Confusion on cleaning rv water lines and tank only

[Eliasg]

Hello all,
I have been looking everywhere for an answer but am only more confused. I have an old 30 foot cougar and we have never used the water tank nor plan on it as we are hooked up to fresh city water.
My question is I would like to hook my winterizing pump to the water supply and "inject" a cleaning solution to the heater tank and water lines only and leave it sit for a bit and then rinse.
The only answer I could find is using bleach in the water storage tank and running the pump to run the bleached water into the lines.

I have never used the water storage tank and would hate to run whatever is in there into the lines.

Is there a mixture ammount of a cleaning product I could use in a 5gallon container of water to inject into the lines and heater tank and not bother with the storage tank?

I hope that made sense .

Thanks for putting up with the long read,
Gary

[bdpreece]

Your water heater is either a six or ten gallon tank and is probably better cleaned by removing the drain plug and spraying it with a cleaning wand attached to a hose these are available at most any RV store. As far as cleaning/disinfecting the lines I would probably go with a redneck idea of getting a long hose climbing a ladder and pouring bleach into it then hooking up to a faucit and slowly adding water until it comes out each faucit. You should have some valves or a hose connection to bypass the water heater first.

[Eliasg]

So a bleach water mixture in the water heater is not a good thing to clean it with ? Will it damage it?

Thanks,
Gary

[richard5933]

Is there something wrong with the water tank that causes you not to want to use it? Easiest way to do this is to fill the water tank with bleach/water mixture and then circulate it throughout the entire system, including the water heater (turned off).

Run water until you smell the bleach water at all fixtures. Let it sit for specified length of time (I go a couple of hours here). Then drain fresh water tank, refill with clear water, and flush all the lines/fixtures till no more bleach smell.

If there is something wrong with the fresh water tank, then do it like you would if you were winterizing. Disconnect the line from the input side of the water pump. Connect a temporary tube from the input of the pump to a container holding your bleach/water mixture. Pump it through and continue like above.

[Bigd9]

You can also disconnect the city water supply hose, pour a bleach solution into the hose and than reconnect the hose. The city water will push the bleach into the hot water tank as you tun on the hot water faucet.

But like others I'm wondering why? I have a 20 year old water heater at home that has never been sanitized.

[Dropthejacks]

What makes you think you need to clean the water lines and water heater in the first place? I can understand pulling the plug or anode rod out of the water heater to flush out sediment occasionally, but unless water is just sitting stagnant in your lines for months, there shouldn't be a problem.

[Eliasg]

I guess I'm being hyper critical because we have been getting a very strong rotten egg smell starting to come from the water recently.

When I winterized this past season, I drained the water heater and left the plug/anode rod completely out and forgot to put it back in until this seasons start up. I bought a new one and will drain and use the new one.

I am like the 4th owner of the RV and I was told the freshwater tank had only been used a few times in the past and had never been cleaned or sanitized, so I really didn't want to introduce any gunk from the tank into the lines since we are hooked to city water and that's all we have ever used and plan to use.

So if I use the winterizing pump to pump a five gallon container of water and bleach into the lines, what would be a safe mixture amount for each 5 gallon shot.

Sometimes I overthink a problem and add more work to what's needed, that's why I'm asking the folks on here that would know and have experience.

Thanks for the quick responses !
Gary

[hondavalk]

!/4 cup bleach for every 15 gallons of water

[Gary RVRoamer]

The rotten egg smell is a sure sign the lines, including the heater tank, need sanitizing, so you are on the right track. Merely flushing the heater tank won't kill the organisms that cause the smell. You need to sanitize every bit of the system or the smell will return in a few days or weeks. You can use a bleach (chlorine) solution or a vinegar solution, but it has to ge into every part of the system.

There is no solid reason not to add the bleach solution to your water tank and pump it through the system as many articles describe. Then drain it when done. It doesn't make any difference if you have no other use for the fresh tank and pump - it still feeds the entire water system. However, others have suggested ways to get a bleach solution in via the city inlet and that works too.

I'll add another way of getting bleach in via the city inlet, but it involves making a simple tool. Get a moderate size submersible pump, e.g. a 12v bilge pump or 120v fountain pump, and fit it with a hose that terminates with a standard garden hose male fitting. Connect the hose to the city inlet and drop the pump in a bucket containing the bleach solution so that it pumps the solution into the RV.

Here's an inexpensive submersible pump that should do the job.

https://www.amazon.com/Jhua-Submersi...dp/B07CZL6V3Q/

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi Gary! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Noticed you are kinda new on IRV2 and wanted to say hello!

I can't add to what others have suggested.

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[richard5933]

Rotten egg smell can also due to a failing anode in the water heater (if it has an anode) or due to water with a high sulfur content.

[Dom]

We bought a four year old MH and had a similar smell. As the previous owners lived on a farm, I suspect they were using well water. After letting small amount of bleach/water solution sit in all the water lines overnight, all we could smell was bleach. A thorough rinse and repeat and all is good. I drain fresh water tank every time we come back.

[richard5933]

Water with a sulfur smell is not limited to well water. Some of the worst smelling/tasting water I've experienced were drawn from a municipal supply.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Is there something wrong with the water tank that causes you not to want to use it? Easiest way to do this is to fill the water tank with bleach/water mixture and then circulate it throughout the entire system, including the water heater (turned off).

Run water until you smell the bleach water at all fixtures. Let it sit for specified length of time (I go a couple of hours here). Then drain fresh water tank, refill with clear water, and flush all the lines/fixtures till no more bleach smell.

If there is something wrong with the fresh water tank, then do it like you would if you were winterizing. Disconnect the line from the input side of the water pump. Connect a temporary tube from the input of the pump to a container holding your bleach/water mixture. Pump it through and continue like above.

4 hours standing time is considered the minimum.