Looking for recommendations to filter holding tank water

[getzold]

And add 482 gallon plastic jugs to the landfill - - - - . Another reason we like our Berkey - don't have to carry all those water bottles.

[Sunseeker16]

Originally Posted by chiraldude

The water in my holding tank is "safe" to drink because I drain/add bleach/fill before every trip. Fine for washing hands and dishes but the bleach and plastic taste make it useless for drinking.
Are there any good filters that screw into the faucet? I would also be fine with a gravity filter as long as it produced 2-3 gallons per day. Either way, the important thing is that the water taste good. No bleach and no plastic/chemical taste after filtering.

I have only added bleach one time in my water tank and never will again. More than 20 years of RV'ing. I drain the water tank, water heater and everything I can after every trip. Takes a couple minutes. When I refill I run some water through everything and seal it up. Never had an issue and I don't hesitate to drink the water. Keeping in mind I am almost always using chlorinated water from some municipal system. If I was using well water it may be a different story.

[Bob K4TAX]

I presume one is speaking of the freshwater tank and not one of the holding tanks.

Cleaning the system once a year is usually very adequate. I do this in the Spring after having the water system drained and blown out with my air compressor. Drain the water tank. Close all valves and low point drains

For Spring I use 1/2 cup of basic laundry bleach and fill the water tank and circulate all of that through the hoses, pumps, water heater, and all fixtures.

Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and fill the tank again. Circulate this through all of the lines, fixtures, water pump, and such.

Fill the tank again and you are ready for the years camping. Draining after your return is your option. I find it makes no difference one way or another. I always top off my fresh water tank before starting a trip. The extra 350 lbs is not a concern with regard to weight.

Bob

[CCrew]

Clearsource whole house system here. Wife can’t tell it from her Brita filtered pitcher.

[gw1800]

[QUOTE=Aussieguy;2762359]water sanitized with bleach can be drunk...


https://www.clorox.com/learn/water-p...-for-drinking/[/QUOTE


With that formula you are only adding 0.04 ounces per 1.75 gallons. Probably the same amount you would have in city water. 1/4 cup for 15 gallons is much,. much more.
It sounds as if the OP not draining and flushing the tank before using.

[Accountingphd]

We have always used an inline filter in 3 RVs. Never had a problem in more nights camping than I care to count. Until we did— a state park had disgusting water that I can only describe as slick to the tongue (maybe like baking soda in the water). Gross, it ruined a batch of sweet tea.
So, we just swapped out the Norcold for a residential refrigerator and I added this to the bay to feed the ice maker and so far so good. We don’t have water in the door (darn). But you can get it with two pumps and set up a counter dispenser. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0956P5R1Y...roduct_details
Have never sanitized my water system in three RVs. I only fill with good quality water from a known source and we go out often so it’s never left to sit too long.

[gw1800]

Originally Posted by flyflotrtim

After disinfecting your tank, drain the water and refill with fresh. Still taste bad?

Fill with correct amount of bleach and run all the faucets, hot and cold until you smell bleach in each one. Let it sit over night, then drain the tank. Refill and run all the faucets again until no more bleach smell. Drain the water heater. Drain the tank again. Refill the tank, take the water heater out of bypass and let it fill by opening the relief valve. This only needs to be done once a year, or if the trailer has been sitting for quite a while, before you use the trailer.
Takes a couple of hours to do, but the system will be clean.

[wilcamp]

One cup of bleach for 45 gallons of the FW tank, run all spigot until you smell bleach, then let it sit over night. Pump it all through and drain completely. Refill and flush with fresh water once, maybe twice if you want. Mix up a slurry of baking soda in water, pour it in the FW tank and refill with fresh water. Let that sit over night before draining. Refill and flush with fresh water. This will take a day or two to complete at the beginning of the camping season, but you'll be good for the entire season. Many people fill their FW at home before leaving, and most reputable CGs are required to provide certified safe potable (drinkable) water. I see no practical to sanitize after each trip, unless you're drawing water from a questionable pond or stream.

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by getzold

We can highly recommend a Berkey water filter. We have been using our 1.5 gallon unit for about 8 years and still haven't had to change the filters (just a little scrub every few months). We use the same one at home because the water just tastes better after going through the Berkey.
https://www.berkeyfilters.com/

X2

[Dakota 1120]

Originally Posted by chiraldude

The water in my holding tank is "safe" to drink because I drain/add bleach/fill before every trip. Fine for washing hands and dishes but the bleach and plastic taste make it useless for drinking.
Are there any good filters that screw into the faucet? I would also be fine with a gravity filter as long as it produced 2-3 gallons per day. Either way, the important thing is that the water taste good. No bleach and no plastic/chemical taste after filtering.

I can't believe the number of people that continue to use a bleach solution to santize their fresh water systems.

I used sodium dichloride and there is zero after taste.

"
The way I Sanitize My RV's Fresh Water Tank.

A friend and fellow full time RVer, Bill Randolph told me how he uses something other than household bleach which works well for him and I also started using it. I think is worth passing on to you. Before he retired, Bill spent twenty years in the swimming pool business. He's an expert when it comes to sanitizing swimming pools and spas and says the same rules apply to RV fresh water systems.
Bill uses Chlorinating Concentrate (Sodium Dichloro-s-Triazinetricone or Sodium Dichlor for short). Sodium Dichlor contains 62% available chlorine. Compare that to household bleach which has something close to 3%. One pound of Sodium Dichlor is equal to 8 gallons of bleach! Also, household bleach contains other stuff, including a lot of salt, and that salt and other stuff is what causes the bad taste and why you have to flush the fresh water tank so well.
Bill says it takes only 1 teaspoon of the concentrate per 100 gallons of water to initially sanitize the system. Remember to run water through all the faucets. After that, just a half teaspoon per 100 gallons with each refill will keep the tank fresh.
Like most of us, Bill travels with a near empty tank to reduce weight so when he arrives at park where he plans to stay for a while he drops a half teaspoon of the concentrate into the fill tube and fills his water tank. This insures the system will always be sanitized.
This is not a case where more is better. This stuff is concentrated and it's best to use just what Bill recommends.
Because Chlorinating Concentrate is so highly concentrated you only need to carry a small container. And it is dry crystals so there is less chance of a spill. However, because it is so concentrated it is highly corrosive so you do have to be careful how you store it and use it. You should be able to find Chlorinating Concentrate at any pool supplies or spa store. Bill says there are several brands to choose from. "

With sodum dichlor is dry crystals so easy to carry along in the RV. Simple add about 1/4 teaspoon when filling your fresh water tank from unknown sources and never worry about contamination.

[LittleBill]

Originally Posted by chiraldude

The water in my holding tank is "safe" to drink because I drain/add bleach/fill before every trip. Fine for washing hands and dishes but the bleach and plastic taste make it useless for drinking.
Are there any good filters that screw into the faucet? I would also be fine with a gravity filter as long as it produced 2-3 gallons per day. Either way, the important thing is that the water taste good. No bleach and no plastic/chemical taste after filtering.

Like others are saying, it sounds like you are LEAVING BLEACH IN YOUR FW TANK when you are heading out. Hopefully you aren't and if you are you need to drain the bleached water and refill with fresh unbleached water. You may have to do that a couple of times to remove all trace of the bleach smell. Usually once is enough for us.

Not withstanding that we are on a 620' deep well which we tend not to drink as we are concerned about minerals/bacteria that may be in it as we only have a water softener and a whole house filter to remove sand/rust. So we use 5 gallon jugs you can get at Walmart or Home Depot and goes into a water dispenser crock on a stand (bottle is turned upside down.
Similar to this - https://www.amazon.com/Bluewave-Stri...en%2C86&sr=1-4.

We fill our fresh tank from our well plus use the full hookup when at a CG. We still prefer to drink bottled water. I purchased a rechargeable water pump dispenser to be able to get drinking water from a 5 gallon jug that sits upright. We travel with a second jug so we always have water, exchanging the empty at a nearby Walmart or Home Depot. It works great for us.
Similar to this - https://www.amazon.com/Huhushop-Elec...n%2C96&sr=1-20

Best of luck and be safe -

[MNtraveler]

In addition to not using too much bleach and not leaving bleach in the tank and lines (it should be flushed out of the lines after the tank is flushed), it should not be bleached with a filter in the canister. Remove the filter before bleaching and of course re-attach the housing. After bleach is rinsed out within reason, add the new filter and flush out the charcoal residue which runs black. After that, you should not have any bleach taste at all, or plastic for that matter.

[kpister]

To remove the chlorine taste after sanitizing your tank dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda in one gallon of very hot water. Be sure all the baking soda is dissolved. Pour the solution into the tank and then fill the tank to capacity. Let it sit 8 to 10 hours or overnight. Drain the tank then fill and flush the system with fresh water and two times. Its a bit more work but it does the job. Iv'e done it and it works well.

[Dakota 1120]

Originally Posted by kpister

To remove the chlorine taste after sanitizing your tank dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda in one gallon of very hot water. Be sure all the baking soda is dissolved. Pour the solution into the tank and then fill the tank to capacity. Let it sit 8 to 10 hours or overnight. Drain the tank then fill and flush the system with fresh water and two times. Its a bit more work but it does the job. Iv'e done it and it works well.

When using Sodium Dochlor ... there is zero aftertaste and no need to flush the tank.

[itat]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

water sanitized with bleach can be drunk...


https://www.clorox.com/learn/water-p...-for-drinking/

I think it would be unwise to do this as a regular practice. They do say to wait a half hour after putting that small amount of chlorine in the decanted water (in an open container). That’s to allow both “contact time” and time for the chlorine to dissipate.

[Freebird2020]

After you drain the bleach water from the fresh water tank, just refill using one of these inline filters to refill your fresh water tank.

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-TastePU...6&sr=8-29&th=1

[BPFox33]

We are on our 4 the RV with a fresh water holding tank. I have never cleaned one. I have never sanitized one and we never use the fresh water tank for drinking, or cooking. That said, I have been a home owner since 1975 and we have city water, but I don't drink it. Cook with it, but don't drink it.

[vlamgat]

Originally Posted by wilcamp

One cup of bleach for 45 gallons of the FW tank, run all spigot until you smell bleach, then let it sit over night. Pump it all through and drain completely. Refill and flush with fresh water once, maybe twice if you want. Mix up a slurry of baking soda in water, pour it in the FW tank and refill with fresh water. Let that sit over night before draining. Refill and flush with fresh water. This will take a day or two to complete at the beginning of the camping season, but you'll be good for the entire season. Many people fill their FW at home before leaving, and most reputable CGs are required to provide certified safe potable (drinkable) water. I see no practical to sanitize after each trip, unless you're drawing water from a questionable pond or stream.

+1; more or less the same procedure that the US, Ozzie, UK and French armed forces are using every 6 months in the "Stans" and Africa. Reading this thread would imply that our entire collective militaries would have passed away from bad water let alone the ease with which the enemy could undermine their security if they knew how weak our internal systems had become.

[GodsCountry]

Originally Posted by Sunseeker16

I have only added bleach one time in my water tank and never will again. More than 20 years of RV'ing. I drain the water tank, water heater and everything I can after every trip. Takes a couple minutes. When I refill I run some water through everything and seal it up. Never had an issue and I don't hesitate to drink the water. Keeping in mind I am almost always using chlorinated water from some municipal system. If I was using well water it may be a different story.

Doing it for thirty years. Gets winterized with anti-freeze then blown out B4 freeze. Gets thoroughly flushed at beginning of season with Chlorinated municipal water, (till you can't taste the anti-freeze). Fill everything up let it sit a couple of days, drain, flushed again.
After every trip I'll flush/run some fresh thru it again and every other week or so during the season between trips.
I empty the heater between trips, caught the sacrificial anode pressurizing the system once.
As a kid I grew up drinking water from a garden hose (still do if I'm thirsty).
Guess I'm immune or lucky for the last 60 odd years.