Community Forums

mjeffrey · 07-18-2012, 02:05 PM

We are new to full-timing and have this question about the fresh water tank; how much do you keep, if any, in the fresh water tank when you are staying put and using a city-water hookup from the rv park.

Before we sold the house and were moving the coach back and forth from storage, we always kept some water in the fresh tank. Now we occasionally go to the dealer for warranty work but that should settle down soon, we hope.

Should we empty the tank completely while we sit still in the rv park and only add some when we need to be disconnected for a few hours/days and /or finally hit the road?

Should we keep some in and flush it out / replace it occasionally?

I don't like the idea of an empty tank, but don't like the water sitting for weeks/months either, so is there a process to follow when settled in an rv park for a few months?

bdickson · 07-18-2012, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjeffrey

We are new to full-timing and have this question about the fresh water tank; how much do you keep, if any, in the fresh water tank when you are staying put and using a city-water hookup from the rv park.

Before we sold the house and were moving the coach back and forth from storage, we always kept some water in the fresh tank. Now we occasionally go to the dealer for warranty work but that should settle down soon, we hope.

Should we empty the tank completely while we sit still in the rv park and only add some when we need to be disconnected for a few hours/days and /or finally hit the road?

Should we keep some in and flush it out / replace it occasionally?

I don't like the idea of an empty tank, but don't like the water sitting for weeks/months either, so is there a process to follow when settled in an rv park for a few months?

We keep about a quarter of a tank. We camp in full hookup parks 90% of the time. The onboard water is used for toilet flushes, dish washing etc while we are on the move. We empty the tank every 3 months or so and flush it through with a cup of bleach.

Barbaraok · 07-18-2012, 08:09 PM

We keep ours about 1/2 full. Have been fulltiming 6 years. Dump it out every once in awhile and add fresh water from a city water system. Never have done the bleach shock to it, just use it and add fresh water as needed. If we are in one place for a while (like in the winter) then I dump it (makes a LARGE puddle underneath the coach) and refill about 1/2 way through our stay. Best thing for both the tank and the water pump are to use them - turn off the water every once in a while and use the water from the tank. Also, use the water/pump when in an area with low water pressure when you are taking a shower then refill tank as necessary before you leave.

Barb

jfran304 · 07-18-2012, 08:26 PM

Being retired military I believe in being prepared since you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. I keep the water tank full and drain/refill it every 2 weeks. It has come in handy a couple of times when the city water mains broke.

Jon

Dr4Film · 07-18-2012, 08:35 PM

I always keep it at least 75% full all the time except when on the road I keep it completely full. Once used, I dump the B&G tanks and refill the fresh.

There have been times while at RV parks when the water was shut off for a number of reasons. Or when a RV park is on a well and the electric goes out. You just never know what may occur at any given time so why not "Be Prepared". Learned that in the Eagle Scout days.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Sky_Boss · 07-18-2012, 08:37 PM

Not FTers but...

Currently we keep the tank full with water from home. My home base CG water sucks. Perhaps that is why we have developed a distrust of CG water in general but when we go FT...we better get over that. LOL The CG is close to home so we will zoom home to pick up the dogs and load supplies for long trips.

If weight is an issue (it maybe for us) we make sure we dump grey and black for any extended driving. As we add more to this rig we may opt to run 2/3 of a tank on the road.

I would recommend you get your rig weighed with full water and maybe 1/3 to 1/2 dump tanks just to see how that works out. Our theory would be that we might camp in a place without FH and still want to top off the fresh water tank until we can dump. Ya...maybe that is unneeded but it helps us figure out the limits of what we can carry and where that weight will go.

paz · 07-19-2012, 09:42 AM

I keep ours about 25% full. That provides enough water for flushing and hand washing when we're on the road without adding too much weight. We have also had the campground shut off the water for an hour or two to make a repair, so it helps to have a little water in the tank even when you're in camp.

That being said, I try to remember to drain and replace the water in the fresh water tank every week to 10 days just to keep it fresh.

DancinCampers · 07-20-2012, 11:12 AM

For the past 8 years we ran off the tank except when taking showers. I don't leave without turning off the pump, seen to many rv floods.

Now that we are fulltiming in our new rig, I've added a reverse osmosis system, never run the cg water thru the coach. The RO system brings the current CG TDS from 276 to 30.

336muffin · 07-20-2012, 11:25 AM

We keep about a 1/2 tank. Every now and then we turn on the pump and use the CG water and the fresh tank. When the fresh tank gets low we refill with fresh water from CG. This keeps the tank refreshed with water and uses the old. This doesn't waste water by draining. About every 6 months we sanitize with bleach.

mjeffrey · 07-24-2012, 10:39 PM

Thank you for all the suggestions.

jzick · 07-25-2012, 06:24 AM

Quote:

There have been times while at RV parks when the water was shut off for a number of reasons. Or when a RV park is on a well and the electric goes out.

We are not full but half times. Twice we have been stranded in an rv park (once due to flooded roads, once due to forest fire) that lost power and water. We keep tanks full, and in both cases we were nearly empty by the time power and water was restored.

vsheetz · 07-25-2012, 06:47 AM

We keep the water tank 3/4 to full - in case of emergency need.

sherri330 · 07-29-2012, 07:26 AM

Lots of good advice here! I feel compelled to share my process. We try to go camping once a month, March thru October. (the remaining months, we winterize). During our camping months, we keep the fresh water tank 1/3 full. To do this, we travel with the tank 1/3 full, then fill when we arrive at the CG. I turn the pump on for showers (DH prefers to use the CG showers) Once the tank reaches 1/3 full, I switch to CG water only. (for really short trips, I will shower, flush and wash dishes before switching to CG water). When we get home, I add 1/4 cup of bleach to the 1/3 full tank. (I got the amount from our owners manual) This will help keep bacteria from growing while the trailer sits for 4 or 5 weeks.

Everyone learns from advice + personal need/experience. You will too! Enjoy your new lifestyle. We hope to be full timing one day too!