Water management

kennyh · 08-24-2016, 06:26 PM

Sorry, If this has been covered to death please link me the thread!

Getting ready for our first trip and I am unsure about how I should use our water options. Noob! Our 2012 Flagstaff 206 ltd has two handles at the faucet. One for pressurized water and one for its tank. It has some pink stuff in the tank that I assume is anti-freeze.

Questions:

1. How to best flush the antifreeze out?

2. I thought initially that pressurized water would be used for dish washing etc. and the tank would be filled at home for drinking water but I don't know about towing with the tank full. Does that make for a dangerously un-even load?

3. What is a good rig for the pressurized site water hook up? Hose, filter, pressure regulator?

emm-dee · 08-24-2016, 07:05 PM

I can't help with the flush out procedure because I use pressurized air to winterize, but you'll get some good advice from others.

For towing with full FW tank overall weight is usually not a problem but it can have a negative affect on hitch weight. Sherline scale numbers show a 90 pound increase in tongue weight with 40 gallons in my tank.

As far as drinking water I never, ever, ever use water from the TT tank for that. I spent enough time in the aviation industry to know how nasty any fresh water tank will be after a few months. Bottled water from my home well (tested annually) is used for drinking, cooking, coffee and final dish rinse. I thoroughly flush out the FW tank after each trip if used.

But, I'm a little obsessive about cleanliness, even to the point of microwaving the dishrag after each use then discarding it after a week of use.

kennyh · 08-24-2016, 07:59 PM

emm-dee,

Makes sense. Better safe than sorry.

How do you calculate your fresh water needs? What do you carry it in? How do you pack it so that you feel secure? TV or camper?

thx!

emm-dee · 08-24-2016, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyh

emm-dee,

Makes sense. Better safe than sorry.

How do you calculate your fresh water needs? What do you carry it in? How do you pack it so that you feel secure? TV or camper?

thx!

I store 12 one gallon bottles in one of the storage cabinets and in some hidden spaces I discovered and made accessible. The bottles all touch and never move.

If I run out I'll get bottled water from somewhere. I hate paying for it since I get all the water I want from the deep well at home for about $6.00 a month (pump electricity).

steamboatscott · 08-25-2016, 10:22 AM

Flushing the antifreeze is easy - just run fresh water through the system.

I simply add an ounce of bleach diluted into a gallon of water into the water reservoir then fill to 75%. Drive around, hitting some bumps and taking some curves to agitate the water and slosh it around to all parts of the tank before filling to 100% and letting sit overnight. Next day I run enough through each faucet to flush the hoses, drain the rest from the tank, refill the tank with fresh water, run enough through faucets to flush diluted bleach water from hoses, then drain tank again.

I carry a full fresh water tank on almost every trip. My Flagstaff 228 has the tank right near the axle so my tongue weight only increases 15 lbs (although hot water heater and toilet are closer to front and increase tongue weight 25 lb and 20 lb respectively despite their much lower capacities).

Like most, I use the reservoir for drinking water. Try to do the bleach cleaning method once at the beginning and again in the middle of camping season.

kennyh · 08-26-2016, 10:16 AM

Solid info Scott. Thank you! I don't know the tank size on my 206, maybe 15 gal.
One ounce of bleach for that sound right? Just a little work setting up and tearing down a couple times to accommodate the flush/drive/flush.

I just ordered a 25' no-kink fill hose, pressure reg. and filter for around $40.

steamboatscott · 08-26-2016, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyh

One ounce of bleach for that sound right?

See: De-Winterization | Popup Camping 101

kennyh · 08-28-2016, 04:04 PM

Thanks for the link! Lots of good info there. I am in progress waiting out the bleach timer. Almost ready for first camp.

**Flybob** · 08-28-2016, 04:47 PM

If your campsite has a water hook up use pressurized water. If not most campgrounds have water spigots throughout. Stop at one and fill your water tank on the way to your site. We take a few 1 gal plastic jugs which we fill from the campground spigot for drinking and still run it through a filtered water pitcher. If you are going some place where there is no water, you may have to travel with water in the tank. If you are staying more than a few days, you may need to refill the water tank if no hookups. Take a large funnel and use the plastic jugs to move the water. I used a collapsible airport luggage carrier and a coleman 5 gal collapsible water container when we had our popup.

f5moab · 08-28-2016, 06:41 PM

Sanitize the tank and it is as safe to drink out of as the home tap. I have been doing it for many years. I just don't let the water remain in the tank. When I leave a site to come home, while tearing down the trailer I open the spigot and drain the water. Next trip, I fill it up again.

sratliff · 09-01-2016, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f5moab

Sanitize the tank and it is as safe to drink out of as the home tap. I have been doing it for many years. I just don't let the water remain in the tank. When I leave a site to come home, while tearing down the trailer I open the spigot and drain the water. Next trip, I fill it up again.

X2

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