Specs on 351DS and Nasty water tank!!!

[mbrwr]

Hello... We have a Georgetown 351DS that is currently in storage and I'm wanting to buy a pleated folding door to install between the kitchen area and the bunk area to form a small bedroom. Can anyone tell me the floor to ceiling height and width I should look for?

Also... We have put our motorhome in storage without emptying our fresh water tank. I'm sure the water is absolutely nasty by now. How do we clean the tank and make it to where we can drink from it again?? Are we going to need to replace the water filter too? The filter (and the motorhome) are brand new.

Thanks for all your help!!

Newbie

[polkatronron]

How long has it been in storage?? Where did the water come from i.e. city water, your own well etc... Is the tank full or half full???
if it is city treated water you should be ok but you will have to sanitaize the tank and pump sanitized water through the system. Dont' forget to drain the water heater and pump if with the rest of the system as well. Javex with chlorine is what I would use and there are lots of sites that will tell you how much to use and the procedure. If the water was not treated water you may have a serious issue and it will be harder to sanitize. As a side note: We never ever drink from the tank..we carry our water from home in large jugs and sometimes buy bottled water. Good Luck

[Iggy]

From a magazine article.

Your RV's water tank is responsible for the water that you drink and bathe in while you travel, so it should be as clean as possible. Eventually, however, you may notice a stagnant smell, or the water may become less palatable. When that happens, it's time to clean the tank. Fortunately, this is a simple process.


Preventive Maintenance

At the end of every trip, make sure to drain your freshwater tank, including the hot-water tank. Standing water is a breeding ground for bacteria, especially if there are long stretches between RV use. Open the tank spigot, if you have one, and run the shower and the faucets until the tank is dry. You will use this same technique when you drain the tank after you clean it.


Cleaning with a Bleach Solution

When it becomes time to clean your water tank, fill it with a cleaning solution. The simplest solution is one that utilizes liquid household bleach, where the ratio is one cup of bleach for every 10 gallons of water that your freshwater tank holds. Thus, if your tank holds 100 gallons of freshwater, you would need 10 cups of bleach. Fill the tank halfway with freshwater, then add the bleach, after measuring it according to the above ratio. After you have added the bleach, fill the rest of the way with freshwater. Turn on your water pump and run the faucets and the shower until you smell bleach in the water. Turn the water off and then take your RV for a spin. A simple trip around the block will serve to agitate the solution inside the tank and get it into all the corners. Then, leave the solution sitting in the freshwater system overnight.


Rinse the Tank

The next day, turn the water pump back on and run all the water systems in the RV until the tank is drained. Refill with freshwater and drain it again, repeating the process until the smell of bleach has dissipated. Once the tank is clean, you should leave it empty until your next trip. However, if you perform this maintenance immediately prior to a trip, once the smell of bleach is gone, you can fill the tank up with freshwater immediately and it will be safe for use.


If you still have bleech smell after a fill and flush try some baking soda mixture in the tank and flush again.

[mbrwr]

Originally Posted by polkatronron

How long has it been in storage?? Where did the water come from i.e. city water, your own well etc... Is the tank full or half full???
if it is city treated water you should be ok but you will have to sanitaize the tank and pump sanitized water through the system. Dont' forget to drain the water heater and pump if with the rest of the system as well. Javex with chlorine is what I would use and there are lots of sites that will tell you how much to use and the procedure. If the water was not treated water you may have a serious issue and it will be harder to sanitize. As a side note: We never ever drink from the tank..we carry our water from home in large jugs and sometimes buy bottled water. Good Luck

It has been in storage since February, the tank was filled with city water and I believe is less than half full.
I'm very pick with the water we drink and so far we haven't used the MH water for that purpose BUT we're about to go on an extended trip (over 1 year) and it would be great if we didnt have to buy mineral water for the entire trip. We do have a filter attached to the MH water line, do you think that if we also used on of those Britta jars the water would be OK?? That would be like filtering twice.

Anyway... I really appreciate your help!!

Marina