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cleaning the fresh water tank

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swanson View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote swanson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: cleaning the fresh water tank
    Posted: 05 Jun 2025 at 12:01pm
how much vinegar do I use to add to the fresh water tank to make the water taste good again
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2025 at 2:00pm
Hello Swanson,

Welcome to the forum. Since I have no idea of your tank's condition, I can't say for certain.

Have you sanitized the tank after dewinterizing? If not, then for a 30 gallon tank, you will need plain (no cleaning additives) bleach. Recommendations vary but 3/4 cup for a 30 gallon tank should be fine. Fill the tank part way, add the bleach diluted with water, and finish filling the tank. Run the faucets (don't forget outside shower/spray port) until you smell bleach. Shut the faucets off and top off the tank. Then let it sit for at least 8 hours.

Then drain the tank and use the low point drains to drain the bleach-water out of the system. Close the valves and fill the tank with fresh water. Flush all the lines with the fresh water. You may need to drain and repeat. Then the tank and lines will be sanitized. Once this is done, if there is still a taste of chlorine, you could use either vinegar or (my preference) baking soda to help remove any residual taste. It doesn't take much.


StephenH
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jato View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2025 at 2:14pm
StephenH - good advice on sanitizing tank first before using your concoction to rid the tank of the bleach taste.  We use a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup baking soda, and 1/2 cup lemon juice in 5 gallons of water in the FW tank.  Let sit for 5 minutes and then run your cold water lines until tank is empty.  This has worked for us to rid that bleach taste in the water.  Yes, we use the FW tank for drinking.

Edited by jato - 05 Jun 2025 at 2:14pm
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Post Options Post Options   Quote BobTheZee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Yesterday at 6:16pm
Manual for Shurflo 4008 RV Revolution Bypass Pump says to sanitize with 2 oz. bleach per 15 gal. tank size; fill tank and rock rv back and forth to coat top of tank; let sit for 4 hours of contact time. Or double the amount of bleach to reduce contact time to 1 hour.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote BobTheZee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Yesterday at 6:19pm
BTW, jato, I love the vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice idea. Just working on sanitizing a tank now and gonna try that tomorrow.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Today at 7:09am
Let me know how that works out.  It took several tries to get a good 'solution' so that the water didn't end up smelling like bleach or RV antifreeze upon drinking.  Nipped the antifreeze problem after the first winterization in 2011 by simply blowing the system out with compressed air.  A quick and easy solution for that.  I go with 80 psi and always leave one line open while going through the other hot, cold, and toilet outlets; takes under 2 minutes to go through all lines twice.  After using this process for two years and then removing both low point drains afterwards to make sure all water was out I was surprised that only 1 or 2 drops of water would be remaining in the low point drains so after that I haven't removed those for the past 13 years after blowing out.  Northern Michigan and yes, we get cold winters.  No cracks, leaks, or issues with this process.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Today at 11:21am
I agree with the air for purging lines. My experience is similar although we don't get that cold. The only RV antifreeze is for sink/shower traps and toilet bowl to keep the seals moist. With the GW, we don't have sink/shower traps as there are one-way valves that let water flow and then flatten to seal back flow of stinky air out. I only need RV antifreeze for the toilet bowl now. A gallon will last for years.



Edited by StephenH - Today at 11:23am
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Post Options Post Options   Quote poohbill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Today at 12:15pm
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/stop-mixing-baking-soda-and-vinegar-scientist-8750981Folks have been mixing vinegar (acid) with baking soda (base) for years, sometimes with lemon juice (acid) for odor. It is a folk remedy that is not recommended.

Airing the lines after bleach disinfecting is best practice. My clothes washing machine has a tub cleaning cycle with bleach (no soap) that leaves the tub with an odor. I leave the door open for a day and it disappears. Same with my trailer.

I have no idea how to help if the water supply itself has an odor.

Bill
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