. We use our holding tank water for bathing and cleaning when were dry camping. Mostly we use City water instead of the holding tank water when were RVing.

I also put mostly city water with chlorine in mine and have never sanitized it. I've never had a bad smell or any issues with the water. The only thing you would need to be careful about is if you fill at a campground. Campgrounds may be using well water without any additives. So if I fill there I do drain their water out and put city water back in when I'm at home.

[Go_Dogs]

DanTheRVMan wrote:

Effy wrote:

rvten wrote:
Why sanitize the Blk/gray tanks? Soon as you put any waste into them they are contaminated.
Just a good rinsing to remove any build up is fine.

understood, but I know if they sit for a while, unused, despite how good you think you flushd them, they can get pretty ripe. Often the grey is worse than the black. My intention is not to sanitize per se, but mitigate new bacteria which promotes a lot of odor.

Unfortunately sanitizing the black and grey tank will also destroy the stuff that breaks down the poop. Best just to flush.

A septic tank is designed to utilize bacteria to break down poop. A black tank is just a holding tank. A dirty holding tank is bad news waiting to happen.

[DanTheRVMan]

Effy wrote:

rvten wrote:
Why sanitize the Blk/gray tanks? Soon as you put any waste into them they are contaminated.
Just a good rinsing to remove any build up is fine.

understood, but I know if they sit for a while, unused, despite how good you think you flushd them, they can get pretty ripe. Often the grey is worse than the black. My intention is not to sanitize per se, but mitigate new bacteria which promotes a lot of odor.

Unfortunately sanitizing the black and grey tank will also destroy the stuff that breaks down the poop. Best just to flush.