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.

If you have city water, which is treated with chlorine, you are probably ok. We had a well and had to sanitize ours.

How important this may be depends on whether you drink the water or not.We don't; we drink bottled water.Having said that, we sanitize at least once a year (de-winterizing time is convenient).Isolate hot water tank first in case bleach might react with materials in tank.I don't have exact proportion, but add something like 1/2 cup of bleach to a gallon of water and add that to about 1/2 tank of fresh water. Drive around to slosh it around. Wait 4 hours. Operate all your fawcets to drawn some solution thru all your water lines.Dump it all, flush a couple of times.

Thinking of doing this too. Is there any benefit then to also let it sit in the black and grey for 24 hours after you've run it though the FW?

I sanitize ALL of my tanks, hoses, connections, etc. a couple times a year. You never know what peed or licked the faucets, that you just hooked up to. You never know if 'something' got into the ground water. What kind of illnesses the people that just used the dump station ahead of you had, etc. Better safe than sorry.

We also sanitize our tanks when we dewinterize. We use our own home water in the tank, not putting other water in it. We got a tip on here about bringing a spray bottle with us and sanitizing the hook up ends before actually hooking up! We have an inline filter but we only drink when it's our own water, otherwise we use bottled water.As for the black and grey tanks--we thoroughly clean and sanitize before winterizing. When we dump, we pour at least 5 gallons thru the black and about 2 thru the grey and dump again, then fill w/2 gallons and treatment in black and about a gallon in grey so it doesn't dry anything on the bottom.

fresh water tank sanitizing??? | Good Sam Community

msmith1199
Explorer II
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer III
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
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