Do you leave FW in tank when stored?

[Kid Gloves]

Originally Posted by Mudfrog

I never leave water in the tank when the motorhome is stored. This isn't because I'm worried about the water going bad though. It's because something can go wrong with the plumbing and make a mess, which it did a couple of years ago.

While in storage, the water pump developed a slow leak which soaked and ruined the carpet. Luckily I caught it before mold and rotting plywood ensued. Dried everything out, had carpet replaced, replaced pump, and installed a pan to direct a water leak out. Even so, there is still some unprotected plumbing that could eventually leak and make a mess.

As far as sanitizing, I've done it two or three times in 19 years. We drink the water too!

Do yourself a favor and turn the pump off when you’re away from the rig. Even for a few hours, definitely if you’re leaving it stored for a long period. Crack open a faucet to relieve pressure in the water lines. A pump running wild can set itself on fire, which could be worse than a bit of water damage.

[Mark_K5LXP]

Huh, would've figured there were more people that kept the tanks full. I fill with city water which has whatever sanitizer comes with it, which by default keeps my system sanitized for some period of time. Weeks, if not months. So basically after the springtime bleach soak and rinse, any time I can fill it's full and the only time it's not is during actual use and for winterization. When it's full there's limited airspace in the tank vented to atmosphere and plenty of sanitizer in the water to deal with what might find it's way in. Empty, you have a large airspace exposed to outside air (through the vent) and a nice humid environment. My vote is to keep it full.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[astrnmrtom]

Drain.

I used to drain, and sanitize, but that became a pain in the tank when we started going on occasional weekend trips during the winter. Seemed like I was always fighting some residual taste in the water. I stopped, and instead simply drained the tank for storage and refilled when needed. Easy peasy.

[deandec]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I'm sure the responses will be mixed. Obviously, if you need to winterize, the tank gets dumped. We live out west and I haven't emptied my water in 15 years. Every trip, about 35% - 40% of the water gets replenished. We also take our coach out about 10 times a year from long weekends to five-week trips.

In 50 years of RVing, we've never gotten sick from our tank water. Both our water and ice tastes great. We use the filter installed by the manufacturer to filter the water coming into the coach. Most of the water we drink we get from the refer door which is filtered again.

Oh yeah.....I worked in the yard yesterday and drank from the hose!!!

We operate similar to the above with two major exceptions.

1. We have only done this for about 20 years.

2. We do not travel that much any more.