May-31-2020 02:27 PM
Sep-15-2020 10:43 AM
Sep-14-2020 07:39 PM
Sep-10-2020 06:25 AM
4x4van wrote:
Wow, alot of people spending alot of time/effort/worry. I live in the US, which has arguably among the best quality domestic water supplies in the world. If you are using well water, then I can see the use of bleach for an occasional sanitizing, but otherwise?
I've owned 3 RVs, over the course of 32 years. Never sanitized any of the 3. Drink/cook/bathe using the onboard tank. Store with the water (remaining after a trip) for a month or more between trips, simply top off for the next trip. In fact, I only drained the tank once, after the RV had sat for about 2 years during the time when gas was $5+/gallon, since there was a bit of "plastic" taste. Otherwise no bad taste, no sickness, no issues. Of course, we also grew up drinking water out of the green plastic garden hose as well, so...
Sep-02-2020 10:01 AM
garmp wrote:
Sanitizing the fresh water tank.
Has anyone used this? Looks pretty slick, but what the heck it's just another $30 gizmo to add to the RV paraphernalia list. Just when I thought the cost of the RV ended as we drove off the lot. Live & learn.
Aug-25-2020 01:57 PM
teejaywhy wrote:SAR Tracker wrote:Boon Docker wrote:RoyF wrote:
After draining the bleach, I suggest adding a cup or two distilled vinegar when you refill the tank. Drain again and refill with water only.
What is the reason for the vinegar mixture?
Removes the bleach taste
How do you get rid of the vinegar taste?
Aug-24-2020 01:45 PM
Aug-23-2020 04:43 PM
Boon Docker wrote:RoyF wrote:
After draining the bleach, I suggest adding a cup or two distilled vinegar when you refill the tank. Drain again and refill with water only.
What is the reason for the vinegar mixture?
Jul-07-2020 04:49 PM
Jul-05-2020 09:01 PM
STBRetired wrote:
If you have the whole house water filter installed in your rig, be sure to remove the filter cartridge before sanitizing and put in a brand new one when you are done. The activated carbon in those filters will remove chlorine, and the massive amount of chlorine in the sanitizing solution (as compared to normal city water) will exhaust the filtering capacity of the cartridge.
Jul-05-2020 07:12 PM
Jul-05-2020 06:19 PM
rvshrinker wrote:
First time doing this chore.
Most sources say to use household bleach 1/4 cup for every 15 gallons of fresh water capacity. Mix required bleach amount in some fresh water, pour into your tanks, fill with potable water, let sit, drain, rinse.
However other sources say 1/4 cup for 10 gallons.
For a 60 gallon freshwater tank, this is either 1 cup or 1.5 cups of bleach.
But according to this fact sheet from the Northeastern University Dept of Environmental Health Sciences, bleach should be concentrated at 5000 - 20,000 ppm to disinfect. 5% bleach is 50,000 ppm, 10% bleach 100,000 ppm, etc. This would imply diluting 5% bleach no more than 10:1 to get to a concentration of 5000 ppm, the minimum for disinfecting. Then the 60 gallon tank needs ~5 gallons of 5% bleach and 55 gallons of water to be diluted properly for disinfection.
That’s a big difference.
https://www.northeastern.edu/ehs/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Bleach-Fact-Sheet-Draft.ejc2_.pdf
And this Idaho DEQ website says dilute 1000:1:
https://www.deq.idaho.gov/media/517665-disinfecting-water-wells-storage-tanks-fact-sheet-0612.pdf
What is the correct concentration of bleach to disinfect the water tanks?
Jun-03-2020 12:04 PM
Lwiddis wrote:
Per the EPA at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water
Jun-03-2020 12:02 PM
SAR Tracker wrote:Boon Docker wrote:RoyF wrote:
After draining the bleach, I suggest adding a cup or two distilled vinegar when you refill the tank. Drain again and refill with water only.
What is the reason for the vinegar mixture?
Removes the bleach taste
Jun-02-2020 03:07 PM