water in FW tank?

[Terry R.]

We are getting our Casita all prepped and ready to go for the summer, but our first trip won't be for about 3 weeks. We have gotten the water system all sanitized, by doing the bleach and water thing, and now have a little vinegar and water in the system to take out the bleach taste. We are draining that out today and putting fresh filtered water in today.

My question is, do most people leave their tank with water in it while it is clean and waiting, or do they empty it and let it sit? Do you remove and drain the water from the hot water tank? Why or why not, do you do what you do? We have the sanitizing and prepping down, it is the in between use thing I am curious about. Thanks, terry r.

[Hambone]

We usually travel with hot water tank empty so that is empty in storage, and fresh water usually is pretty low. Before a trip will flush fresh water at home then fill a little for trip and fill both at destination. Just what I do no real reasoning.

[KevinPete]

Tap water can be stored in a sanitized, sealed container for a long time, supposed to change it out at 6 months but I think you could go close to a year without any problem. A couple weeks shouldn't be a problem, especially if you sanitized the tank prior. After the first trip, if it was going to sit for weeks I'd drain it, but that's just me. As for hot water, I don't have any so I can't speak to that.

Most water companies now use chloramine to treat water. It is chlorine bonded to ammonia, and stays in solution, unlike plain chlorine. So it will retain its properties much longer. Chloramine can be removed by RO or a very good carbon filter, or it can be neutralized by adding ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Of course, if you have a well the water is untreated, unless you have a chlorinator on the well head or a UV system in the house.

[Jared J]

I just put in 4" waterproof deck hatches in my fresh water tanks. Now I can rag out the tanks, and leave them open for a few days to dry. I'm also going to put a drain valve in the lower hose for the hot water heater. A little water will sit in there, but I'm not worried about that.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Typically I drain and sanitize the fresh water tank once a year. I keep the tank full. All water going into the tank from all sources is filtered.
When camping if there's a dump station I dump the gray water tank and refill the fresh water tank on the way out. My trailer never sits more than 3 months without use so the water gets used and replaced often.