Sanitizing Your RV Water System

TIP FOR TODAY BY MARK:
When you return from a trip and you're not going to use the RV for a while you need to drain the entire water system to prevent it from getting stale and musty. You can start by draining the water heater. Go to the outside compartment where the water heater is located. The drain plug, or petcock is located in the bottom left hand corner. Remove the plug and open the pressure relief valve on top of the water heater to assist in draining. CAUTION: NEVER drain the water heater when it’s hot or under pressure.....

Next you need to locate the low point water line drains. It may take a while to find them, but I assure you they are there. There will be one for the hot and one for the cold water lines. This is the lowest point in the water system. Open these and let the water drain out. There’s one more thing left to do, find the drain for the fresh water holding tank and drain all of the water from it. At this point you can turn the water pump on for a moment to force any remaining water out. Do not let the pump continue to run once the water stops draining. Close all the drains.



Now, do not make the mistake that this is how you winterize the RV water system. If you do, it can be a very costly mistake next spring. All we have accomplished so far was to evacuate the majority of water from the system. If by accident you forget to drain the water system and you get that notorious stale odor all is not lost. You just need to sanitize the water system.



*Start by draining all of the old water out, and then close all of the drains.

*Take a quarter cup of house hold bleach for every fifteen gallons of water that your fresh water tank holds.

*Mix the bleach, with water, into a one-gallon container and pour it into the fresh water holding tank.

*Fill the fresh water tank completely full of water.

*Turn the water pump on, open all hot and cold faucets and run the water until you smell the bleach at each faucet.

*Close the faucets and let it sit for twelve hours.

*Drain the entire system and re-fill the fresh water tank with water.

*Open all of the faucets and run the water until you no longer smell any bleach. Once this is done it is safe to use your water system. It’s also a good idea to use a water filter at campgrounds and to keep bottled water on hand for drinking.

Have a great day!

RV Education 101 is a North Carolina based Company that produces educational videos on how to use and maintain your RV.

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Mark Polk, the owner, started in the RV industry as an apprentice technician in the early 1970's. After retiring as a CW3 from the military (where Polk was an automotive maintenance technician, and was in charge of some very large maintenance operations throughout his career) in 1996, he got back into the industry he had a passion for. Polk has an extensive background in RV sales, service and management. He felt so strongly about educating the consumer that he left his position as an RV Sales Manager in 2000 to devote himself full time to his company. Mark’s program includes instructional videos and other materials to make your RVing lifestyle even easier. Mark also provides the RV Savvy segments for the RVTV program and can be seen on the Outdoor Channel. You can order Mark's complete line of RV Education 101 material from:
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