Hot water?

[dhally]

The onboard system is difficult to clean out and can get skunky, especially if it's filled up with "questionable" water. Our next build will rely on Scepter or similar containers. They can be easily washed out and sanitized. A submersible pump can supply pressure.

[daveb]

I've just wondered how clean it gets. If the tank is cleaned once a month or so it's probably OK but because I can't get in and really clean it or inspect it I'm suspicious. You can never get all the water out so I use baking soda and bleach and find a bumpy road then do the triple rinse concept at minimum. It looks clean from the outside I guess. A little mold probably don't hurt but I just pack a couple of those 2.5 jerry cans and thats my drinking water. 99% of the time I need water at the table outside anyway.
http://www.aquasaverbypjbcompany.com/

[LenS]

I assume you put the baking soda in after the bleach has had several hours to do its job, run through all plumbing and the bleach water drained. The next step (if desired) would be to ad the baking soda mixed in a gallon or two of water to the tank. Fill the tank, drive around if desired, run all faucets storage devices (water heater) and then drain and rinse with fresh water. If you add the baking soda w the bleach you will deactivate the bleach.

I clean my tank (do not open anything) by adding 1/4 plus cup of household bleach per 15 gallons of water system capacity, run all faucets to fill all lines withe the bleach water and let it set for at least several hours (I let it set over night) and then do a double flush. I always keep the water system full as long as the temperature is above freezing. City water has residual chlorine in and the system will stay clean.

I have never opened and mechanically cleaned the inside of the water tanks or the lines. The city does not do that either with all the underground piping. When they do a pipe repair they added extra sanitizer and tell everyone in the affected area to run the water until it is no longer cloudy. Everything settles down.

Between summer trips w the van I do drain the water system and refill with fresh city water (ie: water w residual chlorine).

[daveb]

Yeah, ever look down a well

Water tank maintenance per RV site:

Use 1/4 cup per 15 gal but add in small portions. Use a garden sprayer to add to the tank with some fresh water in it or pour it into the hose to fill from. Fill the tank but leave a little room to slosh around and drive around for a while. Make sure to run the shower and faucets. Drain the tank using the drain, shower and let some run into the sink. This will help clear the gray tank also. Add a ½ cup of baking soda in the sprayer and use the same procedure as before. Drain the tank then refill and drain again total of 3 times. Test water.


Here is what I usually do:



Drain the water system.

Remove the fill hose from my house connection and pour about 3 oz.
household bleach (Chlorox) into the hose.

Reconnect the hose and fill the tank.

Drive around to slosh the stuff around the tank.

Be sure to run some through every faucet (except for the purifier
faucet if you have one).

Drain the system and refill with plain water and a quarter cup of
baking soda dissolved in water.

Drive around again to slosh the baking soda water around the tank.
Flush the faucets.

Drain and refill with plain water. Flush all faucets again.

Refill the tank.

I do this about two or three times a year, depending on what's been
in the tank and how long. Only if the source water looks or smells
really cruddy would I filter it as I fill the tank. My water in my town is very
clean and not like some places I've been at. I add just a little bleach
to the tank so I can leave it in for a while. I don't
necessarily want to remove chlorene from the water in the tank,
because it will more likely go bad quicker.

[LenS]

Sounds like we do basically the same thing. The only thing I have never done is do a baking soda rinse.

[Jeffrey]

Drinking the house water is all dependent on what you're filling it with. In my town, the water is so hard that you can stand on it. My home has a system-wide water softener and a reverse osmosis system just for the drinking water spigot at the kitchen sink. I do fill the SMB tank with the softened water to make washing of all kinds easier. I never would drink anything coming out of my faucets. I hear in some places you can.

[LenS]

Your condition must be a special case and all of the west coast can't have "bad" drinking water. Still would not explain why SMB owners (so it appears) do not use there on board water storage system for drinking water.

Most Class 'A', Class 'C', fifth-wheel, general Class 'B' owners I have contact with use their water systems for their drinking water. Is the SMB system poorly designed and made??

[jage]

I drink tap water, well or city, so I don't have a problem drinking the SMB water, but then again I don't drink water unless I'm really really desperate, so it's kind of a moot issue. My wife would drink the SMB water if I put a Brita filter in place- ditto the house water. So we don't drink the SMB water, but it's merely coincidence that we don't.

[Roonie]

I drink our water directly from the tap no filters but then again Seattle has some of the cleanest water in the country! http://www.seattlepi.com/default/art...ter-888354.php

I also drink out of the onboard fresh water tank. I bleach it etc before. No problems. I am assuming the water tank is probably not BPA free so will not drink water if it has been in it for awhile.

[daveb]

Crap, I took this thread off topic fast.

If you take my home tap water and bottled water, then do a side by side taste test, you’ll never be able to tell the difference. But if you take my tap water and put it into a canteen then leave it capped sitting at room temperature for a month, a thin slimy film will begin to develop on parts of the bottle, especially where air is present. I can’t see anything but I can feel it when touched. Is it in my vans tank as well? Call me lazy but I don’t clean my tank every month so I can use as drinking water…too simple to just carry a small drinking water container that is very easy to clean.

More on topic would be what are you going to use the hot water for?