RV Fresh Water Tank Sanitizing Tutorial
Dave SolbergDescription
One of our Club members reached out with an important question: is there a safe and efficient way to flush an RV fresh water tank? The answer is yes, but as we’ve learned, rule number one for RV maintenance is all units are not built the same. Thus, what works for your particular motor home isn’t guaranteed to work for your neighbor’s camper.
That’s why it’s so important to do your homework and discover what exactly you need to get the job done on your specific model. In this lesson, we do some of that research for you and discusses some of the common methods we’ve utilized over the years to clean and sanitize an RV fresh water tank.
What should you use to clean your RV fresh water tank?
To help you navigate the process with as little hassle as possible, RV expert Dave Solberg introduces all the important things you ought to keep in mind when flushing your RV fresh water tank. He talks about the various products available for purchase from popular providers, then explains what he likes to use on his own vehicle (Hint: you can find it in your laundry room).
As Dave mentions, the typical issue RVers run into when cleaning their fresh water system is accessing the tank itself. You’ll learn the most cost-effective ways to circumvent this problem, and figure out the solution that works best for your needs. With Dave’s tips, you should have that tank flushed and sanitized in no time flat!
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7 Responses to “RV Fresh Water Tank Sanitizing Tutorial”
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How about SHOWING what you are talking about? "Take a hose, get an outside pump, connect it to the...." Pictures visualize what you are describing.
My rig has a whole house water filter/housing that I can put solution in to sanitize my fresh water tank. Will remove the filter first when I do this.
You can also dump bleach vinegar or whatever in water hose and screw back to city hook up then turn water on to fill tank
Why wouldn’t you just pour the bleach into your fresh water hose and then hook the hose up to city water? The pump is a useless step from what I can see.
With regard to your sanitization of the freshwater tank I have found a few alternatives to the ones you suggested. I have been using a pre-filter replaceable cartridge system. I fill that with bleach and then it’s pass-through with the city fill another alternative is that I’ve taken the cap out of the tank that I have access to and use the funnel to pour bleach or a bleach solution into there and then mixes in the tank as it is filled Hope that is useful
The dealer advised that to sanitize a system with just a city water fill, we should put the bleach into the hose, hook up the city water and flush the bleach into the system. Same as Teresa's response below.
I used a funnel and poured bleach into the hose hooked up to the trailer, then hooked it up to water and turned it on to force the bleach into the tank.