Fresh water tank sanitizer w/ power fill?

[gkerlin]

Recumbent,

What I do for a 60 gallon tank is mix 1 cup of bleach with a gallon of water and pour it into my gravity fill, then I fill the tank. The ratio to disinfect is 1/4 cup bleach for each 15 gallons of water.

since you don't have a gravity fill - the one cup of bleach in your hose will work. then I'd fill the tank till full. This sanitizes the water tank too.

When the tank is full I bypass the water heater, then run the water pump to distribute disinfected water to all my faucets. I do both the hot and cold (but again with the heater bypassed) You can smell the chlorine and will know when it comes out the faucet.

I leave it overnight but at least 4 hours is recommended if you are in a rush.

then drain the tank - re fill and flush the lines with clean water. Thats all there is to it.

I drain the tank a second time and refill but that is not necessary.

I have 2 water filters on my hose (1 micron and 1/2 micron) and then a water softener so it slows down my fill rate a bit but I like clean tanks and clean water. Have fun.

 

[bigred715]

I must be the only person who doesn't use their fresh water tank. I carry just enough water to flush the toilet if I'm at a rest stop with no bathrooms. My trailer started inadvertantly filling the fresh water tank because my check valve wasn't working. The dealership "fixed it" and less than 6 months later I replaced fresh water pump with a new Shurflow pump instead of the Flojet and haven't had any problems since.

 

[Recumbent-MOC]

I'm back posting abit late and slow, but been preoccupied seeing Yosemite for the first time. Gkerlin, Thanks for the help, I really think there should be a gravity fill cap, but since none exist and being a pragmatist your method to disinfect sounds good and that is how I will do the sanitizing from now on. Also, thanks to the others for their ideas and to the original poster for bring up the subject.

 

[psomers]

After reading this thread I went out to check our 2013 Mountaineer as I was sure it had a gravity fill. It does have a gravity fill at the left rear.

 

[Rainer-MOC]

quote:Originally posted by psomers

After reading this thread I went out to check our 2013 Mountaineer as I was sure it had a gravity fill. It does have a gravity fill at the left rear.

. . .as does my 2013 High Country

 

[gkerlin]

If you understand the following then it's probably a bit easier to understand how this "minor" change occurred:

The man who runs the Montana product line.. The top Banana.... whos' Linkedin profile states his job is to: "Develop and make decisions for the direction of all Montana products" told me in a conversation I had with him a few months ago that he does not RV, never has.

So... If you've never been there... never done that... it's kind of hard to make good decisions about "that".

I just hope someone doesn't tell him that Montana can save money if they move the electric plug to the front curb side of the rig.

 

[LeeMedic]

quote:Originally posted by astrungis

How do you add sanitizer to the fresh water tank with a power fill system? The inlet has a screen and is mounted flush to the wall of the service area. Do you remove the screen and use a skinny funnel?

I contacted Keystone since I have the same issue. Here is the response I received.

"In order to introduce bleach and water solutions into your fresh tank:

On the backside of your convenience center, the fresh fill connection can be removed and the clamp removed to access the water line. You may have to use a funnel to allow the water into the water line. I understand this is not ideal and are engineering are aware of the situation. You may also connect a hose to the fresh fill connection and pour bleach in the other end. Hook the hose up to the faucet and have the water pressure push the bleach into the fill location to the tank. I hope this is of assistance to you."

 

[Kenneth Deiss]

Originally posted by BB_TX

I think johncamtravel has the best idea to make sure all the bleach goes directly to the freshwater tank first. Pour a cup of bleach into the hose, connect to water supply, set switch to tank fill, and run water supply until tank is full.
Then turn on the pump and pump water thru all faucets to make sure some goes into each line. You should be able to smell cholorine when it reaches the faucet. Let that set overnight. Then drain the tank and thoroughly flush out the entire system.


I have been doing his method for 20 Years

 

[Parts Ed]

How about a transmisson funnel with a piece of old garden hose (male end) clamped to the end of the funnel, screw it on the fresh water fill port and with the help of your other half pour some bleach into the funnel and then disconnect that and attach hose to fill the tank.... JMO

 

[LCBoyer]

I tried the winterization connection, it sucked the bleach solution in. I mixed 1qt bleach to 3cups water in an old water jug to prevent damage to the back flow valve

 

[CORattler]

All this for a high $$$ RV. Makes you want to buy another doesn't it?