Draining fresh water tank

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Teamaron

By chlorinated:


Does that mean actual chlorine or bleach?

Usually it's unscented chlorine bleach. Pool chrlorine tablets would work, but it's much harder to get the right proportions to disinfect without being poisonous.

Boring science stuff follows concerning the difference between disinfecting your tanks and disinfecting your water…

According to the EPA Safe Drinking Water Act guidelines, the Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) for chlorine is 4.0 parts per million. If you're disinfecting your tank and draining off the chlorinated water, you can use higher levels, and in fact if you follow the guidelines in your Airstream Owner's Manual, you'll be using a higher concentration closer to 8.0 parts per million. That's because you're flushing the system afterward and removing any chlorine you added, so residual chlorine doesn't matter.

BUT, if you have no choice but to get your drinking water from an untrustworthy source, such as when you're boondocking and using water from a river that fish have crapped in, you can add chlorine to the water in your tank to kill any microbes— coliforms in particular— and leave the chlorine in the water to make sure the microbes don't grow back. As long as the chlorine level is greater than 0.0 ppm, but less than 4.0 ppm, you know that the water is safe to drink, no microbes and not enough chlorine to hurt you, even if people with really sensitive palettes can still slightly taste the chlorine. Using about half the recommended amount of chlorine as shown in your Airstream Owner's Manual is just about right for disinfecting water that you will drink or cook with or bathe in.

If you fill your fresh water tank even from a trusted source, and let the water sit in the tank between trips— which I do for hurricane season, in case I have to evacuate in a hurry— then disinfecting the water in the tank also becomes every bit as important as disinfecting the tank itself. That's when I add enough just bleach to get the chlorine level up to about 2.0 parts per million, and leave it that way, without draining the tank. The chlorine will eventually evaporate out of the tank even if I don't use the water, so I have to repeat the process about once a month.

[RRR]

Strange on mine there is a regular low-point valve lever one just opens, drains, then closes.

[gmillerok1]

One likely slow leak to look for is the low point valves next to the pump or in the rear of the van. They are made of cheap plastic. One of mine was leaking very very slowly, until I opened it and then closed it a bit. Seemed to stop so far.

Gerald

[gmillerok1]

Originally Posted by RRR

Strange on mine there is a regular low-point valve lever one just opens, drains, then closes.

Directly under the fresh water tank? If so, they added it after 2011.

Gerald

[73shark]

[QUOTE=gmillerok1;1299663]Directly under the fresh water tank? If so, they added it after 2011.

Gerald[/QUOTE

He has an Avenue. I thought the same thing 'til I noticed that.

[avanti]

The '05 Interstate came with three valves: A fresh-water drain under the tank, and hot and cold low-point drains. Don't know the evolution since then.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by avanti

The '05 Interstate came with three valves: A fresh-water drain under the tank, and hot and cold low-point drains. Don't know the evolution since then.

2012 - Freshwater tank drain, looks kind of like a plastic version of an oil drain plug, needs a wrench to unscrew. Two low-point drains on each side, one set near the pump, under the galley drawers, one on the curbside near the battery box. Plus a water heater drain, of course.

[RRR]

Originally Posted by gmillerok1

Directly under the fresh water tank? If so, they added it after 2011.

Gerald

Yes. However mine is a 2012 Avenue Suite there could be ground clearance difference as well. I have not compared that.