Indiandy
NWI
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Joined: 01/05/2012
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Fresno Tundra Driver wrote:Water doesn't expire caveman. Its the same water the ancient cavemen drank. There is really not a biohazard. If its only water (even well water) the nutrients are not present for bacteria to multiply in any number great enough to cause a threat. Dogs drink from toilets all the time without getting sick. You'll be fine if you left it in and just added water as needed. The only issue would be the plastic from the tank may impart an undesirable taste after a while especially in hot weather. Add a teaspoon of bleach if you want. Chlorinated water isn't a problem. Most of us drink it everyday. My 2cents.
Sterilize your tank if your gonna drink out of it. I agree with the chlorinated water comment, but not the rest. Water in a relatively clean water bottle will become stanky in a few days in my gym bag in the car; I am not drinking something that smells that bad.
BTW, my dog would smell the other dogs butts and eat all kinds of crazy stuff, but he never told me why or if it did not feel well. Hmm.
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sheltonlp
Washington State
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Joined: 06/02/2011
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Interesting to hear the EMT's took a sample of the water...I work in an ED and really we do not care what you have, we will treat you with the typical antibiotics for bacterial gastroenteritis and give fluids and anti-nausea medication. We certainly would not wait for a lab to test the water to treat you.
Good info on this thread...I typically fill at home because I know I can trust the city water to be "bug" free :-) Plus we bring bottled water to drink and use the TT for everything else.
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Fresno Tundra Driver
Fresno,Ca. USA
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Joined: 11/20/2003
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The beauty of the site is we get to pick and choose the info we like and disregard the rest. For me personally I have never gotten sick from "old" water,from any source,in 25 years of camping and I have never sterilized. If some want to sterilize then by all means sterilize. I also think bottled water is a waste of money but thats another issue.
E.Lee Galik
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CavemanCharlie
Storden,MN
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Joined: 03/01/2012
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Fresno Tundra Driver wrote:The beauty of the site is we get to pick and choose the info we like and disregard the rest. For me personally I have never gotten sick from "old" water,from any source,in 25 years of camping and I have never sterilized. If some want to sterilize then by all means sterilize. I also think bottled water is a waste of money but thats another issue.
I agree that bottled water is a waste. I buy the bottle once and reuse the same bottles by refilling them out of my home tap. They last about a season then they spring a leak. I like to keep them nice and cold in the fridge and because I don't sanitize my holding tank I don't drink that water. Still, as I said on my last TT I had the fresh water tank get a really bad smell to it after setting for a few weeks. So bad that I didn't want to shower with it. Wasn't a plastic smell. More of a green lake kinda smell. I wonder if there are some tablets that a person can drop in there to help out with that. By the way I'm on city water that does have chlorine already added to it so I don't know if I really want to dump more into my tank or not. Hate to make it smell like a swimming pool.
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JJBIRISH
Butler, PA, USA
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Joined: 10/06/2002
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Well annually or more often sanitizing the system will never hurt anyone even if it isn‘t necessary…
The quality of the water coming out the spigot is directly related to the quality of the water put in…
Treated tap water is a sealed air tight food grade container will keep safely for 6 months and should then be rotated…
Bought bottled water should be rotated out after one year…
Untreated well water should be treated before storage at the rate of 16 drops of unscented bleach per gallon and should be rotated every 6 months as well…it should still have just a hint of chlorine smell 30 min after treating and before sealing…
How ever the RV storage tank isn’t a air tight system and the water is continually in use… its quality shouldn’t significantly change under these conditions…
if it is unused for long periods it should be drained and refilled at no more than 3 month intervals…
The flat taste of long time stored water can be improved by aerating it again… you can do that by just pouring it from one container to another several times..
I almost always have city water but still keep my tanks full all the time as a part of emergency preparedness…. You never know when the normal supply will be interrupted and it always nice to not have to worry about it… the main reason for my emergency generator also…
Love my mass produced, entry level, built by Lazy American Workers, Hornet
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facory
Georgia
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When dry camping we use the tank water for flushing, Showers, washing dishes. All other water gets filtered through the water pitcher. We do filter the water going into the fresh tank and then again through the water pitcher filter. I also add a tbsp of chlorine bleach to the full tank for good measure. Works well for us.
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crcr
Phoenix, AZ
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When draining the FW tank and leaving it empty before the next camping trip, is it advisable to leave the drain plug off? Or screw it back on?
Thanks.
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rolnhome
Casa Grande, Az
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Joined: 11/19/2007
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Screw it back on
We're in Arizona
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ata3001
Niagara Falls, NY
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crcr wrote:When draining the FW tank and leaving it empty before the next camping trip, is it advisable to leave the drain plug off? Or screw it back on?
Thanks.
I'd advise not leaving it empty between trips. I was doing just that but noticed after the TT sat in the driveway for several weeks between using it, the inside of the fresh water tank had started to become moldy. My fresh tank is in full view when looking under my camper. It appears that even tho I kept the cap loose (I have a 2" drain valve on mine), the dampness in the tank caused it to get moldy. There's not enough air circulation in it to dry it out, so now I completely refill it after a campout, then drain & refill it immediately before the next campout. This keeps it from growing mold inside it. To clean out the mold, I poured 1 gal of bleach into it, let it sit a few days, drained it & added another gal of bleach for another few days. Maybe I could have used a pool shock treatment, but I not familiar enough with that to try it. To rinse it out completely required filling & draining 8 full tanks of water.
Ron & BJ
2008 Dutchmen Freedom Spirit FS180 (24 FT) w/full factory dark tinted glass & front window
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Perrysburg Dodgeboy
Perrysburg, Ohio USA
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Joined: 12/06/2003
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Fresh water tank service 101.
First lets start off be looking at the system. We have a fill tube with a vent line running to a holding tank. This is not a closed or sealed system so it will allow for contaminants to enter the system. So you will need to sanitize the system every time you use it or run the risk of drinking contaminated water.
Sanitize the system by using the CORRECT amount of Chlorine Bleach. Run it though all the water lines and fill the tank to the top and try to pour some diluted bleach down the vent tube. Let it stand for a few hours then drain and flush the system remember to flush ALL the lines even the toilet line.
To keep your water clean you can use Sodium Dichlor used in hot tubs in your water. Here is a link to how to use it Click Here.
I also sanitize both my gray and black tanks before the TT goes into storage so that there are no smells emitting into the TT after the water has evaporated from the p-trap s .
Perrysburg Dodgeboy
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Chrysler the only one to pay back 100% of their loans from the Government. *The Old Car Company" still owes 1.6 billion. Is that better Chuckles 
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