Fresh Water Tank Cleaning

[lizzymit]

What are the recommended steps to keep a fresh water tank clean and fresh. We go to lots of different rv parks and systems and want to make sure the tank is free of algae and other bacteria? I have heard to fill it up and add bleach, but I don't real know. Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

 

[newbie]

I have read a 1/4 cup bleach (diluted in 1 gallon of water) per 15 gallons in your tank. Let it sit for 30 minutes (24 hours is even better). I rinse and drain several times to get rid of the bleachy smell.

John

 

[Hastey]

I am leaving in the morning heading for the home. I just put a twenty oz mt dew bottle of plain bleach in 3/4 full tank. DW and I will use tonight out of the tank and drive tomorrow sloshing it around good. when we get close to the KOA i will drain it and refill at the camp ground. Has worked great in the past.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Bleach works the best. Run it thru all your water lines then drain and add fresh water to the tank. Flush all the line with fresh water again.

PS a little bleach in the tank all the time wont hurt you or the tank.

 

[Hastey]

I am leaving in the morning heading for the home. I just put a twenty oz mt dew bottle of plain bleach in 3/4 full tank. DW and I will use tonight out of the tank and drive tomorrow sloshing it around good. when we get close to the KOA i will drain it and refill at the camp ground. Has worked great in the past.

It was 16 oz water bottle that I used. It worked great and the water tastes great. (after you drain and refill).

 

[klindgren]

Bleach works the best. Run it thru all your water lines then drain and add fresh water to the tank. Flush all the line with fresh water again.

PS a little bleach in the tank all the time wont hurt you or the tank.

Bob, I've heard about flushing the tank and lines with bleach (this is what I do) but I've never heard anyone say to put bleach in all the time. When you say "a little bleach in the tank all the time" how much are you talking about? A tablespoon or two or more?

Keith

 

[lwmcguir]

We added about 15 mls or 1/2 ounce of houshold bleach (5.25% bleach) this is about 2 ppm chlorine in 100 gallons of fresh water and should be more than enough. Most of the glue joints in pvc wont stand up long term with high levels of chlorine however the demand in the gray / black water usually consumes the chlorine quickly unless you have a new rig, then use the bleach sparingly. Have recently switched to hydrogen peroxide. Don't like the bleach tast even after rinsing the lines.

 

[lorax]

The H2 O2 sound like it would taste a whole lot better. How much do you use and do you have any idea how effective it is in a water system? H2 O2 goes off fast as it encounters things to oxidize. I like the idea.

 

[lwmcguir]

I use a 16 ounce bottle and just dump the it in a 3/4+ tank (s) of water. Measured it one time using Chemmetrics ampules. We had over 10 ppm active after sloshing around. Many hospitals use Peroxide as well for a disinfectant wipe down. Most large Muni NSF RO's systems either use Paracetic acid or Hydrogen Peroxide. Not as hard on the membranes or SS and still kills all the microbes. When using a lot of chlorine in a water system you can do a lot of damage to may things. Several folks have ruined their SS sinks. Since it is just hydrogen and oxygen in a 3% solution it is a safe effective disinfectant. We live in a community that don't chlorinate the well water so we really notice the chlorine taste and don't like it at all. It isnt good for you either but neither are microbes. We use a UV light system for steriziation of our supply water and the houshold RO water. The reason chlorine is a popular disinfectant is that it is cheap, works and easy to test for.