Water safety for those who don’t winterize
How do you keep your fresh water/water heater sanitary if you don’t winterize? We use our trailer through the winter, but it will still sit a month or two at a time. I just keep the heat running if...
Forum Discussion
I had a friend who was very sick and had a long hospitalization due to Legionella. Although that did not happen from RV water, it does point out the need for caution. Bacterial contamination such as pink slime from Pseudomonas is more likely. I have no idea how often you need to treat an RV water system. I have never seen any documentation, just recommendations which seem to be based on personal opinion.
Certainly sanitizing should be done after the RV has been sitting in storage for weeks or months. Personally I use about 1 month as a guideline for sanitizing. Even in use, I like to re-sanitize once or twice a year. Bleach is cheap. It only takes 1/4 cup per 15 gallons of water and a soak time of an hour or so. The nuisance is flushing out the system. Don't forget the hot water system including the water heater.
BTW, I doubt draining the water system is going to do any good for preventing bacterial growth. In fact I think draining the tank will increase the risk. The water lines and tank will always contain some residual water that will quickly lose the chlorine and grow nasty stuff.
Certainly sanitizing should be done after the RV has been sitting in storage for weeks or months. Personally I use about 1 month as a guideline for sanitizing. Even in use, I like to re-sanitize once or twice a year. Bleach is cheap. It only takes 1/4 cup per 15 gallons of water and a soak time of an hour or so. The nuisance is flushing out the system. Don't forget the hot water system including the water heater.
BTW, I doubt draining the water system is going to do any good for preventing bacterial growth. In fact I think draining the tank will increase the risk. The water lines and tank will always contain some residual water that will quickly lose the chlorine and grow nasty stuff.
