Water safety for those who don’t winterize

[rvshrinker]

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 the temperature is dropping below 35, which it does a few times a year here but not for very long.

[mobeewan]

I have gone a month in the winter between trips. I put some Camo RV Water Freshener in the tank and run some water through the water heater and water lines when I get home after a trip.

You can also use the Red Cross instructions for water purification. omiting filtering and boiling. The quantity of bleach used is for Sodium hypochlorite of the concentration of 5.25% to 6%. Todays concentration can be stronger and as high as 8.5% (concentrated bleach). Adjust accordingly. Don't forget to run it through the water heater and lines.

When the TT sits all summer I resanitize using about 1.6 ounces per 15 gallons of water when using concentrated bleach. I mostly use the trailer in winter and tent camp in spring when night time temperatures are in the 40s to low 60s.

[Bobbo]

I sanitize it every spring, and again if it sits over a month unused.

1. Use 1/4 cup of bleach per 15 gallons of tank capacity (I put the bleach in about 3 gallons of water to add it to the tank)
2. After putting in bleach, finish filling tank with fresh water
3. Drive around the block a few times to slosh bleach over all surfaces. Try to do a few hills and a few stop and gos
4. Run all faucets (both hot and cold lines), shower (both hot and cold), toilet, outside shower (both hot and cold) till you smell bleach. Don't forget that the water heater should NOT be bypassed for this as you want it sanitized too
5. Let it sit for 4 hours
6. Drain fresh water tank and water heater, fill with fresh water, rinse out all lines to get rid of the bleach. It may take another drain/fill/rinse to get out all of the bleach depending on how sensitive your nose is to the smell of the bleach.

[JimK-NY]

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.

[wildtoad]

I think many if not most RV manuals have something about doing a annual or periodic sanitizing of the entire water system with instructions on how, draining water tank when not being used for a while. My wh instructions say to drain when not in use. I’m sure there are online instructions on how and what to use.

[jfkmk]

Just sanitize the fresh water tank a couple of times a year and you should be good.

[rvshrinker]

do you do some kind of annual cleaning? do you worry about listeria?

[path1]

My city water... drain and refill once a month when exercising generator. Well water differant story. RV always ready in another house septic tank disaster or big earthquake. And 5 five gallon jugs that are not vented just for drinking.

[old_guy]

they make a rinser that goes on the end of white hose to rinse out the tank to flush out build up that settles inside tank

[sgip2000]

Nothing of concern unless you previously had contaminated water in it or didn't keep the system sealed.

[Grit_dog]

Drain the tank, refill when you're ready to go. Use a little chlorine of you think the water is smelling funky. No different than in the summer.