Sanitizing just the lines?

[daybreak]

This is our first time de-winterizing on our own, and we want to sanitize at the same time. We never used or plan to use the Freshwater holding tank, do we still need to sanitize it by pumping the bleach mixture into the tank, or can we just pump it through the lines like we did with the anti-freeze?

I was not able to find any instructions on doing it this way, everything says to pump into the tank first.

[Kaadk]

In theory you could just pump it through the lines like antifreeze, but it's not like it's going to hurt the FW tank and since you really should sanitize the FW tank before using (if you ever do) I find it's easier to just to it that way.




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[jtownstumpjumper]

We never thought we would use our fresh water tank either on our 5th wheel until one morning while camping we awake to the whole campground with no water....due to construction in the area the main water line to the campground had been ruptured...at that point we decided we had better start carrying a few gallons in the tank for such occasions....25 gallons or so is not that much weight and it does come in handy to have.....so, back to sanitizing....we do ours thru the fresh water tank and all is taken care of then.

[Rich5117]

Yep to what jtownstumpjumper said. We have also had the park pressure drop so low that we turned on the pump and used the tank to increase the water pressure. So never say never, especially if you are in the shower. It is much easier to sanitize your tank at the beginning of the season then to try and find where your clog is in your plumbing system if you have never used the tank and suddenly need to and draw sludge or Algae in to your water lines.

I edited this post, we use city water and not well water to full and keep our water tank clean. I do use a fresh water tank sanitizer from Walmart at the beginning of each season have never had an issue with our water, taste etc. This is a very quick process and I usually let it do its thing while DW and I are de-winterizing and cleaning. Hope this helps

[daybreak]

Thank you all for your help, you've convinced me and we will just do the tank to instead of trying to skip a step.

Rich is the freshwater tank sanitizer better than the bleach, what would be the difference?

[rattleNsmoke]

Use bleach. It's cheap and easy. If you still have any bleach odor after a few rinses try a lil' baking soda. That'll remove it.

Here's a link to a great write-up by a long time contributor and friend of this site, Herk7769.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ze-101446.html

[Rich5117]

Daybreak, I use the Camco taste pure from Walmart, but again I am in town and flush my tank with city water that has chlorine in it. I think as others have posted, if I had to use well water I would add bleach to the tank and do a really good flush until the taste and chlorine odor is pretty much gone.

You should do a little research on the proper amount of bleach you want to add for your sized tank. You only need 200 ppm of free chlorine for proper sanitation of equipment and lines. This equates to 1 tablespoon per gallon of water based on the concentration of 5.25% of sodium hypochlorite in the bleach you use. ( This is your standard Clorox) I base this on restaurant and food service equipment that we follow for our clients when we clean systems. More is not always better.