Most RVs come with three holding tanks for fresh, gray, and black water. While you’ll want to keep an eye on all of them, a freshwater tank is the one that can mess with your health and comfort on the road the most. Keeping it clean to maintain safe drinking, washing, and cooking water is a top concern, and ignoring it can make your next camping trip much less memorable.
Keeping the fresh water tank clean involves regular cleaning, but “regular” means different things to different people. Some choose to sanitize annually, usually when pulling the RV out of winter storage for use. Others sanitize monthly or bi-monthly, but the important thing is that it happens regularly to prevent bacteria buildup.
Sanitizing Your RV’s Fresh Water Tank
Before you get started, you’ll need:
· Bucket
· Potable water hose
· RV tank sanitizer or unscented bleach
· Funnel
· Measuring cup
Turn off your water pump and water heater to get started. Leaving the heater on while draining can damage the tank. Run the hot water for a few minutes to clear the heated water, and open all the interior faucets to drain water completely from the system. Clear the gray water tank as well, which is easy if you’re at a campground with water and sewer connections.
Drain your fresh water tank, which may require looking underneath it to find the plug. To sanitize, combine a quarter-cup of bleach with at least 16 gallons of water in the tank, or one ounce per eight gallons of fresh water. Add the diluted mixture to your tank and fill it with potable water to pump it through the system.
Now comes the boring part: You need to let the water sit in the system for 12 to 24 hours before draining, but don’t let it sit longer than a day. It’s easiest to drain if you’re at a site with hookups, but if you’re not, don’t drain the bleach mixture into the soil. It can kill grass and other plants. You can also pump the water into your gray water tank if you’ve hooked it up to a sewer connector.
Next, flush the system by filling the fresh water tank and using the pump to push it through. Open all interior faucets and turn the water pump on to circulate the clean water. Note that you might have to refill the water tank more than once to clear the bleach smell, and be sure to continue the process until you can’t detect any bleach in the water supply. Change your water filters and make sure all connections and valves are closed before hitting the road again.
Sanitizing your RV’s water tank can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Valley RV’s knowledgeable staff has seen it all and can quickly get you up to speed on the best practices. Give us a call if you’re unsure, and we’ll have you back on the road in no time.
