Fresh Water Tank....

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by rdickens

An article from an RV magazine recently reminded me about using white vinegar as a cleaning solution for fresh water tanks.

We have used our fresh water tank when dry camping for a week at an aviation event and at parks where there are no city water hook-ups.

After reading this discussion, I guess I will just be even more mindful about using a water filter
and about fresh water tank sanitation and maintenance.

Ray


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

You might have posted a link to the article you mentioned as white vinegar IS NOT an effective disinfectant if used in the same concentration as bleach for disinfecting. A mixture of 1 part vinegar to about 4 parts water might be needed, and even that may not kill off all pathogens.


From an article on the subject:
"So does vinegar kill germs? The exact science is a little murky. When it comes to food safety, vinegar hasn't been as thoroughly tested as chlorine bleach. Studies that find it kills germs are generally vague in terms of how much of the germs are killed and how much are left behind."

Ref: This or That: Bleach vs. Vinegar to Kill Germs | Rodale News

In short, for cleaning your coffee pot, vinegar works great,
but for disinfecting RV water tanks, stick with the bleach....

[Raz]

Why do people buy and drink water from bottles instead of from the tap?

After running into several state and NFS campgrounds with bad (failed water test) water or cloudy or smelly water, we decided to bring our own or drink bottled. I still disinfect the tank at least once in a season as we use it for dishes, washing, and cleaning teeth. Raz

[rdickens]

Sorry.
I wasn't clear enough.

The article was specifically about eliminating the bad taste of water from
the fresh water tank after winterization with RV anti-freeze. The article
was from the "Mark, My Words" column of the March/April 2014 Escapees
magazine.

De-winterization is a task that will be coming up for me (and others?)
fairly soon. The article said that the "taste" may be coming from
the water tank or even from residue of the anti-freeze in your fresh
water piping.

The recommendation was:
Drain your fresh water tank. Then, for tanks of under 40 gallons, add
one gallon of plain white vinegar (Heinz apparently makes a white
"cleaning vinegar"). Use the manual or electric pump to get the
white vinegar into and through the pipes and coming out of the faucet(s).

Allow things sit overnight (or at least several hours). Then drain the
tank and fill and flush with fresh water. If the vinegar flush is done
immediately after removing/flushing the RV antifreeze, it usually
kills the taste and odor. (Credit: Escapees magazine).

In addition, it said that you might consider installing an under-sink
charcoal filter to filter out tastes and impurities.

We've now purchased an external filter (Camco - although there may
be better?) that we will use to filter the water going into our city water
inlet or to use on the hose that we fill the fresh water tank with when
we are camping without a city water hook-up.

Ray

[Glenn Baglo]

Some people are under the impression that vinegar is not a "chemical".
Vinegar is a liquid consisting mainly of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and water. The acetic acid is produced by the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria.[1]

Bleach is a more effective chemical.

[AbdRahim]

In-line water filter when hooked up at campground.

[Donna D.]

My ETI build is 8 months old. Dang young for a water tank. Why do I carry water outside of the tank? Because I want my COFFEE to always taste the same. I can wash my face, brush my teeth, wash dishes, flush the toilet with water from the tank, but my COFFEE should always taste as I expect. YMMV

[Harvey]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

My ETI build is 8 months old. Dang young for a water tank. Why do I carry water outside of the tank? Because I want my COFFEE to always taste the same. I can wash my face, brush my teeth, wash dishes, flush the toilet with water from the tank, but my COFFEE should always taste as I expect. YMMV

YESSSSSSSs! We use our fresh water tank for most everything in our camper but, we always carry a couple of gallons of tap water from our home for making coffee. That much reserved only for coffee making will last for several days, & if we are unable to find same/similar tasting water on the road, generic 'drinking' water from a handy Wal Mart is generally close enough that we don't notice any difference. Freshening/sanitizing a fresh water tank should be a regular item of prep for using the camper. I do it spring & fall as a regular routine. We don't 'winterize' with the RV anti freeze in our fresh water system (just empty the fresh water tank, water heater, toilet including valves, blow out the lines, etc.). I do pour some of the 'non-freezing' RV anti freeze in the holding tank(s) & 'P' traps. I also use vinegar after the bleach sanitizing to remove the chlorine taste. Easier & quicker than 'double flushing' the system...

[rdickens]

Although I originally read Mark Nemeth's fresh water system cleaning
recommendation in an Escapee magazine article, here it is again in a
Woodall's link:
"Mark, My Words"
http://www.woodalls.com/articledetai...icleID=3053305

We tried to buy the same in-line water filter that Radar1 was using
at the 2015 Scamp Camp in Sebring, Fl (Thanks, Dave/John! )
TastePURE KDF/Carbon Water Filter
TastePURE KDF/Carbon Water Filter - Camco 40043 - Water Filtration - Camping World
http://www.amazon.com/Camco-40043-Ta...87S/ref=sr_1_1

Information on the "cleaning strength" white vinegar can be found
at these links:
Heinz® All Natural Cleaning Vinegar
Cleaning Vinegar from Heinz® Vinegars
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Heinz-Clea...1-gal/21570071

If I feel that more "sanitization" is needed, after cleaning out the RV
anti-freeze residue, I guess I can use bleach in a separate step.

We did take some water from home to use en route and for the initial
pots of coffee at Scamp Camp, but we ran out by mid-week. If the
Camco inline filter doesn't do a good enough job, I guess we too can
try using a Brita or PUR charcoal filtered pitcher and double filter.

I don't like bad tasting water or water that tastes like bleach or vinegar.
It might be nice to avoid the RV anti-freeze by blowing lines out with air,
but I have a 12v demand pump in the line between the fresh water
tank and the faucet and I don't really know how to easily blow out all
of those fresh water and city water lines with air.

Aside from the subjective taste/smell tests, is there anything else
that veteran travelers use to "test" campground water?

Ray

[BatDude]

Relative Newbies with our Scamp.

We have been on the road for nearly 60 days at this point.

We tried the Brita and results were very disappointing.

Seemed to not do a thing for taste of the water at one RV park.
Many campers on the road suggested the Walmart brand external filter on the input freshwater line. Comes in packs of 2.

We do continue to have a plastic taste in our new Scamp even with filtering. Assuming the flex plastic tubing may be responsible for that.

Since the plasticizers and Bisphenol A (BPA) in can linings are implicated in all sorts of health issues I need to re-think what we should do.
Re plumbing with PVC likely is not good as it is not flexible and may crack while traveling and not easy to repair/replace.

[Darral T.]

Why do we carry bottled water to drink AND make coffee from? If you've seen some of the stuff that comes out of the faucets I've turned on at some of the campgrounds, you wouldnt trust your simple charcoal filter either to drink from!

Maybe the bottle water AINT no better, but it looks good and clear (and it makes my coffee taste the same: 'DonnaD') and gives me peace of mind. That's all I need.

[Bob Miller]

To get rid of the bad taste sometimes found with new RV plumbing I rinse out the entire system with a solution of 1 cup bleach to 10 gallons of fresh water, followed by a through fresh water rinse. I do this every time I install new plumbing of any kind in an RV. Works for moi.

[Carol H]

I use the water tanks in my trailer for showers, dish washing and toilet, but I don't use it for drinking water.

When on the road you are going to find water quality varies greatly from location to location. Some of it may be from private wells and in that case you have no way on knowing when the the last time the water was actually tested. In some cases it will smell and look bad right off the bat making it very unappealing for drinking. I once took on water that looked and smelled ok when filling the tank & I didn't drain it out completely once home as I was leaving in a couple of days again. The weather was hot at the time and when I first turned on the tap I was very sorry I did not drain and flush out the tank, due to the high sulphur content of the water.

I start out trips with water from home in large milk jugs that I freeze and use as ice blocks in my drink cooler and then use for drinking water once they melt. When on the road I will refill those jugs at places I believe the water to be safe, although to be honest who really knows but so far its a system that has worked for me. Its not a big problem to carry my drinking water separate as the quantity of drinking water I go through is far less than the quantity of wash water I use daily.

[Mary F]

Also, I find it easier to fill the tea kettle from a jug than pumping it from the fresh water tank. Saves the battery for pumping water to my shower.

I carry a plastic milk crate with four one-gallon jugs of drinking water. It travels in the shower floor of our Casita, along with the small basket containing our water hoses and (water) pressure regulator.

[MRClaus]

Originally Posted by BatDude

Relative Newbies with our Scamp.

We have been on the road for nearly 60 days at this point.

We tried the Brita and results were very disappointing.

Seemed to not do a thing for taste of the water at one RV park.
Many campers on the road suggested the Walmart brand external filter on the input freshwater line. Comes in packs of 2.

We do continue to have a plastic taste in our new Scamp even with filtering. Assuming the flex plastic tubing may be responsible for that.

Since the plasticizers and Bisphenol A (BPA) in can linings are implicated in all sorts of health issues I need to re-think what we should do.
Re plumbing with PVC likely is not good as it is not flexible and may crack while traveling and not easy to repair/replace.

what type of hose are using they make special hose so you not not get the taste and they do make flexable water pipe too

[padlin00]

Originally Posted by global2edg

When I sterilized the lines, I did not close the water heater off. Is that the correct procedure?

That is what I've always done. I pour a 3 gallon bucket of water mixed with 1/4C of bleach per 15 gallons of water into the fresh tank. Fill the tank up with the hose, run all the faucets and the toilet till you get the bleached water through, I go by smell. Let it sit for 3 or more hours, flush it out a few times, including pulling the plug on the HW tank, running the faucets each time till I can't smell the bleach any more.
I do it at opening in the spring and again for the fall season.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I use the water tanks in my trailer for showers, dish washing and toilet, but I don't use it for drinking water.

When on the road you are going to find water quality varies greatly from location to location. Some of it may be from private wells and in that case you have no way on knowing when the the last time the water was actually tested. In some cases it will smell and look bad right off the bat making it very unappealing for drinking. I once took on water that looked and smelled ok when filling the tank & I didn't drain it out completely once home as I was leaving in a couple of days again. The weather was hot at the time and when I first turned on the tap I was very sorry I did not drain and flush out the tank, due to the high sulphur content of the water.

I start out trips with water from home in large milk jugs that I freeze and use as ice blocks in my drink cooler and then use for drinking water once they melt. When on the road I will refill those jugs at places I believe the water to be safe, although to be honest who really knows but so far its a system that has worked for me. Its not a big problem to carry my drinking water separate as the quantity of drinking water I go through is far less than the quantity of wash water I use daily.

A friend of ours owns a campgrounds in our area and he told me that they are required by law to have their well tested annually by law.
The test is to insure the water meets health standards and not for taste. Also there are different standards for commercial wells than residential wells such as minimum depth ,flow rate, filtering,etc etc. I am not sure if this is standard across all 50 States
but it should. be. IMHO .

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

To get rid of the bad taste sometimes found with new RV plumbing I rinse out the entire system with a solution of 1 cup of bleach to 10 gallons of fresh water, followed by a through fresh water rinse. I do this every time I install new plumbing of any kind in an RV. Works for moi.

Sorry, I originally wrote 1 part bleach when it should have said 1 cup of bleach to 10 gallons of water

Here's a reference from a good source, see item #2.

https://www.clorox.com/dr-laundry/bl...g-water-tanks/

[RogerDat]

We use a plastic 5 or 6 gallon thermal jug for drinking water, you know the orange kind you see used by construction and road crews. Mostly because we like ice water and the hard white plastic liner does impart less (like none) of a plastic taste or aroma to the water. We also like being able to open it and scoop some ice out with a cup, some beverages are simply better with a little ice in them.

Water tanks are certainly good in terms of sanitary, they are not porous so they don't hold bacteria if rinsed and maintained BUT in order to store 12 gallons of water in a flat bottom, square tank it does have to be more flexible to avoid stress cracking. I think that flexible type of plastic is a bit more prone to taste transfer. Would certainly not hesitate to drink it but don't mind having the extra jug in the car as "first choice" for drinking water.