When to drain hot water heater

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by Flybob

It also depends on the quality of the water in it....

IMHO that is concern number one. However lower winter temps could mitigate the danger of an unwanted biology project developing.

[itat]

I drain ours whenever the trailer will sit for more than 2 weeks. It takes 3-4 minutes, tops. I don’t like the thought of stale water sitting in the system especially in mid-summer.

[5picker]

I wonder how many folks drain their water heaters and plumbing systems at home when on vacation for a few weeks or gone for a month? [emoji6]

[007matman]

When was the last time you drank water from the hot water heater? Personally, I can't think of a time when I did...

Just sayin'..

[babock]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I wonder how many folks drain their water heaters and plumbing systems at home when on vacation for a few weeks or gone for a month? [emoji6]

Yep...none. Although I do drain my home water heaters yearly to get rid of sediment. We live in a hard water area. May even drain and put a few gallons of vinegar in to get rid of the scale on the bottom the next time I do it.

[itat]

My house never gets as hot as my trailer does in mid-summer. Higher temps can promote growth of bacteria. I’ll continue to drain the water system. It hurts nothing and takes very little time.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by 007matman

When was the last time you drank water from the hot water heater? Personally, I can't think of a time when I did...

Just sayin'..

The taste or health concerns over drinking stale water from the water heater is not the only concern. When using the stale, bacteria contaminated hot water for dish washing or showering, the strong bad odor can overwhelm the whole camper.

As for drinking it, yes, I have lazily left the single handled faucet in the middle position while filling a glass of water, and would have inadvertently drank some water from the water heater. It’s easy to do. Just sayin’..

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I wonder how many folks drain their water heaters and plumbing systems at home when on vacation for a few weeks or gone for a month? [emoji6]

No, we didn’t drain the heater but we took a couple showers with some stinky water, and hoped no one would notice our smell. Draining the heater would have been the better choice, and I’ll consider it next time we’re gone from home for a few weeks.

[007matman]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

The taste or health concerns over drinking stale water from the water heater is not the only concern. When using the stale, bacteria contaminated hot water for dish washing or showering, the strong bad odor can overwhelm the whole camper.

As for drinking it, yes, I have lazily left the single handled faucet in the middle position while filling a glass of water, and would have inadvertently drank some water from the water heater. It’s easy to do. Just sayin’..

Hmm.. I guess I've never connected my city water or filled my gravity tank with water from the non-potable water spigot so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about..

The water where we've gone in almost 20 years of camping has always been fairly good. Ran into some sulphur a few times but that's about it.

Sorry you have difficulty finding good water where you camp. I'd just fill up at home if that was an issue.


I'll concede and say that if I knew or detected bad water I probably wouldn't use it for anything and would most definitely dump/flush the system ASAP.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by 007matman

Hmm.. I guess I've never connected my city water or filled my gravity tank with water from the non-potable water spigot so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about..

The water where we've gone in almost 20 years of camping has always been fairly good. Ran into some sulphur a few times but that's about it.

Sorry you have difficulty finding good water where you camp. I'd just fill up at home if that was an issue.

I'll concede and say that if I knew or detected bad water I probably wouldn't use it for anything and would most definitely dump/flush the system ASAP.

The water with the tendency to go bad if left in the water heater IS from home, and for convenience is primarily where we fill our fresh water tank. I never suggested the water was from a campground or from a non-potable water spigot.

The very same underground aquifer that supplies our private well also supplies 850,000 people in 15 counties, according to Wikipedia. It is very good tasting water when fresh, and tests as safe potable water. The difference is that larger municipalities treat their water with chemicals, but owners of private wells rarely do. So it’s not so much that we’re putting “bad” water in our fresh water tank, it’s that we’re putting untreated water in our fresh water tank and water heater. Occasionally we do use a bit of bleach or the commercial water freshener products in the tank, and that probably helps fight the tendency for the water to go “stale”. When the water goes “bad” from being left in the plumbing system, it’s not a health threat but the non pathogenic bacteria causes a foul odor.

Our use of untreated water is why we drain the heater tank during storage of a few weeks or more.