Question about freshwater tank use

[SUMRX4]

I have had two TT previously. Between the two about 8 seasons of camping. I have never put a drop of water into a freshwater tank nor have I ever needed to. I have occasionally thought about if I needed to sanitize it or just leave it be. Well I just purchased a new unit and in an effort to prevent any issues I wanted to hear what others do. Do you keep a few gallons of sanitizing solution in it so it stays clean or what? I had a camping neighbor tell me once that he filled his up every time he set up camp just incase the campground lost water.

[Grit_dog]

I guess remember there’s all different types of people and while it makes no sense to most “campers” why one would not use the luxuries provided by their camper, some, somehow feel that is not desirable or in their best interest.
Some likely due to lack of understanding of the systems. Some likely due to behavioral preferences. Some likely due to not having been involved in camping at a less luxurious level in the past. IE person who lives in a city condo, never camped before, buys a RV, wants it to be just like home, hook everything up, no limitations on water usage or tank capacities etc. Wrong? Nope. Typical of most RVers? Nope either.

[bucky]

It only took once for us to put at least some water in the tank. State park water system ruptured and had to shut down for most of a day.
We always carry drinking water in jugs but need tank or city water for showering, bathroom, etc.

[Veebyes]

In something like 1900 nights on the road I don't think that we have EVER hooked up to CG water. Never used a CG shower either.

The trailer has a water tank & a pump for a reason. The tank gets filled, running the water through a softener, then the hose is put away for at least 3 or 4 days before it is needed again. The only time we get a FHU site is if the CG has nothing else but a FHU site. We can go a week without dumping if necessary.

It is plug in power & DONE most setups. A whole lot less to put away when leaving too.

The regular turnover of water is good along with a shot of water freshener at almost every fillup.

[toedtoes]

K3WE wrote:
I mostly worry about the “always/never” people…as many have said, the water tank can be useful, and there are other times where you maybe don’t need it.

I don't worry about others' choices. If they NEVER use their fresh water tank then that's great. If I ALWAYS use mine then that's great.

The only time someone else's choice concern me is when they try to force that choice on me. Or they just won't shut up about their choice and berate me for not agreeing.

[K3WE]

I mostly worry about the “always/never” people…as many have said, the water tank can be useful, and there are other times where you maybe don’t need it.

[aftermath]

To the OP, if you never use your FW tank, there is no need to sanitize it. Why would you?

But, I read in your post a subtle question being asked about our tanks. What would you do? Well, I will tell you what we do. We use our FW tank, we use our toilet, we use our hot water tank, we use our furnace, we take showers and we use our fridge, even when running down the road. I spent a good sum of money for my trailer and if I didn't want to use these features I would have purchased a tent. When it comes to water there are lots of folks out there that live in fear that they will get some kind of "disease" from their tanks. All you have to do is treat it each spring with bleach. You don't need to go out and buy special additives, you don't need to buy special rinse agents, all you need to do is add about a cup to 30 gallons (this is actually more than recommended), fill the tank, run it through the lines, faucets and shower heads and let it sit for a few hours. Drain and rinse the system. Any residual chlorine in the lines will be less than what most city systems have in the water.

As I age, I do like FHU more and more but we still travel with half a tank anyway. I am more concerned about having some kind of breakdown during a hot day than about "dirty" water. I continue to be amazed at those who purchase a very nice trailer but don't use all the features that came with it. I also wonder why people pack gallons and gallons of water to drink and make coffee when you have a built in tank that will do that for you. And, for the germaphobes out there, are you comfortable with drinking water from a campground spigot?
I know, to each his own. Always do what makes you feel comfortable. There is no right or wrong path. I am just confused as to the rationale on some of these issues.

[Gdetrailer]

Lynnmor wrote:

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I want no part of a fresh water system to be a potential source of disease, so my suggestion is to sanitize whether you use it or not. Also, after seeing and reading how other campers handle their equipment, you might want to rethink going to campground potluck dinners.

Have you ever eaten fast food, or at any chain restaurant? You really don't want to know how they handle their equipment.

At least they are inspected. Some information.

:R

Yeah, right..

I would recommend watching a few episodes of "Restaurant Impossible" and multiple the ones they have encountered by 100,000 that never would pass food inspectors minimum requirements and I would bet you will never want to eat at another restaurant ever..

For the non squeamish and those that dare, HERE is a link to Roberts top 5 worst ever filthy restaurants they have encountered..

[way2roll]

Lynnmor wrote:

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I want no part of a fresh water system to be a potential source of disease, so my suggestion is to sanitize whether you use it or not. Also, after seeing and reading how other campers handle their equipment, you might want to rethink going to campground potluck dinners.

Have you ever eaten fast food, or at any chain restaurant? You really don't want to know how they handle their equipment.

At least they are inspected. Some information.

Sure. Whatever makes you feel better.

[Lynnmor]

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I want no part of a fresh water system to be a potential source of disease, so my suggestion is to sanitize whether you use it or not. Also, after seeing and reading how other campers handle their equipment, you might want to rethink going to campground potluck dinners.

Have you ever eaten fast food, or at any chain restaurant? You really don't want to know how they handle their equipment.

At least they are inspected. Some information.

[down_home]

way2roll wrote:
OP said they don't use their FW tank and asked if should they sanitize it. Turned into 3 pages of opinions on why they should use their FW tank.

To the OP, no. If you've never used it, no need to sanitize it. If you do eventually use it, most public water sources contain enough chlorine or chloramine to take care of anything that would be harmful.

Glasses need cleaning, i guess.

[toedtoes]

Rather than bleach, I used chlorine granules like for pools and hot tubs. It only requires emptying out of the sanitizing solution - no rinsing or baking soda necessary. Any chlorine left is no more than you'd get in chlorinated tap water.

I sanitized the fresh water tanks of both my campers when I bought them. After that, I only sanitize if the water starts tasting off.

Interestly, at work, people started complaining about the horrid taste of the drinking fountain. The sink water was fine, but the drinking fountain water was disgusting. Folks kept saying they were from different sources. I told the facilities management to have the holding tank of the fountain sanitized with chlorine/bleach. They did so and the bad taste went away. Sometimes having an RV gives you knowledge that is useful.

[rk911]

dedmiston wrote:
This is an interesting discussion. I'm always surprised when I see people talk about not using systems in their RV...
Call me unsanitary, but all we've ever done is fill and drain our tanks. I've never sanitized the fresh tanks in any of our RVs. We're lucky to be four-season campers though, and we've never winterized.

same here although I did do the sanitize-with-bleach and rinse-with-baking-soda routine for a few years. we're still here 35-seasons later! hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

[dedmiston]

This is an interesting discussion. I'm always surprised when I see people talk about not using systems in their RV. "We never use the shower or toilet and just use the bath house" or now "We never plan to use our fresh tank". It's an interesting illustration of the different opinions & habits out there.

We mostly boondock, so the idea of not using the fresh water, shower, or toilet doesn't compute with me. Plus we end up using the toilet at just about every fuel/lunch stop.

So my thought when I saw "Question about freshwater tank use", my initial reaction was: "Use it."

Ironically, the only time I (or anyone I know) has ever gotten sick from their fresh water was when I was a kid and we were heading down to Baja in our TC. My dad had sanitized the tank with bleach, but he must not have flushed the lines or hadn't drained the tank as well as he thought. I was the first one to drink from the tank and got a Dixie cup of diluted bleach. We had to pull over after I barfed it up. It could have been a lot worse.

Call me unsanitary, but all we've ever done is fill and drain our tanks. I've never sanitized the fresh tanks in any of our RVs. We're lucky to be four-season campers though, and we've never winterized.

[way2roll]

Lynnmor wrote:
I want no part of a fresh water system to be a potential source of disease, so my suggestion is to sanitize whether you use it or not. Also, after seeing and reading how other campers handle their equipment, you might want to rethink going to campground potluck dinners.

Have you ever eaten fast food, or at any chain restaurant? You really don't want to know how they handle their equipment.