How to keep freshwater tank fresh? And towing with a full tank?

[John in Kansas]

Hi everyone!


We got our new Casita Freedom Standard 17' in December and as the weather is warming up, we can finally use the plumbing system in it. (That system mainly feeds the kitchen sink; we don't have a bathroom.)


We are going to a campsite without good water available. (Water is available, but it is "boil before drinking", so...) So I am thinking we would fill up our 16-gallon fresh water tank before leaving home. We'll be there about 5 days.


My questions:


1) Is it OK to tow the camper with the fresh water tank full? Or even partially full? I imagine if it is partially full it could cause sway due to sloshing, unless it has internal baffles.


2) How do you keep the fresh water tank from getting moldy/yucky over the course of a camping season? Should I empty it completely after we get back home? I just don't want it to get nasty and taste bad or be unhealthy for our next trip.


Thanks!

[AlekP]

Yes it is ok to tow while full. It adds a bit of weight so you can feel that the characteristics of the camper are a bit different if pay close attention. I have the 25Gal and can definitely feel it a bit when I tow completely full (half ton truck). It is a big plastic cube, there is no baffles in it. Yours would add 133 lbs full.

I sanitize the tank and the lines with bleach every spring, and I drain after every trip that I use it. I also am using lightly chlorinated water from a Communal well, so that probably helps a tiny bit, but you could re-sanitize again later in the year if you felt it was needed. I'm in the upper midwest though so my camping window typically runs April to October at the latest for water system use.

[Jon in AZ]

We don't use our onboard water tank, but I like the idea of adding a 6" marine deck hatch to the top. It allows you to get your arm inside to do a thorough cleaning and disinfection, and it also lets you get it completely dry between trips.

Here's a photo borrowed from another thread...

[John in Kansas]

Originally Posted by AlekP

Yes it is ok to tow while full. It adds a bit of weight so you can feel that the characteristics of the camper are a bit different if pay close attention. I have the 25Gal and can definitely feel it a bit when I tow completely full (half ton truck). It is a big plastic cube, there is no baffles in it. Yours would add 133 lbs full.

Thank you, this is helpful! I assume it is fine to also have water in the water heater while towing?

Originally Posted by AlekP

I sanitize the tank and the lines with bleach every spring, and I drain after every trip that I use it. I also am using lightly chlorinated water from a Communal well, so that probably helps a tiny bit, but you could re-sanitize again later in the year if you felt it was needed. I'm in the upper midwest though so my camping window typically runs April to October at the latest for water system use.

Do you use the Casita procedure? (Diluted bleach, let it sit for 3 hours, etc?) Or how do you do that?


I've also seen gray/blackwater tank conditioning products, but they seem to be more for the blackwater tanks. I guess some people leave a bit of water in the gray water tanks between trips?


Thanks again!

[AlekP]

Originally Posted by John in Kansas

Thank you, this is helpful! I assume it is fine to also have water in the water heater while towing?

Yes. Long term you might see a little more scale, but I don't empty our water heater between uses, just at the end of the season and flush water through it at the start of each trip.

Originally Posted by John in Kansas

Do you use the Casita procedure? (Diluted bleach, let it sit for 3 hours, etc?) Or how do you do that?

Yep, just regular un-scented standard bleach, I use 1oz of bleach for every 8 gallons of water (we have the 25 gal version, so 3oz). I mix the bleach with water in a jug before adding it to the tank, then fill the tank the rest of the way to mix it up well. Run each tap on the pump until it smells like bleach, then let it sit. I do a 12hr soak, then drain, refill, flush pipes, drain and leave empty til I need it.

Originally Posted by John in Kansas

I've also seen gray/blackwater tank conditioning products, but they seem to be more for the blackwater tanks. I guess some people leave a bit of water in the gray water tanks between trips?

Thanks again!

If you're talking about holding tank treatments, that's a bit of a separate topic as then you're managing waste. After dumping at the end of a trip, I use a jug to add a little water back to each tank so they don't completely dry out and dry anything onto the interior surfaces. I have Happy Camper treatment right now, but I've heard good things about 'Liquified' so that's next to try once this tub runs out.

[Markcl]

We have had smelly water from heater so we drain it if not used soon

[Madelinecap]

Smelly hot water means you need to change your anode rod

[StevenMaria]

Is there a recommended way to drain the tank w/o flooding the space between the drain and outside of heater frame?

[Madelinecap]

The drain plug is the anode. Open the air valve at the top to be sure the pressure is off(this is a Casita). Then unscrew the anode plug at the bottom. Mine just pours over the metal edge and down the outside. No water goes back in the camper. You can wipe it dry. Clean out any particles. Replace new anode plug.Camper supply store has them.

[Stacy and Shawn]

Great question and one I have just been figuring out with my new casita! There are two ways to use bleach for your freshwater system. One is using a higher concentration of bleach solution to clean your system then flush it out after about 24hrs for long term storage. The other is more what you were asking about using dilute bleach to allow for storage of water for several months in your freshwater tank. My plan is, if we aren't going to use our trailer for a month or two, to put about 3 teaspoons of unscented bleach (mine is 7%), into my 26 gallon tank. Then run the pump and run a little water through my taps. This dilute bleach in the hoses should not cause any problems with the hoses or pump. This will allow me to have 26G potable water stored at the house for emergencies. Then, before we go on our next trip, I will drain that water and replace with a half tank of fresh water. Since we are only towing with a jeep, I usually only keep our fresh water tank half full until we get close to our destination.the CDC and WHO have requires for how much bleach to add for drinking water storage btw.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by John in Kansas

Hi everyone!


We got our new Casita Freedom Standard 17' in December and as the weather is warming up, we can finally use the plumbing system in it. (That system mainly feeds the kitchen sink; we don't have a bathroom.)


We are going to a campsite without good water available. (Water is available, but it is "boil before drinking", so...) So I am thinking we would fill up our 16-gallon fresh water tank before leaving home. We'll be there about 5 days.


My questions:


1) Is it OK to tow the camper with the fresh water tank full? Or even partially full? I imagine if it is partially full it could cause sway due to sloshing, unless it has internal baffles.


2) How do you keep the fresh water tank from getting moldy/yucky over the course of a camping season? Should I empty it completely after we get back home? I just don't want it to get nasty and taste bad or be unhealthy for our next trip.


Thanks!

#1 do it all the time with my scamp. Most of my camping is where water is unavailable or iffy. I also have a couple 6 gallon jugs and then I rigged a 12 volt pump which allows me to pump from the jugs into my potable tank. I have a 12 gallon (or maybe 10 gallon) potable tank. So double the water. 26 gallon gray water tank.


Don't really tow it half full. IF I have reason to have to with water i fill it up. But once in a while I have done this and not really that much difference.


#2 that depends on where you store it. I store mine at home and actually use it from time to time as an office and other. It is also my emergency fall back for power loss etc. So I have easy access to water and can frankly dump water from sanitizing on the drive. I regularly bleach the tank and lines. But I also go enough that I usually don't need to,


As has been said I store it with the tank empty and then run some water without bleach through it every time I go out

[John in Santa Cruz]

We periodically sanitize our fresh water tank, but always bring separate drinking water, generally a 5G carboy we fill at a 'pure water' store. the fresh water tank is used for washing, showers, flushing.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by John in Kansas

Hi everyone!


We got our new Casita Freedom Standard 17' in December and as the weather is warming up, we can finally use the plumbing system in it. (That system mainly feeds the kitchen sink; we don't have a bathroom.)


We are going to a campsite without good water available. (Water is available, but it is "boil before drinking", so...) So I am thinking we would fill up our 16-gallon fresh water tank before leaving home. We'll be there about 5 days.


My questions:


1) Is it OK to tow the camper with the fresh water tank full? Or even partially full? I imagine if it is partially full it could cause sway due to sloshing, unless it has internal baffles.


2) How do you keep the fresh water tank from getting moldy/yucky over the course of a camping season? Should I empty it completely after we get back home? I just don't want it to get nasty and taste bad or be unhealthy for our next trip.


Thanks!

1) We fill our Casita Liberty trailer potable water tank as needed to reduce our tongue weight while still staying within the maximum trailer weight limit, trailer axle load limit and sway stability tongue weight/trailer weight ratio 10-15% range. We also developed these calculators to help with this:

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc...alculator.html

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc...alculator.html

2) We Winterize our Casita trailer using RV antifreeze. We feel this is a better, easier and less risky approach than blowing out the plumbing lines with air, especially since we now have a propane/electric 240VAC 6,500 Watt tankless water heater. And we always sanitize and flush our Casita trailer plumbing at start of our glamping season anyhow and then a couple additional times during our glamping season using bleach. Nevertheless, we bring bottled water and other beverages for drinking. We also dry glamp for long durations with our three cats all over North and Central America in remote places with questionable water sources. Photos and details on how we accomplish this may be found by Googling our trailer name if interested.

Best wishes and enjoy your new Casita trailer!

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Mike Magee]

My Escape's fresh tank has a drain petcock on its side, reachable underneath and close to the driver's side. Casita doesn't put one on their tanks? Curious.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

My Escape's fresh tank has a drain petcock on its side, reachable underneath and close to the driver's side. Casita doesn't put one on their tanks? Curious.

Yes, Casita trailers have a valve at the bottom of their 25 gallon potable water tanks which is located near the passenger side rear bumper. This valve can be used as both a drain port and as a pump pressurized fill port. There is also a gravity fill port at the top of tank located about midway up the backside of the trailer. We use a 12VDC pump, which is also an exact replacement and hot spare for our Casita trailer water system pressurization pump, and 6 gallon plastic jugs to fill our potable water tank when dry glamping to avoid having to lift the jugs when filling. We also put a marine pressure relief valve on the gravity fill port so as to not need to remember to open it when doing pump pressurized filling. We modified our Casita trailer to enable doing endless dry glamping so long as we can source food, water and propane.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"