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Old 03-21-2020, 04:21 PM   #15
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...Once you have sanitized your RV fresh water system for the season do you leave water in the lines and tanks between trips (30-60 days) or do you drain all lines and tanks?...
When you leave your sticks & bricks house for a vacation, do you drain the water lines? When you return, do you sanitize?

After I de-winterize and flush the lines I will sanitize the system once. Then I'll leave the system with water in the lines and a full tank of fresh water.
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Old 03-21-2020, 04:33 PM   #16
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Sticks&Bricks is on city water and it does not rock and roll down the street nor is it connected to wells at different times and places. When I get home, I do run the water to clear the system.
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Old 03-21-2020, 05:09 PM   #17
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Sticks&Bricks is on city water and it does not rock and roll down the street nor is it connected to wells at different times and places. When I get home, I do run the water to clear the system.
You must not realize that a huge number of people get their drinking water from private residential wells. We have lived here for about 20 years, and our well is tested regularly and always comes back with a clean test.

If it makes someone feel better about their water system to drain it, then by all means do so. My point was that it's not really necessary, especially for only a month or two.

When filling the freshwater tank on the road, I always take whatever steps I can to ensure that the water is safe to drink. Usually I ask when I check in at the campground, and they will point to their health department certificate or some other similar document. Only once have I been told of unsafe water, and that was because their system had been worked on and the health department issued a boil-water warning until the tests came back clean. If I have any reason to question the water, I won't connect to it. Asking full-time or long-term campers at the campground is also a good source for information about the water.

The conversation about well water vs. city water has been hashed out so many times that one could probably fill a book with all the threads. My guess is that there are as many problems with city water as with well water, maybe even more since city water problems affect huge numbers of homes and well water problems usually affect one (or very few).
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Old 03-21-2020, 06:13 PM   #18
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We used to live near Flint, Mi. Anyone want to discuss about how safe city water is??
https://www.nrdc.org/flint
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Old 03-21-2020, 06:49 PM   #19
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When the moho is going to sit for a while, I add 12 ml of regular bleach (not gelled or scented etc.) to our 60 gallon water tank and fill it, and then run the faucets for a minute to pump it through the system. That's not enough Cl2 to worry about consuming, but enough to keep the water disinfected.





I was a certified California State Water Treatment Plant Operator III and Wastewater plant Operator V for 25 years or so.
I only recently learned the difference. We'd been having a funky odor in the basement. Turns out we had been using "low splash" bleach in the washer for awhile. A couple of tub clean cycles with real bleach resolved it.
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Old 03-21-2020, 07:01 PM   #20
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When I stop to dump the tanks nn the way home from a trip I also open the fresh water drain, and sanitize at least once a year with bleach. I'll sanitize again during summer months if the water starts to taste funny.

I think many of the people who claim that they never sanitize their FW tank also never drink from it or use it to make coffee/tea/etc.
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Old 03-21-2020, 07:33 PM   #21
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.

I think many of the people who claim that they never sanitize their FW tank also never drink from it or use it to make coffee/tea/etc.

That's a big assumption there. As full timers, we usually have FHU's except during christmas tree sales every Nov/Dec. During this time we use our fresh water tank for everything including drinking and coffee and we have never sanitized our tank yet. But like you, we do leave the drain valve open when traveling inorder to get the most water/weight out of the tank during the 11 months it's not being used.
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Old 03-21-2020, 07:43 PM   #22
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I disinfect each spring. I try to use or empty tank each month to six weeks. If MH sits for a month I drain the water when I get home and refill when leaving on the next trip. Better safe than sorry.
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Old 03-21-2020, 08:19 PM   #23
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That's a big assumption there....But like you, we do leave the drain valve open when traveling inorder to get the most water/weight out of the tank during the 11 months it's not being used.

We also drink from the freshwater tank. It's over 45 years old but still clean and safe.


Be careful leaving the drain valve open unless you have a screen over it - far too easy for critters & creepy crawlers to find their way into the freshwater system that way.
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Old 03-21-2020, 09:49 PM   #24
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I think many of the people who claim that they never sanitize their FW tank also never drink from it or use it to make coffee/tea/etc.
Nope, not here. We're usually hooked to outside water but when not, we drink, make coffee, and cook with what's in the tank. Our present MH is 17 years old and I've sanitized once that I can remember, about 3 years ago. Don't remember why,, maybe I was bored that day.
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Old 03-22-2020, 10:44 AM   #25
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Being up here in Canada, just across the border from the great northwest, it gets moist in the fall and winter. I theorize that any water left in my tank over the winter 'could' grow mildew or some sort of mould as we experience everywhere around us on the exterior. It's evident on the rooftops, trees, house sidings, it's everywhere. I'm guessing if I were in a dryer, warmer climate the remaining water in my system might evaporate not causing any mould or bacteria to feed off of. I try and not worry about it too much. I bleach the system in the beginning of the year before camping starts. Been doing the same for 15 years.
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Old 03-22-2020, 11:04 AM   #26
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If really worried an 1/8 teaspoon of 8.25% beach(1/4 teaspoon if 6%) per gallon of water let sit for at least 30 minutes. then run it through a good carbon filter to remove the chlorine taste.
All of our drinking water goes through a Berkey water purifying filter.
From the CDC.Disinfect water using household bleach, if you can’t boil water. Only use regular, unscented chlorine bleach products that are suitable for disinfection and sanitization as indicated on the label. The label may say that the active ingredient contains 6 or 8.25% of sodium hypochlorite. Do not use scented, color safe, or bleaches with added cleaners.If water is cloudy, let it settle and filter it through a clean cloth, paper towel, or coffee filter.
    • Locate a clean dropper from your medicine cabinet or emergency supply kit.
    • Locate a fresh liquid chlorine bleach or liquid chlorine bleach that is stored at room temperatures for less than one year.
    • Double the amount of bleach if the water is cloudy, colored, or very cold.
    • Stir and let stand for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesn’t, repeat the dosage and let stand for another 15 minutes before use.
    • If the chlorine taste is too strong, pour the water from one clean container to another and let it stand for a few hours before use.

Here's the amount of bleach to add. Sorry, can't get spaces to get good columns. Info is from https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and...drinking-water

Volume of Water Amount of 6% Bleach to Add* Amount of 8.25% Bleach to Add*
1 quart/liter 2 drops 2 drops
1 gallon 8 drops 6 drops
2 gallons 16 drops (1/4 tsp) 12 drops (1/8 teaspoon)
4 gallons 1/3 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon
8 gallons 2/3 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon
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Old 03-22-2020, 11:09 AM   #27
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Just a perspective question for this thread.

We're talking about water left for some time in our RVs. Does anyone do anything for the water system i their S&B while gone RVing? How much and what is really different?

Just saying...
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Old 03-22-2020, 12:37 PM   #28
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We used to live near Flint, Mi. Anyone want to discuss about how safe city water is??
https://www.nrdc.org/flint
Lead contamination is a whole different matter. A little bleach will not have any impact on lead content.
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