Keeping fresh water tank Fresh

[Steve Hunt]

I've never had a fresh water tank before, we don't really drink from it but none the less I'd like it to be as nice as it should be. We just clean dishes with it or I rinse off outside the van after running for example. Is there a simple additive that you have used over time and recommend? Generally speaking it sits for a month between uses.

[N147JK]

Regular liquid household bleach. Look online for instructions on how to use bleach to purify the tank. We keep ours very clean - no problem using it for drinking or cooking.

[larrie]

We are on an in chlorinated well so put bleach in the tank through the fill hole every time we fill it. We also empty the tank after every trip and then refill it for every trip. That way we always have fresh water. Like the OP we only use it for dishes and washing up.

[BrianW]

I sanitize my tank and lines with diluted bleach at the start of the season and drain it after each trip. Never any problems with using it for drinking water.

[boywonder]

I empty and refill the water in the fresh tank before each trip; the idea being it gets a fresh dose of chlorine from the municipal water at the house. Never had any issues.

These days I use the water for making coffee to preserve bottled water on longer trips.

[Ben10281]

Originally Posted by BrianW

I sanitize my tank and lines with diluted bleach at the start of the season and drain it after each trip. Never any problems with using it for drinking water.

I do this as well. We use our water for drinking and washing. Never any issues. We live on well water so it is not treated by our county/town.

Also, I use .88 oz of bleach per 10 gallons of water, when sanitizing. I fill the tank with fresh water and bleach. Go for a drive to slosh it around in the tank, then when I get home I run it out through the faucet so the bleach goes through all of the plumbing.

[Steve Hunt]

Originally Posted by Ben10281

I do this as well. We use our water for drinking and washing. Never any issues. We live on well water so it is not treated by our county/town.

Also, I use .88 oz of bleach per 10 gallons of water, when sanitizing. I fill the tank with fresh water and bleach. Go for a drive to slosh it around in the tank, then when I get home I run it out through the faucet so the bleach goes through all of the plumbing.

Great, thanks. I live on a 650 ft artesian well to the Fla aquifer so it's good stuff but like you not treated in any way. My tank is 11 gallons so i'll adopt your ratio. Here are some pics of what's driving my question. Just finished the water install and going out with it this weekend.

The three fittings shown are so i can use a quick connect to fill the fresh tank, drain the grey tank or transfer the fresh water to something else.

Thanks all !!

[Orv]

I sanitize mine if it's sat unused for more than a few months. But I'm also on city water so the residual chlorine in that helps. I also drain it between trips. My preference is to fill up at home instead of at the campground; the water at home isn't the best but I know it's safe, and since my tank is only 9 gallons I don't worry that much about the extra weight.

When I sanitize I use a little under 1/4 cup of bleach for my 9 gallon tank. (Figures for this are all over the place but the most frequent I see is 1/4 cup per 15 gallons.) I fill it with bleach water, open the faucet for a few moments to let the bleach water into the pipes, let it sit over night, drain it, refill it, drain again. If you drink the water from the tank you may need an additional fill/drain cycle to get rid of the chlorine taste.

[Charliesmom]

We do the same as most have commented upon, although I use a cup of cheap vodka in the tank when we fill it before an adventure. We empty the tank when we return home. Once a year in December, I clean the tank via a Beckson 8” clear screw out deck plate that I installed in the top of the tank. After the tank is clean and the water system is drained, I wipe down the inside of the tank with Clorox. We have a General Ecology Seagull IV water system plumbed at the galley sink that we use for drinking water. I change that filter once a year at the same time.

[moorefc]

First SMB I treated a couple times with dilute bleach but it took quite a few rinses to get the taste out. I stopped and just used available (typically municipal) water for 5 years.
No problems.
Current van for 8 years, no treatment, no issues, no bad taste from chemicals. Part of the year use RO or purified baja water...
So I guess it depends on your water sources. Municipal water is typically treated....