How long can you keep water in the tank?

[Chewman]

I'm new to trailers and was wondering how long you can keep the fresh water tank full before having to add some sanitation.

[myxkp]

2 weeks if the tank was sanitized prior to filling and the correct hose was used and the water was of good quality.
These are guidelines, others may have different experiences.

[NJKris]

CDC guidelines are for 6 months if water is kept in cool (50-70 deg F) dark place (out of direct sunlight), and things were sanitized before fill up.

[itat]

I dump my system if its going to sit for more than 2 weeks. Drain the fresh water tank, the hot water tank and all the water lines. Some will say its overkill but that's what I like to do. I don't want warm stagnant water sitting in my trailer for too long.

[Mike223]

Originally Posted by itat

I dump my system if its going to sit for more than 2 weeks. Drain the fresh water tank, the hot water tank and all the water lines. Some will say its overkill but that's what I like to do. I don't want warm stagnant water sitting in my trailer for too long.

Ditto for me also.
Mike

[Villagerjjm]

In warmer weather you may run a risk of amoebic dysentery if the water sits too long in the tank without additional sanitizer.

[NJKris]

Amoeba has to get in there somehow, it is a living organism. A properly maintained system should not be susceptible to such an infection unless the water source was sketchy to begin with.

[Villagerjjm]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Amoeba has to get in there somehow, it is a living organism. A properly maintained system should not be susceptible to such an infection unless the water source was sketchy to begin with.

That is true, and the key is proper maintenance, like you stated. As for how the amoeba get in there.... take a factory fresh unopened bottle of water and leave it outside for 3 or 4 weeks. After that time, I dare you to go out, open it and drink it down. I double-dog dare you! 🙄

[Tundra 2014]

I dump mine after every trip. If it sits in there for more than a couple of weeks, get a taste and DW makes us go to bottled till I sanitize.

[RacerRalph]

We fill in the spring, camp a couple weekends a month. add water as needed and drain in the fall.

[Philkaty]

well I guess I have been wrong all these years. no one has gotten sick yet. I drive it around every few weeks so it isn't just sitting there.

[Grapehound]

(Sorry--title intended was "Careful is smarter with water," not wager)

Like many, I dump the balance of my fresh water water tank when I arrive home. I only travel with a few gallons for on road use anyway.

I am not so pressed for a few gallons of water that I need to save it for months in hot weather. (I could use it on the flower garden, I guess.) If the RV sits for some weeks in warm weather, I sanitize again with a bleach solution before heading out, since the water lines are still full of "old" or stagnant water, even if you drain your fresh water tank.

One consideration not mentioned is that your water may have a longer "shelf life" if you filled from a chlorinated 'city' water source. That said, there seems no advantage in my mind to use older, stagnant water, rather than at least refilling with fresh water, even if you don't resanitize.

Your innards won't be happy if you take a chance on "dirty" water and choose wrongly.

Just my thoughts.
Larry

[JimMorrell]

Lots of answers so here's mine: End of season, I drain and refill with bleach based fresh water, making sure to run through the system. Begining of year, I drain, refill, drain and refill, and run thru the system. Then I refill with good fresh water. We have extremely good tap water.

[Chewman]

Thank you all for the information. I looked in the owners manual and see to properly sanitize you need to connect a water connection and add the chlorine. Will someone explain why that is necessary vs just adding the chlorine to the fresh water tank.
Thanks again to all, there is a lot to learn!

[NMWildcat]

If you are like a lot of us, you can't actually drain all the water out of your tank. My tank has a pretty good bulge in the bottom that holds several gallons of water. I can pump it, drain it, leave the drain open while traveling hundreds of miles, and there is still water in there.
So I just disinfect it with Clorox ever so often and don't really worry about it.
We use ours often enough now that we always leave at least 15 gallons or so in there.

[JimMorrell]

I have an earlier reply post here. Take a look at it. I've done the same thing for 26 years. Have never had mold or algae in the system, have always had good tasting water in the trailer and have never had anyone get sick when camping. Everyone has a different answer. BUT...its not rocket science. Its hygene. Good travels.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by Mike223

Ditto for me also.
Mike

X-3 !!!

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Chewman

Thank you all for the information. I looked in the owners manual and see to properly sanitize you need to connect a water connection and add the chlorine. Will someone explain why that is necessary vs just adding the chlorine to the fresh water tank.
Thanks again to all, there is a lot to learn!

Those manual are usually 'generic' and not specific to your rig. So you have to do what works best for your rig.
My best guess would be that they want you to added diluted bleach to the tank to avoid potential problems with any seals on the rig or adding to an empty tank (or undiluted bleach on your hands.)

[NJKris]

Don't forget to sanitize your hoses too. I pour some dilute bleach into the end of he hose after I hook it up to RV city water connection, then connect to water supply and turn water on briefly so hose fills up, let it sit that way for a spell.

[SageCrispin]

I know this one will fall on deaf ears because I can't find anything below $65, but the ONLY way is to have a DPD free chlorine test kit. You test for 0.5 ppm give or take, and you can drink the water. Otherwise, you don't know for sure what you really have. Water can go bad in two hours, or be good for two years. There is no substitute for scientific data.