BoneHead move of the day

[Stonehands]

Good Morning Friends

Well, in preparation for our first camping trip in our new to us 2004 Fleetwood Bounder 35B gas RV, I wanted to sanitize our fresh water tank. I had not done so up till now as we were busy cleaning, updating fixtures, and fixing small issues.

Last week I read the Bounder owners manual on how to Sanitize and I read it to say that for my 100 gallon fresh water tank, I needed 2 gallons of bleach. So I diluted it in a couple of 5 gallon pails of water, put it in and then topped off the tank. Ran water through each fixture for a few seconds to get out air and to be sure all lines were sanitized.

BOY where they sanitized!!!!!!! Instead of using the correct amount of 1.75 cups of bleach for my 100 gallon tank,,,,, I used 1.75 gallons of bleach. Well you can guess that after flushing the tank and running the water through the lines and fixtures 2 times prior to our trip, the smell of chlorine was still pretty strong. We were only going out for a couple of days for our first run and where we stayed had showers and we took plenty gallon water for everything we needed.

I filled water tank and flushed again yesterday for a total of 3 complete changeovers of water. Smell has gotten much better but still smells of chlorine.

I will continue to flush the system, but does anyone have any other suggestions for any addictive to add to the tank to help the residual smell of the water.

My wife shook her head and just laughed and said,,, Duh!!!

[Jyrocharlie]

Did you drain the hot water heater by removing it's plug?

[kvm1970]

It happens to the best of us

[PAtrailtrim]

I would do another rinse or two, but if you want to speed things up...

https://sciencing.com/bleach-neutralizers-6658259.html

[cavie]

fill and drain the tank a few times then do the lines with city water. Much faster.

[Oldmso54]

Your wife sounds like my wife!

I'll bet she was shaking her head too while she said it -

[153stars]

Asorbic acid neutralizes chlorine so some cheap lemon juice might help. I've seen it for couple bucks a bottle for the cleaning kind.

[Bahamaniac]

Chlorine will dissipate over time. Flush the system and drink bottled water for a while. Don't chase a mistake with something else you don't want in your system. If you use anything besides water make sure it is food grade!

[pasdad1]

I have read that 2 cups of white vinegar per 100 gallons added to fresh water tank will help get rid of chlorine smell.

[PAtrailtrim]

Originally Posted by pasdad1

I have read that 2 cups of white vinegar per 100 gallons added to fresh water tank will help get rid of chlorine smell.

Take care, vinegar and bleach will cause chlorine gas. Toxic, very irritating and not nice.

[Stonehands]

Originally Posted by Jyrocharlie

Did you drain the hot water heater by removing it's plug?

Yes I did.

Thank you

[Wayne M]

What I'd have done! Tell family and friends that I wanted to make sure they were safe and did not ingest any bacteria. Just never blame yourself.

I was wron..er.. mistaken once.

Flush and flush and flush when they are not looking.

[Stonehands]

Thank you everyone. Great suggestions. I have read about the Lemon juice as well as Apple Cider Vinegar trick.

At this point, I am going the safe route and will continue to fill and dump the tank till smell is gone. I live in the country so no big deal to do so. I had to remember to check the gray water tank as well when doing a flush. I was running the taps as well to run water through all the lines and fixtures and found the gray water tank filling up pretty quick. Would have been just my luck to overflow that and have it push up into the coach through shower drain or something. I installed a dump station for gray water in my septic tank so I am able to do some dumping. I don't overdo it however.

Thank you again everyone.

[Stonehands]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

What I'd have done! Tell family and friends that I wanted to make sure they were safe and did not ingest any bacteria. Just never blame yourself.

I was wron..er.. mistaken once.

Flush and flush and flush when they are not looking.

hahahahaha. Only my wife knows and by now, I'm sure its all over the net.