Fresh Water Box HELP!

[FrancesM]

Well, I tackled 'sanitizing' the fresh water box. Imagine my surprise, when following the Airstream Cutter Bus 30' directions for draining water from the system, the valves (3 of them in the bathroom wall) to turn on and off, were not where described, in the bathroom. They aren't anywhere. (period)

I found a valve next to the water box in the rear 'door-side' bottom compartment.
I assumed it was for drainage. It was.

So, I filled up the water box... it took hours...ridiculous! 60 gal should fill up in 20 minutes, max! I added non-suds detergent and left it overnight. Next day it was still there so, I added 1 cup clorox and tested the water with the water pump on.. from the faucets, lightly sudsy water. I think I could smell the bleach too. Now, keep in mind, The water from the house had been turned OFF. NO water was coming into the coach.
I left it to soak overnight and I forgot to turn the water pump to OFF. I think all the faucets were off. The next morning, to my great surprise, there was no water (but for the 3"residue) left in the water box.
Where did it go? I surmised, it must be in the grey water box, must have come through the faucets. It couldn't come out the drain valve on the water box, since it was closed. So, I drained the grey water box and only a quart came out... Obviously, 60 gallons went somewhere, but not into the grey tank.

I then started the pump again, no water drained out the faucets due to the water having only 3"residue depth...apparently, not enough to send through the pipes.

However, surprisingly, water was running INTO the water box from the inlet (of the water box)... Where was this water coming from since the outside water was not turned on?

I felt the city water inlet white hose and it was soft. I unscrewed the white water hose from the city water inlet and water gushed out of the coach's city fresh water inlet! WHY?

NO old water should be entering or exiting the inlet for clean city water. Old water should be draining out somewhere into the gray water tank, or on the ground IF the valve were open, but the water box exit valve was closed. Where is this water entry coming from? Where did the old water go?

I turned the pump off and all the water inlet into the water box stopped.
This is weird. Water should be CLEAN. 3" of yuck in the bottom of the water tank is not conducive to 'clean water'. NO water should be entering the water box from anywhere but clean fresh water through the white hose city water inlet from my house. Soiled water shouldn't be exiting the city water inlet.

So, my friends, WHERE did 60 gallons of sudsy water go to overnight when the drain valve of the water box was closed? (but the pump was on).
WHY is water gushing out of the clean city water entry? Where is it coming from?

Can anyone answer my inquiry. I don't know what to make of this.
How can one sanitize the water box when it circulates soiled water?
Thanks... Francey

[howco]

Could be cross connected to your blackwater box, it had to go somewhere, if it's not on the ground or in the grey tank, then check the blackwater tank......
Keep us posted.....
Afterthought; when I 'clean' my water tank, I dump about three cups of real cider vinegar and a half cup of bleach in with about a half full tank and go for a drive on a windy road, after, I immediately drain it and do it again with fresh water, then drain and fill.
Works well....

Do you use your water tank for drinking water? , we don't, only for dishes etc.....

[FrancesM]

RE: Do I drink the water stored? No, never. I carry all my drinking water in gallon jugs.

I don't have an at-home black water drain, so can't dump it.

The 'check tank lights' do indicate that the black-water tank is full, so it could be the water-box water is in there. I did check the toilet by shining a light through the opening. However, one cannot view the contents due to a flap of some sort between the contents and the toilet opening flap.

Now that I think about it, NO odor is coming up through the opened toilet drain hole which might indicate that the bleach/sudsy water is sanitizing the black water tank, rather than the fresh water tank. Now wouldn't that be a revelation? I drained the tank prior to leaving the campground last week, so one presumes it was empty.

My curiosity gets the better of me:
Let's guess that the water box sudsy water is now in the black water tank. How did it get routed there???...surely the water system for drinking is completely absolutely separate from the black water tank.. all shower water and faucet water goes into the grey tank..right? Water box water is routed to the faucets for drinking and other uses and should go into the grey water tank via the faucets..right?

Question 2: WHERE do you suppose the water is coming from that is entering INTO the water box when the pump is ON and the outside water is off?

ALSO, Question 3: Where is the water coming from that is backflowing out of the City Water INLET when the house water is disconnected?

I'm not a plumber, nor do I know how the motor homes are plumbed, so I turn to minds that know.. -smile- bye. Francey

[howco]

FrancesM
the first think I would recommend is that you get out your owners manual and look through it, it should have a diagram of your model and where everything is with plumbing,electrical etc.
If you do not have the manual, then look it up online.
If you drained your black tank and it is now full, then the simple answer is that you left the pump on all night and it kept running all night and the clean water pumped the water out of one of your faucets and it went down the drain and into the black tank.

Remember, the pump keeps positive pressure at all times, so if there is a faucet that is leaking, it will push through it until you shut the pump off.

Yes, all water from sinks and bath should drain into the grey tank.

Question #2 doesn't make sense to me, I thought the water box (fresh water) was draining during the night, that is your 'missing water' right?

Question #3 the city water outlet should fill your fresh water tank and/or directly run through your faucets. When the freshwater tank is full and you disconnect the fill hose, the pipe should be capped, not left open. Even left open it will drain some water out of the line, but not a lot. On my A/S it will not drain anything but the immediate lines.
This is no big deal for you as we know that this did not drain your fresh water tank as there was no water on the ground.
I don't know what year your A/S is, on my model (1970) the fresh water fills through a small opening that goes directly into the freshwater holding tank.
I hope you figure this all out.
Blessings from the great NW...

[FrancesM]

Well, I think I've figured things out, what with the good suggestions I've received.

After taking forever filling the freshwater tank and the water disappearing overnight after my leaving the pump on, it's apparent from the tank lights that the water dispersed into the black water tank. I won't know that until I dump, which will be the next trip out, since I don't have a b.w. drain here at my house, but I'm assuming since the tank lights indicate FULL, that's where it is..

It seems that my leaving the Fresh Water Box INTAKE on, without closing it after filling the water box, this drained out the water in the Water Box. I have since closed off that Intake valve.

Being dissatisfied with the length of time it took to fill the Water Box with fresh water, I drilled a hole in the top side of the Water Box, shoved a 1/2 clear plastic tubing inside, drained all that residue water out of the WB. Surprisingly, the water exiting was very clear and clean. After I suctioned out this water, I hooked the 1/2" tubing up to a hose fitting, screwed on the water hose from the house and timed the intake of water to fill the W.B. Imagine my surprise when it ONLY took 7 minutes to fill the W.B. to maximum, whereas before, with the City Water/Water Box valves input of water it took over an hour. Clearly, there is some sort of odd plumbing in there that limits the flow of water into the W.B. From now on, I'll refill it using this simple method, directly into the box.

I want to thank you all for your suggestions and ideas. They helped. Bye. Francey