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Old 06-09-2023, 01:47 AM   #1
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Newbie: water system - best practices ?

Just bought a 2019 Windsport 29M. Looking for advice on recommended procedures to clean water storage tank, hot water heater, water lines etc. Prior owner said he fully drained storage tank and blew out all lines. So I’m thinking one shoukd probably do some sort of treatment/disinfection at start of every season? Or perhaps anytime RV has not been used in a while?

I saw one thread that recommended adding 1/8 cup bleach for every 8 gallons of water, run mixture thru lines for a minute, then let bleach/water mixture sit in tank/lines for several hours. Then flysh one or more times…

Also, how about water filters? I’ve seen inline filters one would attach to city water hookup. But that would only be helpful for campsites where one hooks to water source. Wondering if I could install say a Big Blue type filter housing and cartridge in a location that would filter BOTH water coming from 80 gallon storage tank OR city water hookup? I happen to have an extra Big Blue housing (20”) and cartridges, and I’m comfortable doing plumbing (especially PEX).

TIA

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Old 06-09-2023, 12:23 PM   #2
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I don't understand the questions. You can find numerous articles online; and many threads in this Forum on how to sanitize the FW system, and you gave one example. So that question has been answered.

Filter is personal preference - there is no "correct" answer. If you want a filter - install it. Any other input is just other peoples' personal preference. May be why you received 0 responses.
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Old 06-09-2023, 12:46 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ReedMikel View Post
Just bought a 2019 Windsport 29M. Looking for advice on recommended procedures to clean water storage tank, hot water heater, water lines etc. Prior owner said he fully drained storage tank and blew out all lines. So I’m thinking one shoukd probably do some sort of treatment/disinfection at start of every season? Or perhaps anytime RV has not been used in a while?

I saw one thread that recommended adding 1/8 cup bleach for every 8 gallons of water, run mixture thru lines for a minute, then let bleach/water mixture sit in tank/lines for several hours. Then flysh one or more times…

Also, how about water filters? I’ve seen inline filters one would attach to city water hookup. But that would only be helpful for campsites where one hooks to water source. Wondering if I could install say a Big Blue type filter housing and cartridge in a location that would filter BOTH water coming from 80 gallon storage tank OR city water hookup? I happen to have an extra Big Blue housing (20”) and cartridges, and I’m comfortable doing plumbing (especially PEX).

TIA
If you don’t have it, Download your operators manual for Thor’s procedure to sanitize your fresh water system.
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Old 06-09-2023, 04:14 PM   #4
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Hi Geterdun - I just posted yesterday, so that’s probably why there haven’t been many replies. What question(s) didn’t you understand from this newbie?

Thanks EA37TS - I will definitely download and read the manual…
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Old 06-09-2023, 04:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ReedMikel View Post
Just bought a 2019 Windsport 29M. Looking for advice on recommended procedures to clean water storage tank, hot water heater, water lines etc. Prior owner said he fully drained storage tank and blew out all lines. So I’m thinking one shoukd probably do some sort of treatment/disinfection at start of every season? Or perhaps anytime RV has not been used in a while?

Yup, that's what I do, once a year I sanitize my water system and replace the filter.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ReedMikel View Post
I saw one thread that recommended adding 1/8 cup bleach for every 8 gallons of water, run mixture thru lines for a minute, then let bleach/water mixture sit in tank/lines for several hours. Then flysh one or more times…

That's what I do, plus when the mixture is in the tank, I drive around (over speed bumps lol) for a bit to splash it into all crooks and nannies of the freshwater tank.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ReedMikel View Post
Also, how about water filters? I’ve seen inline filters one would attach to city water hookup. But that would only be helpful for campsites where one hooks to water source. Wondering if I could install say a Big Blue type filter housing and cartridge in a location that would filter BOTH water coming from 80 gallon storage tank OR city water hookup? I happen to have an extra Big Blue housing (20”) and cartridges, and I’m comfortable doing plumbing (especially PEX).

I love having a water filter (regular 1 micron cartridge/housing) filtering the kitchen faucet water. I don't hesitate to drink it, tastes good. The bathroom water has a bit of a plastic-y taste, ok for brushing teeth, but I rather use the kitchen sink water.
My Rize had it already plumbed in with PEX. Fairly easy to access (behind wardrobe) and change the filter.
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Old 06-09-2023, 04:28 PM   #6
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Thanks Rize!
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Old 06-09-2023, 04:40 PM   #7
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Also want to mention that after every trip I completely drain my tank. That way, the quantity of water that is sitting there for the weeks between trips is minimized.


I usually only have a couple of gallons left when I return.
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Old 06-09-2023, 05:12 PM   #8
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Our tank has sat for 3 months so we sanitized just this week. I believe we used 1/4 cup for 15 gallons. We fill our fresh water tank 3/4 full of the bleach solution and then run water to all the facets.. Usually drive just a tiny bit to splash water all around the 3/4 filled tank and let it sit 24 hours. We drain our tank and refill with fresh water...run until all faucet no longer smell of Clorox. Drain once more and fill with fresh.


We do use a filter on the outside of the city water. Mainly for taste and sediment. Change it once of 2x a season. It is one made to hook to garden hose threads.



One more thing is to try to keep a clean black tank when you store in summer heat. It can get smelly just sitting if anything is in there. Keep reading and asking. Enjoy!
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Old 06-09-2023, 05:23 PM   #9
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... and let it sit 24 hours. ...

Note that some say it's a bad idea to let the bleach work for that long as it may start to degrade the various gaskets and O-Rings.



I usually go with 4-6 hours... no scientific evidence for this but gut-feel.


Maybe at the 1/4cup per 8 or 16gal it's not an issue.
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Old 06-09-2023, 05:44 PM   #10
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I did not think about that. Bleach is on lots of things.
I wonder if there is a non bleach sanitizer that won't harm inorganic material?
We do take out our anode rod and use a plastic plug to sanitize the water heater tank. Bleach will eat at many types of rods.


EDIT: under my nose....
We use this in our reverse osmosis system. It has O-rings and a couple valves.
It is non-bleach.
https://proproducts.com/products/sani-system/
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Old 06-09-2023, 10:54 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ReedMikel View Post
Just bought a 2019 Windsport 29M. Looking for advice on recommended procedures to clean water storage tank, hot water heater, water lines etc. Prior owner said he fully drained storage tank and blew out all lines. So I’m thinking one shoukd probably do some sort of treatment/disinfection at start of every season? Or perhaps anytime RV has not been used in a while?

I saw one thread that recommended adding 1/8 cup bleach for every 8 gallons of water, run mixture thru lines for a minute, then let bleach/water mixture sit in tank/lines for several hours. Then flysh one or more times…

Also, how about water filters? I’ve seen inline filters one would attach to city water hookup. But that would only be helpful for campsites where one hooks to water source. Wondering if I could install say a Big Blue type filter housing and cartridge in a location that would filter BOTH water coming from 80 gallon storage tank OR city water hookup? I happen to have an extra Big Blue housing (20”) and cartridges, and I’m comfortable doing plumbing (especially PEX).

TIA
See this U-Tube video about how to sanitize.



Unfortunately, Martin passed away April 2023 but he did leave a legacy of valuable how to information for the rest of us.

As for the filter, while it is up to you, you should also consider installing a softener. Some will tell you that you do not need either filters or a softener. However, consider this your RV will be exposed to many different sources of water. While some might be fine and cause no problems the fact is that hard water deposits can build up quickly and totally clog up the works causing damage that could cost thousands to repair. In my case my RV was 4 years old when I purchased it last year. It had 3900 miles and had seen very little use. Yet, the Bathroom sink aerator and Kitchen sink sprayer were both clogged with mineral deposits. Fortunately, I was able to clear up the problems with a little soak in CLR. This convinced me that I needed to install a filter / softener system to filter the water before it entered my tank. Just this past Memorial Weekend the RV Filter Store https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/ had a 40% off sale so I was able to purchase a complete system with the softener for a little more than the cost of just the filter system. See the photo below. I am preparing to do a permanent installation inside one of my bays that is not the wet bay.
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Old 06-09-2023, 11:00 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by happy View Post
I did not think about that. Bleach is on lots of things.
I wonder if there is a non bleach sanitizer that won't harm inorganic material?
We do take out our anode rod and use a plastic plug to sanitize the water heater tank. Bleach will eat at many types of rods.


EDIT: under my nose....
We use this in our reverse osmosis system. It has O-rings and a couple valves.
It is non-bleach.
https://proproducts.com/products/sani-system/
Not necessary to sanitize the hot water heater, in fact the bleach will damage the water heater so it should always be bypassed when you sanitize the water system. The main reason it is not necessary is that the water heater will kill most pathogens by the heat alone.
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Old 06-09-2023, 11:46 PM   #13
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Not necessary to sanitize the hot water heater, in fact the bleach will damage the water heater so it should always be bypassed then you sanitize the water system. The main reason it is not necessary is that the water heater will kill most pathogens by the heat alone.
Maybe damage Suburban or Girard water heaters but the Atwood ones are class lined.
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Old 06-10-2023, 01:14 AM   #14
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Thanks All! This newbie really appreciates all the good tips��
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Old 06-10-2023, 01:24 AM   #15
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Instead of bleach, I might try using electrolyzed water (EW). I’ve been using the Force Of Nature (FON) unit to make our own EW for several years now. It’s much less harsh than bleach, yet effective at disinfecting…. Need to research more to see if any other RV’ers use it…
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Old 06-10-2023, 01:31 PM   #16
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I've read that some water heaters can be damaged with higher levels of bleach. For us that is an acceptable risk. . Water heater bacteria is an interesting subject with much debate about the required temp to kill the 2 most harmful water tank bacteria. I do not trust our RV water heater being reliable enough to kill water born bacteria such as legionella. We do not consistently keep ours heated to the necessary (some think this is enough heat) 140 F to kill the bacteria and between trips the tank may remain damp even if drained.

Anyway, for us we disinfect our water heater when it has set for a couple months before a trip.
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Old 06-10-2023, 01:48 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by happy View Post
I've read that some water heaters can be damaged with higher levels of bleach. For us that is an acceptable risk. . Water heater bacteria is an interesting subject with much debate about the required temp to kill the 2 most harmful water tank bacteria. I do not trust our RV water heater being reliable enough to kill water born bacteria such as legionella. We do not consistently keep ours heated to the necessary (some think this is enough heat) 140 F to kill the bacteria and between trips the tank may remain damp even if drained.

Anyway, for us we disinfect our water heater when it has set for a couple months before a trip.
My water heater manual says 2 quarts of water will remain at the bottom of the tank after draining. They recommend removing the over pressure relief valve to flush the tank if necessary. I have a Dometic 10 gallon tank.
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Old 06-10-2023, 02:04 PM   #18
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Water bugs are nasty pests. You can breath in some and ingest others.
Some just make you retch for a couple days others will kill you.
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Old 06-10-2023, 02:19 PM   #19
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Glad to see we’ve got another “how do I sanitize my fresh water system” thread. We just drink straight from a waterhose run through a window. That way we don’t have to stomach the 1/3 tank of freshwater. And I saw this yesterday. A lady in a Tiffin Allegro Bus next to us flushed her black tank for a good 30 minutes by hooking her flush hose to the spigot at the site. I see this all the time. Why bother using a separate hose from your drinking water hose? So, spray that bib before attaching your drinking water hose.
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Old 06-14-2023, 11:52 PM   #20
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Sanitize

I have used this with good success.

https://a.co/d/81DjJ1y

Mostly used for brewing to sanitize equipment.
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