fresh water tank sanitation question

[scarpi]

How long do you let the bleach solution remain in your fresh water tank when sanitizing. I've been letting mine sit in there for three hours and I'm wondering if that is long enough. I also use 4oz of bleach in my 24 gallon fresh water tank.

[PenMan]

My manual says to use 1/4 cup of bleach for each 15 gallons of tank size. It also says to run through each faucet and toilet till you can smell the bleach. Let it sit at least 3 hours. Drain the tank, refill with fresh water and flush out each faucet till you can't smell bleach. I dump the fresh water tank and refill it again just to make sure.

[Escargot]

I purchased a new-to-me '06 Pleasure-way Plateau a couple of months ago. I noticed that the fresh water refilling the commode after flushing was tinted, anywhere from a blue, to a green, to a yellow, to a brownish color.

I was puzzled and eliminated lack of sanitizing the FW tank and lines because the previous owner said he sanitized a week before I took possession.

This past weekend I sanitized, to INCLUDE the line to the toilet, which is part of my standard operating procedure when sanitizing.

Lo and behold... no more tinted fresh water in the toilet bowl!

I'm suggesting that when sanitizing, aside from running the faucets (and shower(s)) until you smell the bleach, do the same with your toilet.

Edited to add:

P.S. I add the bleach in the morning then go about my day in the RV. Upon return, anywhere from 4 to 10 hours, I empty the FW tank and flush the lines, then refill the FW tank.

I use the water from the tank for washing dishes and showering until the FW tank has been refilled at least twice since the initial sanitizing.
I don't like wasting water, (suffered through too many droughts), and I don't have the time nor patience to empty and refill FW twice in the same day.

[Jim_Shoe]

I just buy bottled water in gallon jugs for coffee and cooking at about 50 cents per gallon, and use the CG or tank water for showering, toilet and dishes. Rinse the dishes with water from my hot pot. When I get home, I drain the fresh tank, fill it about 3/4 full, add a cup of bleach and drive around for awhile and then drain. Then refill with fresh water and drain.

[Bobbo]

Actually, since household bleach is only about a 6% concentration, that works out to about 4.7ppm.

That is 0.06 ounces (pure bleach) in 12800 ounces of water (100 gallons) giving a concentration of 0.0000046875. When multiplied by 1,000,000 it gives 4.6875 ppm.

[Golden_HVAC]

What I would suggest is drain the water heater, then run the pump to fill it, and all the hot water lines. Then fill the cold water lines again. Let it sit for another hour.

This will effectively kill any remaining bacteria. Right now, the water heater tank and hot water lines only has a diluted bleach solution.

Then drain the water tank again, and fill with fresh water. Pump it through some of the lines again. Then drain the water heater again, and drain the fresh water tank. Then fill it with clear water into all the lines. Hopefully it will not smell like bleach.

I only used 1 ounce of bleach - add it to the fresh water hose, then fill the 100 gallon tank. This gives about 15 PPM clorine in the water.

Fred.

[lanerd]

A little hint here... when you use bleach to sanitize, pour the bleach into your white hose and then connect to the faucet. This will sanitize the hose also. Works great.

Ron

[gbopp]

Sanitize RV Water System

[scarpi]

I appreciate the info. Thanks all.

[Bobbo]

My Winnebago manual calls for 1/4 cup bleach for each 15 gallons of water capacity left to sit for 4 hours. It goes on to say if you use 1/2 cup bleach instead, you can let it sit for only 1 hour, but I believe in duration of exposure so I use the 4 hour recipe.

[korbe]

My recipe calls for multiplying the tank size in gallons by 0.13. This number is the amount of ounces of bleach to use for a minimum 4-hour soak.

[tkcas01]

My manual says 4 hours and .13 oz per gallon. For you that would be just over 3oz.

Also, you are also supposed to sanitize the lines by running water at the faucets until you smell bleach, then letting is sit.