Adding Bleach to Water Tank

[homer_1125]

Anyone have any suggestions to getting bleach solution into fresh water tank?  I need to dewinterize and only have a hose fill inlet on water system.  In the past I tried pouring it in the garden hose before turning the water on, but that doesn?t work well.

 

[cougar3514v]

Okay, at the risk of revealing my true cheapskate self, here's what I do.  I take a thoroughly rinsed 16 or 20 ounce soda bottle and cut a hole in the side of it.  The neck of the bottle fits nicely in my fresh water tank fill.  I position the hole facing up, then pour in the bleach.  I'm guessing that if I weren't so cheap, I'd buy an actual funnel with a flexible tip, but then I'd have to find a place to store it.  ;D

-Dave

 

[homer_1125]

That is a great idea, but my only fill is a hose inlet which requires pressure.  There is no way to pour anything into it.
Thanks for the response.

 

[cougar3514v]

Sorry.  Now that I re-read your post, I can see that you said that.  (My wife claims I don't pay attention when she talks.  Apparently I don't pay attention when I read either.)  Have you tried making a short section (about 9") of hose by cutting a piece of old water hose and adding some of those hose repair kits for the ends?  That way, you could attach the short section of hose to the water fill inlet, fill it with some bleach while holding it upright, then attach the full length hose to the other end of the short section and turning on the water.

-Dave

 

[Jeff]

I just pour the bleach into our hose at the faucet end, hook it back up, and fill the tank.

 

[Ron]

We do the same as Jeff.  with the hose connected to the fill port on the MH I pour the bleach in the other end before connecting to the water source.  Works very well for us.

 

[Karl]

Better to do it the way Jeff said. That way you sterilize your water hose too.

 

[Ron]

Better to do it the way Jeff said. That way you sterilize your water hose too.

That is one of the reasons we do it that way.

 

[Just Lou]

I'm not always the swuftust bird in the flock, but that procedure seemed very intuitive to me..

Pour it in the hoise, hook'er up and let the water pressure do it's thing.  Like Karl said,  it disinfects the hose, fittings, faucet and eventually the tank.  lou 

 

[JerArdra]

Make sure your bleach is PURE bleach.  Some now have other chemicals added other than bleach.

JerryF

 

[Jim T]

Having been a Red Cross CPR instructor for 20 years please be aware that just running
bleach through the hose is not a 100% killing solution.  1 part bleach to 10 parts water is
the correct fomula, but it must set or rest on or in the object or vessel for 10 mins for a
100% kill.

Jim

 

[homer_1125]

Having been a Red Cross CPR instructor for 20 years please be aware that just running
bleach through the hose is not a 100% killing solution.  1 part bleach to 10 parts water is
the correct fomula, but it must set or rest on or in the object or vessel for 10 mins for a
100% kill.

Jim

This is the problem I have. To correctly do this, the bleach needs to be pre dilluted in water.  Pure bleach is very damaging on seals, hose, tanks, etc.  It?s really difficult to pour that entire mix into the hose and then hook it up without spilling most of it. This is my current procedure, but I was looking for an easier way.  Mostly because I have to do this each time I fill up the tank.  My home well water is contaminated to the point that we have a bleach mixing tank connected to our home water system.  Unfortunately, they didn?t connect my garden hose faucets to the treatment system, so I have to add the bleach mix to my MH water tank each time I fill it. 

 

[Ron]

Unless you are using something like pool Chlorine using bleach from the bottle isn't going to hurt anything.  We have been pouring bleach as it come from the bottle into the hose for several years now.  The only concern we have now is to get bleach that contains some of the other stuff like is  on the market now.  I just pour the amount of bleach I am going to use from the bottle into a measuring cup then from the measuring cup into the faucet end of the hose then connect the hose let it se a few minuts and then turn on the faucet.  Been doing it that way for over ten years now with no adverse affects.

 

[Weewun]

Have you thought about using a liquid fertilizer sprayer, the type that connects to the hose and sucks the fertilizer out of the spray bottle.  Using a clean fertilizer sprayer, put bleach in the spray bottle, connect it to the water source, connect the output of the sprayer to the water inlet on your rig and operate the sprayer.  It will suck the bleach out of the sprayer as you fill the tank.

 

[regularguy]

How about a "whole house filter" assembly. Using a non-charcoal type cartridge fill the housing to the proper amount with bleach, connect to the hose and to the camper then fill the tank. The bleach will be pushed into the tank with the added benefit of filtering the water. Of course you could do the fill procedure without the cartridge in-place. Note: when i flush my system I do so without a cartridge in place. Mine have charcoal and a concentrated mixture of bleach would probably render the charcoal useless.
Of course if you do find that a "whole house" type is priced less than an "RV type" you can purchase NPT to hose thread adapters, but with the added cost of the adapters it may be less expensive to just purchase an RV type.
Also: a quick and easy stand for the assembly is to cut a couple of notches in the rim of a bucket (where the hose in and out will rest
Hope this helps......

 

[Wendy]

How often do you put bleach in the water tank and how much do you put in? Do you leave it there or do you flush it out of the system? I know I should have gone to the FMCA seminar on this.

Wendy
San Onofre SB

 

[regularguy]

How often do you put bleach in the water tank and how much do you put in? Do you leave it there or do you flush it out of the system? I know I should have gone to the FMCA seminar on this.

Wendy
San Onofre SB

This is the method that I use... as far as amount and time etc.
http://rvbasics.com/techtips/sanitizing-your-rv-fresh-water-system.html

 

[Ned]

A charcoal filter may not be ruined by bleach, but it will filter the bleach out of the water, rendering the procedure moot.  You're correct to do it without a charcoal filter in place.

 

[Ron]

When sterilizing the freash water sytem by adding bleach I always by remove then replace the filterswith new ones when done.

 

[homer_1125]

Have you thought about using a liquid fertilizer sprayer, the type that connects to the hose and sucks the fertilizer out of the spray bottle.  Using a clean fertilizer sprayer, put bleach in the spray bottle, connect it to the water source, connect the output of the sprayer to the water inlet on your rig and operate the sprayer.  It will suck the bleach out of the sprayer as you fill the tank.

Thanks, I will look into this... this was the help I was looking for.  THANKS TO ALL