How do I add sanitizer to my fresh water tank ?

[kgard1225]

Hi all. I recently acquired a 2013 Coachman Mirada 29 DS class A on a Ford F-53 chassis. I wanted to sanitize the water tank but can only find a female hose fitting to add sanitizer through. There appears to be some small fitting inside the hose inlet that will not allow me to funnel anything into a hose attached to the fitting. I think it may be some kind of backflow valve which allows me to fill the tank with pressurized water. Is there some other port that would allow me to add sanitizer to the tank ? Or, can I remove the little plastic thing ? Thanks, Ken

[VinCee]

Some rigs that have water pump adapters to winterize by pumping anti-freeze from a gallon jug can be used to reverse fill into your water tank if you have an outdoor shower hook up in your water bay. Un-screw the shower head off of the shower hose and screw the shower hose into the water tank fill fitting. Turn on water pump and outside shower and water should have enough pressure to push past the back flow valve. However, like most I just pour the bleach into the hose and attached to water spigot.

[msmith1199]

Why did they start making motorhomes without a gravity fill? Mine doesn't have one and over the years it has been a pain. For one thing, it takes a good half hour for my tank to fill from empty because of the pressure limiter that's built in. I can't tell you how many times I've flooded a campsite because I turned the water on to fill the tank and forgot about it. Actually I can tell you, I've done it three times! Also makes it hard to bring in extra water when boon docking too. I;ve thought about looking for a way to install a gravity fill system into my tank.

[msmith1199]

RayChez wrote:
That is all fine and dandy, but to waste 100 gallons of water by dumping is ridiculous. If you are going to be hooked up to a faucet in a camp ground that will be direct for your kitchen and bathroom lavatory sink. But instead of wasting the sanitized water at least use it for the toilet by using the water pump when using the bathroom. Once your water tank has used up the sanitized water THEN refill with fresh water if you want to have a full tank.

Where I used to work the water tanks on cabooses and locomotives were sanitized with Oakite.

The OP is in Florida. Pretty sure they don't have a water shortage there.

[msmith1199]

popeyemth wrote:
I've found the only way to keep the bleach in the hose while connecting to a faucet is to either kink the hose so the bleach can't spill out or screw on a shutoff valve then connect to the faucet

Or make sure both ends of the hose stay higher than the rest of the hose.

[mowermech]

I, too, have a gravity fill.
However, I have found it is much easier to put the bleach in the hose, put the hose in the gravity fill hole, hook it to the water source, and turn the water on. Besides, that way I don't spill bleach down the side of the coach!
As for "wasting" the water by draining and flushing the tank, we use the water for cooking and drinking as well as flushing the toilet. We don't want the high concentration of bleach in our drinking water, so I drain and flush. IMO, the water isn't wasted. Most of it seeps through the ground, getting purified as it goes, and ends up in the well (just like the effluent from the septic system drainfield does). The rest evaporates and comes back as rain.

[superk]

10forty2 wrote:

hanko wrote:
love my gravity fresh water fill,

Yep...that's how I do it too. The little door on the side at the rear of the coach....open it up and pour bleach for sanitizing or the pink stuff for winterizing. Great little feature.

+2. Gravity fill for the win.

[10forty2]

hanko wrote:
love my gravity fresh water fill,

Yep...that's how I do it too. The little door on the side at the rear of the coach....open it up and pour bleach for sanitizing or the pink stuff for winterizing. Great little feature.

[hanko]

love my gravity fresh water fill,

[RayChez]

That is all fine and dandy, but to waste 100 gallons of water by dumping is ridiculous. If you are going to be hooked up to a faucet in a camp ground that will be direct for your kitchen and bathroom lavatory sink. But instead of wasting the sanitized water at least use it for the toilet by using the water pump when using the bathroom. Once your water tank has used up the sanitized water THEN refill with fresh water if you want to have a full tank.

Where I used to work the water tanks on cabooses and locomotives were sanitized with Oakite.

[popeyemth]

I've found the only way to keep the bleach in the hose while connecting to a faucet is to either kink the hose so the bleach can't spill out or screw on a shutoff valve then connect to the faucet

[MountainAir05]

Or, buy you a whole house filter with correct connections to hook to hose and fill with bleach and fill your tank. The hose way is cheaper. Again you could just plumb the filter in and filter the water.

[nwrandski]

Same as above... When i sanitize my system, I just add bleach to the hose and then fill the fresh water tank. I takes 1 cup of bleach for every 40 gallons of water. After the tank is full, then run all faucets until you are assured that the bleach is through the plumbing system. Let sit for (4) hours. Then drain everything, refill with fresh water, rinse the lines, and then drain the tank a second time. That's it.

[msmith1199]

Empty your hose of water and then attach it to your motorhome. Pour your sanitizer into the other end of your hose. Attach that end to the hose bib (being careful not to let the sanitizer run out) and then turn on the water. Your set up sounds similar to mine and short of getting a pump to pump your sanitizer into the fresh water tank, my above method is the easiest.

[CloudDriver]

Pour the bleach into your fresh water hose, connect the hose to the water source, turn the water on and fill the water tank.