Using the fresh water tanks for the 1st time.

[Studiovette]

Hey guys Brand new TT and I want to sanitize the two 40 gal tanks in our 26bh. So far we have just connected to city water but will be traveling for a day before getting to our final destination later this month so would like to do this procedure prior to leaving. I know I need to fill the tanks with water and bleach and let it sit overnight. Question is how much bleach if I have 80 gals total? Also can I fill my tanks with a regular garden hose since I will not be drinking this water? I only have a 50 ft hose for drinking and it will not reach for this process. Or should I just buy another 25ft drinking hose and connect them?

[stateboy]

The Jayco manual for my 2010 model 1007 pop-up says to use 1/4 cup of bleach per 15 gallons for 50ppm and a 4 hour soak or 1/2 cup of bleach per 15 gallons for 100ppm for a 1 hour soak. I went heavy (3/4 cup to 15 gallon ratio) since I bought used last December for a 2 hour soak and flushed it out twice before filling it up. Dilute the said bleach amounts in a one gallon rinsed out milk jug, pour it into the tank and then follow with the rest of the needed water to fill the tank from the hose. In your case 3/4 to 1-1/2 cups of bleach per 40 gallon tank to put you in the 50 to 100ppm ratios.

A regular garden hose will be fine for the sanitation procedure since everything will be killed by the bleach. I still drink out of regular garden hoses at home like I did as a kid in the 60s and lived to talk about it.

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[anav8or]

Originally Posted by Studiovette

Hey guys Brand new TT and I want to sanitize the two 40 gal tanks in our 26bh. So far we have just connected to city water but will be traveling for a day before getting to our final destination later this month so would like to do this procedure prior to leaving. I know I need to fill the tanks with water and bleach and let it sit overnight. Question is how much bleach if I have 80 gals total? Also can I fill my tanks with a regular garden hose since I will not be drinking this water? I only have a 50 ft hose for drinking and it will not reach for this process. Or should I just buy another 25ft drinking hose and connect them?

Typical disinfecting concentration for bleach is 1/2 cup per gallon of water.

On the freshwater hose - I would recommend getting a second hose. You never know when you'll find yourself in a site with water hookup more than 50ft away. It's also a good idea to have a spare hose in the event you do something stupid like I did and get the hose too close to a leveling jack and destroy it

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[Marcm157]

I generally use about 1/4 cup per 15 gallons of water. I use my drinking water hose only because it sanitizes it as well. I put a funnel in the end of the hose and pour the bleach directly into the hose then connect to the water supply.

[Studiovette]

And as far as filling do I run hose and just keep checking my monitor inside? Or when filling fresh water it will just drain from bottom overflow correct ? No fear of overflowing inside camper?

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[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by anav8or

Typical disinfecting concentration for bleach is 1/2 cup per gallon of water.

???????

Disaster Preparedness and Purifying Water
Amount of Clear Water Amount of Clorox® Regular-Bleach
1 quart 2 drops
1 gallon 8 drops
2 gallons 16 drops
5 gallons 40 drops

[robkelly]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

???????

Disaster Preparedness and Purifying Water
Amount of Clear Water Amount of Clorox® Regular-Bleach
1 quart 2 drops
1 gallon 8 drops
2 gallons 16 drops
5 gallons 40 drops

X2

[Studiovette]

So for 80 gals I have to use 640 drops ? 😂 I want to be precise but what does that translate in cups?

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[Bucko06]

1 3/4 cup for 80 gallons.

1/2 cup per gallon is too concentrated for potable water system.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Studiovette

So for 80 gals I have to use 640 drops ? �� I want to be precise but what does that translate in cups?

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Amount: 1 cup US (cup) in volume
Equals: 4,731.76 drops of water (drop - gtt SI)

Just divide 4,731.76 by 640 or 1/8 of a cup..or 2oz

[anav8or]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

???????

Disaster Preparedness and Purifying Water
Amount of Clear WaterAmount of Clorox® Regular-Bleach
1 quart 2 drops
1 gallon 8 drops
2 gallons16 drops
5 gallons40 drops

Fair enough, Grumpy, but we're not purifying water for consumption in this case. Maybe 1/2 cup per gallon is too high a concentration for the water system (that came from the bleach bottle and is admittedly probably more appropriate for cleaning food prep surfaces and such), but I'm not sure a few drops of bleach per gallon is enough...

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[stateboy]

I think I'm getting a little confused here myself. Studiovette said he wanted to sanitize his system, not prepare drinking water. Drops don't come into play for sanitizing.

If you're looking to purify water with chlorine, then counting drops is a good idea but not to sanitize the system that's going to be flushed before being refilled with potable water.

I don't know. Maybe I read the posts following my first post incorrectly but sanitizing and water purification are two different things. Sanitize is addressed by cups and purification with drops.

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[Studiovette]

Originally Posted by 36fire412

I think I'm getting a little confused here myself. Studiovette said he wanted to sanitize his system, not prepare drinking water. Drops don't come into play for sanitizing.

If you're looking to purify water with chlorine, then counting drops is a good idea but not to sanitize the system that's going to be flushed before being refilled with potable water.

I don't know. Maybe I read the posts following my first post incorrectly but sanitizing and water purification are two different things. Sanitize is addressed by cups and purification with drops.

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Thanks for pointing that out.

[Iraqvet05]

This is striaght from my owners manual:

SANITIZING THE PLUMBING SYSTEMWhen to sanitize
When your RV is new.
At the beginning and end of each season.
When the water system becomes contaminated or every three months of use. How to sanitize with a water pump

1. Level the RV and drain the fresh water system. (see Draining the fresh watersystem).

2. Close the drain valves.

3. Prepare a chlorine solution using 1/4 cup of household bleach (sodium hypochlorite solution) to one gallon (3.785 liters) of water in a container. Prepare one gallon of solution for every 15 gallons of tank capacity. This will result in a residual chlorine concentration of 50 ppm in the water system. If a 100-ppm concentration is required as discussed in step 10, use ½ cup of household bleach with one gallon of water to prepare the chlorine solution. One gallon of the solution should be used for each 15 gallons of tank capacity.

4. Pour the chlorine solution in at the gravity fill connection.

5. Continue filling the fresh water tank with potable water until it is full.

6. Turn the water pump ON.

7. After the recommended amount of solution is in the tank, turn OFF the water pump.

8. Open the hot water line on all the faucets until water begins to flow continuously and a chlorine smell is noticeable.

9. Close the hot water lines and repeat with the cold water lines on the faucets.

10. Let the solution remain in the system for at least four hours when disinfecting with 50-PPM residual chlorine. If a shorter time period is desired, then a 100-PPM chlorine concentration should be permitted to sit in the system for at least one hour.

[Iraqvet05]

I would not let the bleach sit in the system overnight. As for filling, you can use the tank gauge to monitor the level or just wait until you see the overflow hoses start pouring out. Also, depending on the water pressure of your garden hose, it may take a long time to fill the tanks. Remember, you have to fill to disinfect then drain and fill again to rinse... draining takes a long time so be patient.

[stateboy]

Thanks Iraqvet05 for the greater detail. I mentioned that in summary form in post #2 because I was too lazy to type that all out (and my manual was in my camper in storage). It does not matter how big the tank is, just using the right concentration per 15 gallon ratio. Perfect.

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[Flapper]

About hoses:
The issue is the leaching of various plasticizers etc. from the hose into the water, and then you ingesting that. Drinking water hoses have been tested and certified to not have that problem. As with most things, it is a matter of concentration and time. Flushing a hose, and then using it to fill a tank (or drinking out of it), and there is likely to be very, very little bad stuff to worry about. You flushed out what might be there, and then aren't giving the water much time to pick up more as you use the hose. Water sitting in a hose laying in the sun for a day may, though, build up high concentrations. Repeat day after day as you camp in your RV, and yes, you may be drinking something you don't want to drink. So generally try to always use a "water safe" hose. But for short term, one off, use - just flush the hose you are using first.
Same as bleach - 1-3 ppm in a swimming pool (or for purifying drinking water) is safe to drink. 25-50 ppm to sanitize an RV system is not.

BTW - before doing the final flush to rinse remaining bleach water out of the system, pull your heater plug and drain the hot water heater of bleach water. Then put the plug back in, and flush the entire system with fresh. The tank holds up to 6 gal of water, and it can take a LOT of flushing to eliminate the bleach if you don't drain it first.

[Studiovette]

Originally Posted by Flapper

About hoses:
The issue is the leaching of various plasticizers etc. from the hose into the water, and then you ingesting that. Drinking water hoses have been tested and certified to not have that problem. As with most things, it is a matter of concentration and time. Flushing a hose, and then using it to fill a tank (or drinking out of it), and there is likely to be very, very little bad stuff to worry about. You flushed out what might be there, and then aren't giving the water much time to pick up more as you use the hose. Water sitting in a hose laying in the sun for a day may, though, build up high concentrations. Repeat day after day as you camp in your RV, and yes, you may be drinking something you don't want to drink. So generally try to always use a "water safe" hose. But for short term, one off, use - just flush the hose you are using first.
Same as bleach - 1-3 ppm in a swimming pool (or for purifying drinking water) is safe to drink. 25-50 ppm to sanitize an RV system is not.

BTW - before doing the final flush to rinse remaining bleach water out of the system, pull your heater plug and drain the hot water heater of bleach water. Then put the plug back in, and flush the entire system with fresh. The tank holds up to 6 gal of water, and it can take a LOT of flushing to eliminate the bleach if you don't drain it first.

So Bleach solution has been sitting for 4 hrs and I would like to pull the plug on heater to get the bleachy water out. I see a warning on there that says not to drain unless power has been disconnected for obvious reasons of not running the heater dry I'm assuming. So should I unplug from shore power while doing this, or make sure my water heater is completely OFF is OK. And do I drain completely then pull plug last on heater?

Thanks!

[stateboy]

It's always safer to disconnect your power and gravity will do its thing to drain your tank. I would pull the plug on the water heater, open the low points and drain the tank at the same time.

Having no power at that time is just an insurance in case there's a short that may be charging anything metal on your frame. If you think that's safe, then you could try running the pump after everything quits draining just to see if there's any additional water to be offered. I would not leave the pump on for more than five seconds. Some may disagree with that advice.

There will be a residual quantity of water left in the water heater since the drain plug is not situated at the very bottom of the water heater so I usually flush twice but that's just me.

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[Studiovette]

You guys weren't kidding about how long it takes to drain. Esp with 2 x40. I decided to wash her while she's draining !