Sanitizing Water Tank

[robertwarren]

We own a 2018 27’FC-FB. Last night we used the onboard water tank for the first time. Water smells like rotten eggs. Plan to flush the tank today. Seeking advice on sanitizing the tank/water.

[Adventure.AS]

Have you searched Google and YouTube? Lots of information there.

[Minno]

We sanitize every spring: fill water tank half full of water, add 1/4 cup of bleach for every 10 gallons of tank capacity. Fill tank rest of the way and pump through system until you get bleach smell out of every faucet. Let sit for 3 hours. Drain tank and system, and refill tank, pump through system, then drain.
We then refill system with water and baking soda: use about a cup of baking soda for every 10 gallons of tank capacity. Pump through system and let sit for 3 days. Drain and rinse tank well. This part gets rid of bleach taste in water. We've used this for years, drink our water, and never had an issue.
Make sure you're using plain bleach, not flowery smelling and not extra strength bleach (labeled as not for use to sanitize if you read the label).
Many people just do the bleach part and not the baking soda. My son uses white vinegar instead of baking soda. Less messy, but we prefer baking soda.
Good luck!

Kay

[moosetags]

That situation probably occurred because the water in your fresh water tank had been sitting for a couple of years. What I would do is run the tank down through the pump to give it a workout and drain the fresh water tank. Do not run the tank totally dry as you may create issues with the water pump. As the tank empties, add fresh water to the tank. This will most likely solve your issue.

As far as sanitizing the tanks goes, some folks add a small amount bleach when they flush the tank. We have never done this. We regularly use our on-board water supply when we are at home. We use the sinks and toilet often while our Airstream is parked in the alley behind our house.

Remember to keep water in the p-traps while the Airstream is not in use. If the p-trap is dry, odors from the gray tank can enter the trailer

Brian

[pmclemore]

Sanitizing is good for a host of reasons and never a bad idea.

However, I wonder if the bad smell is really coming from your hot water tank. That is where I find out that my water has gone a bit stale. Try flushing that before you sanitize your fresh water tank and I believe you'll be more satisfied with your efforts.

Pat

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by robertwarren

We own a 2018 27’FC-FB. Last night we used the onboard water tank for the first time. Water smells like rotten eggs. Plan to flush the tank today. Seeking advice on sanitizing the tank/water.

Instructions for sanitizing are on page 8-13 in your owners manual.

This is a link if you would like to download a copy onto your computer>
https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...manual-150.pdf

ps: if you drain the water heater tank (I suggest you should) make sure the electric element is turned off. It will burn out instantly if not immersed in water.

[aftermath]

I sanitize my system every spring. I once put on some water where the source was pretty high in sulfur and I noticed it right away. Stale water can take on the smell you described. Here is my suggestion.


Hook up your trailer to city water and flush out the system, including the HW tank. Disconnect, bypass the HW tank and fill the FW tank with water and chlorine bleach. I use a cup in my 30+ tank. Run all the faucets until you get the bleached water through. Wait a few hours and drain the FW tank, refill with fresh water and flush all the lines. You can do this twice if you want but a little chlorine in the system isn't going to hurt. Municipal systems add chlorine at the wells.


I have learned that water systems throughout our country vary a great deal. We are blessed with very good water where I live so flushing doesn't make me go through a lot of extra hoops. Give the quick and simple system a try first. If you need to do more you will know.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by robertwarren

We own a 2018 27’FC-FB. Last night we used the onboard water tank for the first time. Water smells like rotten eggs. Plan to flush the tank today. Seeking advice on sanitizing the tank/water.

Rotten eggs smell is probably the result of the pink stuff antifreeze for winterizing. When you flush out your system add a gallon of white vinegar and flush again. But we have a Pur water filter or use bottle water.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you have a charcoal filter on you sink (some do / some don't) remember to pull it before you play with the clean out process. Replace it with a new one when you are done.

Doing a simple fill and dump on the fresh water tank / water heater a few times probably a good idea if it's all been sitting for a while. (then do the bleach soak). The drain valves used for winterizing will get this done fairly fast. Using them to empty the system when you are ready to go into storage is not a bad idea either .....

We winterize up here. That may / may not involve anti-freeze. One "good side" of anti-freeze is that it takes *forever* to flush it out of the system. Things get a pretty good rinse down as a result.

Bob

[Minno]

Something I forgot to mention in my above post is that we drain our fresh water system after every trip including pulling the low point drains and opening all faucets to empty the system. Seems to minimize any water issues. I also open the fresh water tank drain when I start filling the system to rinse out any left over water left in the tank from the previous fillings. Our tank (and most of them, I think) do not drain from the bottom, but from the side so there's a little water that does not drain out. After a couple minutes, I close the drain and let the tank fill.

Kay