fresh water holding tank

[blkmesa]

I was told I should use commercial strength Hydrogen Peroxide to sanitize my water tank. I used just a few drops and now I have a really bad odor to my water. What should I flush through the system to clean it and get rid of the odor. Thank you.

 

[Ned]

Hydrogen peroxide is not the best way to sanitize your fresh water system, but it also didn't cause your odor.  A few drops is literally a drop in the ocean   We have a sanitizing procedure in the forum library that will work.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Like my Jayco I typically use a cup a normal everyday bleach and fill the tank and leave it sit over night. Then flush the tank twice and it all good. No bad taste or odor. You might flush it with vinegar and see if that takes care of it.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A few drops of peroxide won't sanitize anything larger than a tablespoon. You probably need a gallon or so in a RV fresh water tank.

Use chlorine bleach (the unscented variety) per the instructions in our forum Library.

http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110:water-system-sanitizing&catid=42:fresh-water-systems&Itemid=45

 

[Retired CSIGuy]

Odor is caused by bacteria (unless you've put something else in there you shouldn't have).  Bleach is per instructions, rinse it, then leave the valve open and let the tank dry completely for at least several days before you close it up again.  Make sure iof you run the pump for any reason while there's bleach in the tank, that you rinse that pump out good also.  Can beVery corrosive

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I doubt if you can dry out most fresh tanks - mine has a couple gallons of water in it no matter how long the valve is open. The chlorine solution will kills the bacteria anyway.

 

[Retired CSIGuy]

yeah...it's tough to get all the water out.  I drive it with the valve open for good distances, and pretty much leave the valve open for loooopng time.  Seems to do the trick.

 

[Foto-n-T]

Even though we're hooked up to city water I keep water in our fresh tank for showers.  It seems that the water filters I bought just don't flow quite good enough so pressure for showers is mediocre at best.  Instead of using the commercial fresh water treatment that you can get I started using household bleach a couple of years ago.  I use 1/4 cup for the 100 gallon tank and it seems to do the trick as far as keeping the water fresh.

While we were in Texas I was only using the 1/4 cup of bleach every other time that I filled the tank not wanting to over due it.  A couple of weeks ago we packed up and migrated to Lake Havasu City AZ to see the kids and went from 90 degrees in the daytime to 110.  A few days ago I noticed that the water was picking up a nasty odor, not too bad but noticeable.  Consequently I re-sanitized the tank which cured the problem.  Apparently when it's hot enough to fry an egg on the patio slab normal water usage for just showers isn't enough to keep the little critters at bay in a 100 gallon tank.

As far as the peroxide is concerned, I'd save that for when you skin you knuckles, not for sanitizing a fresh tank.

 

[2Goldens]

This is just the information I was looking for.  I will get some bleach and clean my holding tank next weekend.