Discolored Fresh Water

[Dickandvicki]

Help!!

We are on our fist trip of the year (yeah I know and we are having something weird happening. When we opened the faucets/flushed toilet the pink antifreeze drained out but after that the water was grey.. dark grey! The grey water seems to be gone now, but I’m kinda freaked out. Could it be that the pink antifreeze changed colors somewhere down the line or could something really bad be going on?

We never drink the water in the Airstream.. but yuck

[AtomicNo13]

Be thankful it's not brown and chunky!

Flush, flush, and more flush...
Bleach, then flush some more!

[OTRA15]

Sounds like the fresh water tank did not get thoroughly drained IMO, when you winterized [and/or the water heater]. Ditto to AtomicNo13. You have no leaks from cracked pipes?

Using new search function above, "water tank sanitize bleach" produces these results:

https://www.google.com/search?q=wate...com&gws_rd=ssl

Your owner's manual should have a section on winterizing. When you drain the water tank, you have to raise and lower the tongue jack to maximize emptying the tank. Maybe that was not done? Trailer should be level L/R.

Good luck,

Peter

PS -- This is one reason we do not use AF when winterizing, only a careful air compressor routine -- it gets the job done with no water left in any lines. The water tank/pump/filter must still be done manually.

[Dickandvicki]

Thank you, we are at a campground with full hook-ups so I’m not using the fresh water tank. I’ll follow your advise and sanitize and flush, flush, flush.

[OTRA15]

I am taking the liberty of quoting your recent post in your new thread, so that everyone can see the history of your problem. Starting a new thread does not allow this.

Originally Posted by Dickandvicki

I posted an earlier thread about my fresh water being discolored. It comes out sort of grey when the tap is just opened then clears quickly. We have thoroughly sanitized our tank and lines. We have flushed our lines multipal times. And still we are having discolored water. There is no noticeable odor.

We are going crazy. I just don’t see where this could be coming from. The water looks like a charcoal filter has come apart and is getting into our lines. We have looked at all the lines from where the water hooks up to shore (under the twin bed), the plumbing in the wardrobe and under the sink. It all looks fine, though we haven’t disconnected anything..yet.

My question is since we are having this problem when using water from the tank and when using shore connection. Is it possible this could be coming from the pump?

I’m going to try to attach a picture.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Thank you

In addition to your early posts in this thread, could you please give us more history about using the water in this trailer, the most recent winterization, and so forth. How many years have you owned her, was the water fine last year, and so forth. Did the trailer sit unused for a long time perhaps?

What kind of bleach/sanitizing have you done in the last month? How much rinse flush rinse flush etc. did you have time to do. On city water with the waste water running free for an hour or two?

Please fill in all the details you can, even if you think they are not important.

IMO this severe of a problem is not related to the pump.

Cheers,

Peter

PS -- Have you inspected/cleaned the filter between your water tank and the pump? Do you have an inline filtration system perhaps for drinking water, located under the sink? Did you drain water from the water tank, by opening the small valve/petcock under that tank? Was the water discharged there bad as well? Have you religiously drained the water tank as part of every winterization, including raising and lowering the tongue jack to get all the water out of the tank?

[Dickandvicki]

Hi Peter,

Thank you so very much!

My AS is a ‘91 Excella and I’ve had her for about 5 years. There is a drinking water filter under the kitchen sink, which we don’t use and have on by-pass. There is a new unused filter there.

We don’t normally use the fresh water tank as most of our camping has been in full service campgrounds.

The last time I sterilized the system was at the time of my last post in August. It was at the end of our camping trip that the problem was noticed, so I’m not sure if it cleared up, but when I was running several tanks of water, flushing the system there was no noticeable discoloration to the water, but like I say it was the end of the trip.

I did notice that the water was discolored several years ago when camping and using shore water, but I think I was the campground water. It also had a bad smell, kind of like sulfur. That was a one time thing.

My trailer did sat in storage for a little over a year. I had surgery a year ago April that put me out of the loop. Our storage is enclosed and the trailer had been winterized. When we drained the fresh tank we just used the pea valve but didn’t use the jack up and down. We filled all the lines with AF, poured some in the traps and in the black and grey tanks. Also, when clearing the anti-freeze out of the lines last August, after the pink AF there was grey.

We are going to now repeat the sanitation..

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the reply. I am not at home, so quickly -- hopefully before you do the next round of bleach etc.

In my opinion, your 27-year-old Airstream has probably picked up some "bugs" through the years which still reside in the pipes, if only in a dormant/nascent state. ALL of these locations must be considered to be compromised: water tank, pipe to AS filter, pump, unused drinking water filter, water heater, all faucets and shower heads incl. exterior, and all hot and cold water lines.

In other words, every single place that fresh water runs in your system are to be considered "dirty" until rendered clean with multiple steps of bleaching, per below.

You must the rid your system of every trace of all bugs that have ever lived there, in every location.

In matters bleach, there are at least two steps you need to take, and hopefully others will chime in on this.

"bleach shock" -- https://www.google.com/search?q=blea...com&gws_rd=ssl

"bleach maintenance" -- https://www.google.com/search?q=blea...=airforums.com

Before you do any actual bleaching, you should do your homework about the various steps to be taken IMO. Ridding your Airstream of the bugs, and their progeny, will take some time, with perhaps repeated loops around the circle.

This repetition will strengthen!

There were a number of questions in my earlier post which were intended to test your familiarity with the trailer, including the pump/filter location. Please review that post.

I will check in later, when I am back home

Good luck!

Peter

[Dickandvicki]

Also, in August we did 3 tanks of bleach solution letting it sit each time between 3 and 8 hours. Then filling tank with just water and flushing.

Also, filter in wardrobe is clean.

[A W Warn]

My guess is; you are getting sediment from the campground water system. If you are not running the pump, then you are not getting anything out of the fresh water tank.

One exception could be scale from the hot water tank. Try draining then flushing the HW tank, then turn on water at every faucet, shower, and toilet (both hot and cold) for a few minutes to flush the pipes. The entire pipe system holds less than 2 gallons and ~6 for the HW tank, so it does not take long.

If the gray persists, I recommend an external filter.

ps:
If it was a sanitizing issue, you would smell it.

[Dickandvicki]

Hi Peter,

I just went back and read your post again. I didn’t know there was a high/low drain valve so I’ve never used it. I’ll check owners manual and include in our storage procedures. We have only used the petcock valve. We have never used the fresh water tank, but it did fill with water a couple of years ago when the check valve in the water pump broke and probably never properly drained it, although we did take her to a RV place that year for winterization. Also, last August when I sanitized, I didn’t fill the water heater with bleach solution.

I feel pretty confident that I now understand how to sanitize the system, although I could be wrong 😟. So far today I’ve run 2 (working on 3) tanks of bleach solution through my system, letting it sit for 2 hours each time. Tonight I’ll let it sit overnight in the tank and lines and tomorrow I’ll do it again before taking a 3 hour mountain trip, letting it slosh around in the tank.

Oh, you asked about the water coming out of petcock.. it looks clean and not discolored as far as i can see.

Thanks for your help and support. We are just at the beginning of our 6 week trip and hoping to fix this soon

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the update. I guess the main point I want to reiterate is that you must [IMO] do a "full reset" of the entire system to eradicate any micro-organisms lurking some spots, like the drinking water filtration set-up. For instance I would remove the "new" filter cartridge [I think you said], and get bleach into every nook and cranny of everything.

Al makes a good point in his recent post, that using a filter in the hose is important, both for filling the water tank, and when you use city water. For instance:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-TastePU...70_&dpSrc=srch

For now I would advise that you not use your trailer's water for drinking or cooking. If you notice any discoloration, cloudiness, foul odor, etc., I would not hesitate to have the water tested.

Good luck, and please keep us advised.

Peter

PS -- You have not indicated whether or not you are able to discharge large amounts of grey waste water when you flush out the system with copious amounts of city water? This is crucial to a "final rinse" IMO. Because this discharge is basically clean water, letting it run onto a lawn or field is just fine, with the permission of the landowner of course. Into a septic system is OK too if you are not abusing its limits.

[OTRA15]

PS -- Correction -- "Alan" is A W Warn's correct name.

Sorry 'bout that!

Peter

[Dickandvicki]

And this is what my water looked like this morning from the kitchen (bathroom water seem clear). The only smell is of bleach. I’m at my wits end.

From fresh water tank after 3 cycles of sanitation yesterday and last night. Not hooked up to city water. This is after system sat all night with bleach solution. Now water is running clear and probably will unless I let it sit. Seems the longer it sits the darker it gets. It has to be coming from someplace in the lines. That’s why I was wondering if my pump could be deteriorating and causing the problem.

[Dickandvicki]

Hi Alan, it doesn’t seem to matter if the source is city or tank. I’m still getting the same results.

[Zil]

You need to flush the tanks and system. Lots of water. Flush, flush and flush. then sanitize with bleach.

[GCinSC2]

Do you currently have a filter element that has carbon in it that the above sample came thru?

[Dickandvicki]

I did all day yesterday and will today as well.

[Dickandvicki]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Do you currently have a filter element that has carbon in it that the above sample came thru?

I was thinking there must be an original filter someplace. We’ve looked everyplace that is accessible. Under the twin bed, in the wardrobe, under the sink. There is a water filter under the sink, but it is bypassed and the filter is new. Plus that filter is just for drinking water tap (which we don’t use). It’s crazy!

Im going to continue to flush today and make an appt at the Jackson Center.

[GCinSC2]

Can you say if the problem started after .................. fill in the blank.

[Dickandvicki]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Can you say if the problem started after .................. fill in the blank.

The problem started after a new water pump was installed and after 1 1/2 years in enclosed storage (drained and winterized).