Water System and multi-month storage

[dsmith3]

Greetings -

We are back from two-week Wyoming vacation and have cleaned up the travel trailer and will be putting it back into storage until later in the Fall.

QUESTION: Do folks do anything special to water system (including hot water heater) if RV will be stored for several months? I am concerned about bacteria, slime, algae.

For example, drain hot water heater, blow out any residual water using air pressure, etc. Will we need to sanitize in Oct/Nov when we use it again to ensure no algae formed in water line after sitting for several months?

All articles I've found relating to sanitizing water system relate to de-winterizing in spring.

Many thanks,
Dave

[RJsfishin]

For crying out loud people, we KNOW that draining doesn't work !!!!
Like RJ says, KEEP IT Full !!! I been preaching that for years !
The problem is when you drain it, it does not drain dry. Nothing worse than a little water standing, it'll turn green in a short time.

The very first thing I do when I get home is fill the FWT to the very tip top.

[RJCorazza]

Just to throw it out there... Other than in winter, I keep my water full with 2-4ppm chlorinated water. I drain and refill if not used every 30 days or so.

[dsmith3]

Thank you for all the replies. Appreciate it!

-Dave

[weathershak]

To answer your questions, Yes. Drain everything out. When you get ready to use it again, do the same procedure you did when you de winterize.

[azrving]

I'm on well water at home and often use use well water as we travel for the winter. So, even while the FW is parked for the summer I fire up the water heater and run water through everything every 2 weeks. If I were to let it sit all summer I would drain the water heater and use air pressure to blow everything out. It's not critical to get everything out like in the winter. Then I would bleach it when ready to use again.

I have had too hard of a time getting rid of the funky smell from water heaters that sat with water in them. My FW sat for a couple years before I bought it and the water heater was empty but it was still terrible and had to have 2 vinegar treatments. Previous owner was on a well also so it may have had a lot of scale build up in it.

[midnightsadie]

I empty mine each trip over a two week not in use time,