Cleaning fresh water tank

[Armye7]

Pj at entegra told me not to use bleach says it's bad for the aqua hot system.

[rarebear.nm]

I would expect there to be a way to bypass that system. At least I'd be adding one if its missing.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Armye7

Pj at entegra told me not to use bleach says it's bad for the aqua hot system.

What did he say to use to sanitize the water system?

[Spk64]

The AquaHot manual points you to a document that you must buy. But here is some info from an old post. 50ppm is still the magic number, just make sure you know the concentration of bleach and calculate the correct amount for your water tank.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f84/ansi-...tml#post379084

[wmpbauer]

If you regularly fill your fresh water tank from a city source, you're probably adding chlorinated water to your system.

Chlorine passing through the Aqua hot system probably won't do any harm...just don't leave it there for hours....run chlorinated water through it just before you drain and rinse.

I sanitize, and confidently drink from our fresh water system...have been for years...never sick. Maintain your system and use it with confidence.

[rarebear.nm]

Just saying here- drinking water standards is 4 ppm for chlorine in most public water systems. To sanitize a system you need to get to about 50 ppm for about 4 hours. In one case you are trying to kill micro organisms in flowing water and the other case you may be needing to kill growths of micros on surfaces. Different problems.

On the other hand I've spent years drinking water directly from western mountain streams with no illnesses. Many micros are of no real concern, some others- a very different story. To each their own...

[Ready2Travel]

Many posting here do not have a Entegra. The procedure to sanitize an Entegra (at least our 2017) is a PITA compared to most other brands. Perhaps the Aqua Hot adds to the procedure?

Our old MH had a hose bib to directly fill the fresh water tank, it was easy to put a little bleach in the opening directly into the tank, drive around a bit, drain tank, refill.

To do the Entegra is a much more complicated process. (instructions from owners manual follows) Anyone know of an easier way?


How to sanitize
1. Turn the Aqua Hot water heater OFF. Level the motor home and drain the fresh water
system (see
Draining the Fresh Water System).
2. Close all low point drains, including
the drains for hot/cold water lines behind the large
panel on the utility center (Fig. 1).
3. Turn water supply OFF to canister water filter (Fig 2). The valve is located behind
the large utility center panel. Remove the filter cartridge from the water purification
system canister (Fig. 3), re-attach the empty canister. See
Water Purification System
for additional information on removing the filters. Replace the small cartridge filter
(Fig. 3) with the (blue) bypass tube provided. Turn the water supply valve (Fig 2) ON.
Chlorine should be kept out of these filters
(water filters are located at the outside
utility center)
4. Prepare a chlorine solution using 1/4 cup of household bleach (sodium hypochlorite
solution) to one gallon (3.785 liters) of water in a container. Prepare one gallon of
solution for every 15 gallons of tank capacity. This will result in a residual chlorine
concentration of 50 ppm in the water system. If a 100 ppm concentration is required as
discussed in Step 15, use ½ cup of household bleach with one gallon of water to prepare
the chlorine solution. One gallon of the solution should be used for each 15 gallons of
tank capacity.
5. Locate the clear hose behind the large utility center panel (Fig. 4) and place the end of
the clear hose into a container holding the chlorine solution.
6. Turn the city water valve (Fig. 3) to the horizontal (fill tank) position (valve may be
black or white).
7. Turn valve A (Fig. 5) so the arm is horizontal & pointing away from the clear hose.
Turn valve B so the arm points to the left. Valves A & B are located behind the large
panel on the outside utility center.
8. Turn the water pump ON (Fig. 3). The pump switch is typically located on the tank
monitor panel at the top center of the utility center. Make sure all faucets (including the
outside shower) are OFF. Make sure all drain valves are closed.
9. The chlorine solution in the container will now be drawn into the fresh water tank.
Once all the solution has been drawn out of the container, turn the pump OFF. To aid in
siphoning place the container on a flat surface approximately 2 feet above the ground.
10. Turn valve A (Fig. 5) so it points down. Turn valve B so it points straight up.
11. Leave the city water valve in the horizontal (fill tank) position.
12. Attach a pressurized water source to the long hose (Fig. 3) on the hose reel. The short
hose (Fig. 3) coming out of the utility center should attach to the fresh water connection
inlet.
13. Turn on the pressurized water source and fill the tank with fresh water
.
14. When tank is full, shut off pressurized water source, disconnect water source from the
hose reel, press and hold the HOSE REEL REWIND switch (Fig. 3) to retract the hose
back onto the reel (release the switch when the end of the hose gets to the panel).
15. Place the city water valve to the vertical (city water) position.
16. At the cartridge filter location on the utility panel (Fig. 3), turn OFF the drinking water
valve (Fig 6). This prevents sanitizer from entering the refrigerator and the drinking
faucet at the kitchen sink (valve is shown OFF in Fig 6).
17. Bypass the Aqua Hot water heater. Sanitizer must be kept out of the Aqua Hot water
heater. Set the bypass valves to the Bypass position. (Two supply valves OFF, middle
valve ON). The 3 black valves are located with the Aqua Hot water heater. Turn the
pump switch ON.
18. Open the hot water line faucets one at a time
(kitchen, lavatory, shower and outside
shower) until water begins to flow continuously
and a chlorine smell is noticeable. Close the hot
water faucets.
NOTE: the showerhead must be
connected to the outside shower.
19. Open the cold water line faucets one at a time
(kitchen, lavatory, shower and outside shower)
until water begins to flow continuously and a
chlorine smell is noticeable. Close the cold
water faucets. When finished turn the pump OFF.
NOTE: the showerhead must be connected to
the outside shower.
20. Let the solution remain in the system for at least four hours when disinfecting with 50
PPM residual chlorine. If a shorter time period is desired, then a 100 PPM chlorine
concentration should be permitted to sit in the system for at least one hour.
21. For complete fresh water tank sanitization, driving your motor home for a short distance
will allow the sanitizing solution to splash around all sides of the tank.
22. After the required sanitization period, drain the chlorine solution from the fresh water
system (see Draining the Fresh Water System).
23. Rinse the container and the clear hose (used to pump the solution into the water system)
with fresh water.
24. Fill the fresh water tank. Verify that the city water valve is in the horizontal (fill tank)
position (Fig. 3). Short hose is attached to the fresh water connection inlet (See Fresh
Water Connections)
. Attach the long hose (on the reel) to a pressurized fresh water
source. Turn water source ON, and fill the fresh water tank until it is full (pump is not
used for this).
25. Turn water source OFF. Set the city water valve back to the vertical (city water)
position. Turn water source ON. Open all faucets (including outside shower) to flush
all the water lines with fresh water (pump is not used for this). Water heater bypass
should still be ON (to prevent water from entering the water heater).
26. Drain the fresh water system once again (see Draining the Fresh Water System).
Refill the fresh water tank with potable water once again. Turn the water heater bypass valves
to the normal position (hot & cold supply valves ON, middle valve OFF) to allow water
into the Aqua Hot water heater. Detach the outside shower hose.
Re-flush the system as necessary, and only after the water lines are flushed of the vinegar
solution, replace the water filters, turn the drinking water valve (Fig 6) back ON, and set
the Aqua Hot bypass valves back to the normal position (hot & cold supply valves ON and
middle valve OFF).

[jmcarter]

I just do it the way Entegra prescribed. Doesn't take very long after you've done it a couple of times. Filling and refilling the tank is time consuming but just set the timer on my phone to recheck and go about my business. Are there some shortcuts along the way? Sure but we have healthy intestinal systems and really like that vs the alternative.

[wmpbauer]

It always gets interesting when people begin to criticize in here. There are several ways to shorten this process for an Entegra Coach, beginning with the source and concentration of chlorine, treatment time, and effectiveness of the treatment. The process is well understood and has been effectively used by a lot of people.

Probably the most important special consideration is the contact time of chlorine in the Aqua Hot. You cannot completely sanitize your system if you avoid running chlorinated water through the Aqua Hot. On. The other hand, you don't want to leave chlorinated water inside the AH for hours...

Lots of RV parks get their water from a municipal water supply, so that adds chlorine to your system....albeit a very weak solution. Chances are, your water is fine, most times. But some parks have well water. That water has to be certified safe in most places, by some agency. You need to ask every park about their source for water. Lots of times, I won't hook up to well water, and choose to use water from my tank....that's why I always travel with a full tank...

Storing your coach however, raises risk, because things "grow" over time.

Plan on cleaning your water system after storing!