Water System Sanitization

[JBMD]

After seeing all the crud that grows in the small puddles of anti-freeze (from winterization) I am inclined to believe some folks who say I should sanitize the water system in our 3100RL once every spring. I'd like to ask if anyone does this and, if so, how??? I mean, seriously, how do I get bleach into the fresh water tank and the lines?

[DQDick]

In the older rigs we can put a cup of bleach in the fill hole, then fill the tank and then pump the solution thru the lines. On the new ones you could put the cup of bleach in your water hose and then hook the hose back up and fill your tank. That would put the bleach in then mix it up so you'd be ready to run it thru the lines.

[Fire5er]

I used liquid bleach to sanitize our 2007 3400RL, but have used Sodium Dichlor the last two years for our 2014 BS382RL. I like it because Sodium Dichlor is a granular not a liquid and is easier to store and I don't have to worry about spilling it.

http://rvbasics.com/techtips/sanitiz...er-system.html

[JBMD]

Thanks, Dick.

[JBMD]

Thanks Fire5er. Neat idea about the pool "chemical" but don't you have to dilute it in water first in order to get it into a hose and into the tank?

[JBMD]

Guys...there is also another issue we had when trying to fill our fresh water tank last year (our 1st year with the 3100 RL). The first time we tried it we think we forgot to turn the toggle switch to fill the tank and, instead, we were running water through the water system. (It started spraying out under the bathroom sink!) Anyway, we realized the error of our ways and flipped the toggle and tried again. This time all the water we were putting in (the monitor showed the fresh water tank was empty) was coming out of a drain behind the rear axles. What?? We've never used our fresh water tank (always hooked to city water) so we were getting pretty frustrated. This was right before we were leaving to go on a trip so we just left and just flushed the system with plain old water when we got to our destination.

[DQDick]

If water came out under the sink it most likely means you hooked up to the black tank flush by mistake and have a faulty backflow preventer. Many of us have made that mistake hooking the water up. Water draining from the back of the rig usually means the fresh water tank drain (fresh water tank is usually in the rear) is open. I'm not sure what they are doing now days, but our rig came with a little screw on cap for the fresh water drain. If your's is set up that way the cap could be missing. I replaced my cap with a true drain valve.

[JBMD]

Dick, I'm sure we were hooked up to city water because we later discovered that the hoses under the sink had shaken loose and we experienced a leak. As to the drain in the back, we'll have to check that out. It certainly sounds like our fresh water tank drain is not closed. You would think someone would have noticed that when winterizing or de-winterizing the trailer!!

[BB_TX]

Older units (our 2007) have a plastic cap that screws onto the end of the fresh water drain hose. Some people have replaced those with valves. Don't know about newer units.

[Fire5er]

JBMD Being that we have a 2014 unit (and don't have the water tank fill spout that goes directly into the tank like we did in out 2007 3400RL) I just pour the tablespoon of DS into the water hose (thus diluting it) and then connect the water hose to the city water connection in the convenience center and turn the tank fill valve to fill the tank. Once the water tank is filled I turn the water hose off, turn the water pump on, and open the faucets in the trailer to draw the water out of the water tank that has the DS solution just like you do with bleach.

[MARK A]

quote:Originally posted by Fire5er

JBMD Being that we have a 2014 unit (and don't have the water tank fill spout that goes directly into the tank like we did in out 2007 3400RL) I just pour the tablespoon of DS into the water hose (thus diluting it) and then connect the water hose to the city water connection in the convenience center and turn the tank fill valve to fill the tank. Once the water tank is filled I turn the water hose off, turn the water pump on, and open the faucets in the trailer to draw the water out of the water tank that has the DS solution just like you do with bleach.

Your vent cover on the left rear should come off like ours. There is a screen that comes out that allows you to fill through the vent.I guess that is Keystones answer to a bucket fill...

[Bill.vannuys]

I sanitize a few times a year; whenever the water has been sitting in the tank more than a few weeks unchanged. Perhaps to cautious, but I've experienced bad water in the army; not worth the risk to me.

I remove the vent cover & screen in the rear street side of trailer. Then dilute 1/4 cups regular bleach for every 15 gallon fresh tank capacity in a gallon of water. Then, use a funnel to put the water thru the vent into the fresh water tank. (First ensure your fresh water tank drain is capped at the rear of trailer). Then fill the tank, run water thru all faucets until the beach smell arrives. Let sit for 4 hours, then drain and rinse (fill tank with fresh water and run thru all faucets until bleach is rinsed out). Now, ready for use. I may overkill, but I rinse my hot water heater with bleach, drain and rinse with fresh water during this process.

[DarMar]

quote:Originally posted by Bill.vannuys

I sanitize a few times a year; whenever the water has been sitting in the tank more than a few weeks unchanged. Perhaps to cautious, but I've experienced bad water in the army; not worth the risk to me.

I remove the vent cover & screen in the rear street side of trailer. Then dilute 1/4 cups regular bleach for every 15 gallon fresh tank capacity in a gallon of water. Then, use a funnel to put the water thru the vent into the fresh water tank. (First ensure your fresh water tank drain is capped at the rear of trailer). Then fill the tank, run water thru all faucets until the beach smell arrives. Let sit for 4 hours, then drain and rinse (fill tank with fresh water and run thru all faucets until bleach is rinsed out). Now, ready for use. I may overkill, but I rinse my hot water heater with bleach, drain and rinse with fresh water during this process.

Much the same here only we sanitize once a year and leave the bleach sit in the lines overnight before flushing. Works great!

[JBMD]

Fire5er, I'm so glad for your last post! My hubby bought some of the SD yesterday and we got spooked by all the warnings about it being hazardous to humans and the package saying do not dilute it. If it's hazardous to humans then why do they use it for swimming pools? Ha! Anyway, I think we've got the idea as to how to get it into our tank. All we have to do now is find another cap for our fresh water tank drain so it doesn't run out before it does any good.

Mark A, Thx for the tip on the vent at the left rear! We had no idea what that thing was!

[JBMD]

Bill and Darwin, thanks for your inputs as well. (I almost missed your posts on the second screen!) I'm glad we have such nice folks to chat with when there's something we need to know!