Routine fresh water tank maintenance

[lana3251]

We have new 2015 Navion IQ 24G class C RV. This is our first RV. We will travel 2-5 day trips & will hook up to city water at RV parks. I'm interested to know best routine to ensure water is fresh / sanitary for each trip. Do we empty fresh water tank after each trip & refill from home hose the day before we leave again? Are there caps for each end of our fresh water hose to keep it clean? How often do we need to use the Clorox disinfecting procedures in the instruction manual? We do use a water filter between city water source & our RV fill hose & a pressure regulator on the intake. We also have a reverse osmosis filter on galley sink. However I don't think either one filters bacteria or viruses. I'll fess up... I'm a retired RN being very compulsive . Thanks.. Lana

[pnichols]

I just replaced the original galley water faucet filter (Pentex EVERPURE ADC) in our motorhome this month (bought the motorhome in early 2006). What's probably kept it fresh and free from bacteria/mold/etc. is it's exposure to a chlorine sanitized RV fresh water system at the beginning of each RV trip. For best and safest performance, water filters must as much as possible have disinfected water coming into them. Hence ... we always have made sure that we refill our RV's fresh water tank with only potable ("disinfected") water when out and about on RV trips.

By the way, it takes charcoal based filters to remove taste and odors from water. But charcoal based filters DO NOT disinfect water. Disinfection must be done to the water BEFORE it enters a charcoal based filter. A 0.5 or 1.0 micron sediment filter should also be before a charcoal filter, or incorporated into the charcoal filter. Both filtering operations - charcoal and sedimentation - must be AFTER the water has been sanitized so as to keep bacteria/mold/cauliforms/virus/etc. as much as possible from entering the other filters.

[fortytwo]

Been drinking from the tank for 45 years. No problems. 1st 30 years I didn't even use a filter.

For the last 15 years I've used a double outside filter with a sediment filter in the first canister and a .5 mil charcoal filter in the second. A third "taste" filter is under the sink.

If your are going to use the tank, use it! I guesstimate how much water I would need if I have to dry camp for a night (Walmart or rest stop) and carry at least that much plus a reserve. We work out of the tank. I connect to water only to fill the tank. If you carry half a tank and always connect to water when you stop you wind up carrying a half tank of stale water after a couple of weeks, and dangerous water after a month or so. My tank water is always fresh because we use it. If I store the RV for over a month I sanitize the system before the next use. Don't forget your filters. Either keep them in a freezer, sanitize them, or replace them if your have extended storage.

[Pop-Pop_C]

We have been FULLTIMING for over three years. Over a year in this one.
Winnie Journey . I dump the tank and refill about once a month.
Course I don't drink the water from the holding tank.have 4 filters before it reaches the faucet.
Brita filter pitcher for drinking in the fridge.
Course we are not away for fresh water for over 6-10 hrs.

[marc515]

Your Navion should have a water filter under the kitchen sink.

[pnichols]

Every time we leave home on a trip we fill the fresh water tank. I put the filling end of the white colored potable-water-only hose into the gravity-fill outlet on the motorhome first. Next the other end of this hose gets screwed onto a hose bib in the laundry room, but before I screw it onto this hose bib I carefully hold up the end of the hose and dump about 1 1/2 ounces of chlorine into the end of the hose for each 10 gallons of fresh water I expect to put into the RV's fresh water tank (for us this works out to 6 ounces of chlorine into the end of the hose if our 40 gallon RV's fresh water tank is empty to begin with). This works great to sanitize the entire RV fresh water system every time we leave home.

This is all we do to keep the entire RV fresh water system sanitized as many times a year as we take individual trips. We have a water filter system in the RV located in the system just before the RV's kitchen sink faucet to remove odors, tastes, and some sediment from any water we use for drinking and cooking - it removes the chlorine odor and taste from our sanitized home water fillups plus helps additionally purify any other water we add to the freshwater tank while on trips. We of course make sure to fill our fresh water tank with only potable water while on RV trips ... this takes some being careful to ensure that the water is always potable.

[Bordercollie]

We have a filtered drinking water spigot on the sink and drink from it. Before each season of use, I dump the tank and open low drain valves, shut valves, add a gallon of water with a cup of bleach and refill tank. Open all faucets and let water with bleach run through system, shut off and let sit for 4 hours. Finally, I dump water and open low drains again then refill with fresh water.We use an external filter when hooking up to city/RV park water. Some local water tastes bad/unusual, the external filter helps taste of water.

[tenbear]

If you are on city water you are getting chlorinated water in your tank every time you fill it. I live in the boonies with a well and I sanitize the tank every spring after the snow goes. I also sanitize the hoses I use. I drink water from campgrounds and refill the tank as necessary at campgrounds.

I have been drinking the water from the tank and campgrounds and it has never bothered me.

My wife is a retired nurse and she doesn't like water, but she makes lemonade and drinks it.

[lana3251]

Thanks to all the RV gang !! We're learning
New RV TIPS daily & having great fun exploring
THE WEST!! Lana

[PSW]

We mostly boondock and often use a hand pump water source in a National Forest campground way off the beaten path. So, I generally sanitize after each trip with bleach and I use more than is necessary. I keep a gallon of cheap bleach out in the garage where all my rv stuff is stored. (and a gallon of distilled water for the batteries). We only drink bottled water. At less than a buck a gallon why not? Cheaper than Pepto Bismol.

Lana, that is a great floorplan on your Navion. We were all set to buy the same thing when we found a ten month old Phoenix Cruiser 2350 for sale three miles from our home! Enjoy it. Like you, we are really goosey about water and what is in it.

Paul

[JnJnKatiebug]

In my opinion it depends on how you use your RV. We only sanitize ours one time per year in the spring before we start to use it but we do not drink the water from the tank. We drink bottled water and use bottled water for coffee and tea. We only use the tank water for showers, toilet and dish washing. Our tank is 100 gallons so I had rather buy bottled water that waste the 100 gallons to flush the tank.

If I were going to drink the water I would sanitize it before each trip, as another poster said it does not cost much.

Like the other poster stated, roll up your hose and connect the ends together. Don't forget when you sanitize your tank you also need to sanitize you hose.

[CloudDriver]

We sanitize the water system (tank and all piping) before each trip. Since most of our travels are in the Spring and Fall, there's usually a couple of months between trips. Sanitizing is easy to do and costs next to nothing, so why not.

[lanerd]

lana3251 wrote:
We have new 2015 Navion IQ 24G class C RV. This is our first RV. We will travel 2-5 day trips & will hook up to city water at RV parks. I'm interested to know best routine to ensure water is fresh / sanitary for each trip. Do we empty fresh water tank after each trip & refill from home hose the day before we leave again? Are there caps for each end of our fresh water hose to keep it clean? How often do we need to use the Clorox disinfecting procedures in the instruction manual? We do use a water filter between city water source & our RV fill hose & a pressure regulator on the intake. We also have a reverse osmosis filter on galley sink. However I don't think either one filters bacteria or viruses. I'll fess up... I'm a retired RN being very compulsive . Thanks.. Lana

It depends upon how long an interval between trips. If only a month or two, you shouldn't have to do anything except drain when you get home and refill when you leave. Note on refilling at home...remember water weighs a little over 8 lbs per gallon.

As for cap for the hose.... just roll the hose up and connect the ends together. Simple.

The only time you really need to disinfect the water tank is after it has been setting for months at a time...like over the winter.

When you speak of a "pressure regulator", I hope you're talking about the adjustable type with a gauge. The small flow through unit that is preset isn't very reliable and you can never be absolutely sure what it is doing. It is really just a restricter rather than a regulator.

Good luck and enjoy your new rv.

Ron