Can someone explain how to sanitize my fresh water tank, and also how to drain the grey water tank as well?

Thanks!

There are certainly many people using this site, with far more knowledge than I, that will weigh in sooner or later but until then... One idea that was given to me is to pour one cup of lemon scented clorox into your garden hose and then attach it to the city water connection on your motorhome and turn it on. Then fill the tank up about 1/2-2/3 full and drive it around for an hour or so, enough to slosh it around good. Then turn the kitchen or bathroom faucet on until the tank is empty. Monitor this process just in case there is a plugged up pipe somewhere. If your fresh water is bigger than the gray water tank, you might have to do it a couple of times.

I found this:

For a 40 gal tank, that's 5.2 oz of regular bleach and 4 ounces of "Ultra" bleach. Put that in a gallon container and fill with water to dilute it. Then using a funnel, pour it into the tank filler. Then fill the tank.

Assuming the hot water heater is still empty from winterizing, unbypass it, turn on the pump and open a hot water faucet until bleach smelling water comes out. Do that with other hot water faucets, including the shower. Then go back and do it with all the cold water faucets, including the shower, the toilet, the spray nozzles on the toilet and sink, and the outside faucet if applicable. This gets bleach throughout the pipes. I usually go back and top off the tank after this.

Leave this in the tanks and lines for at least 4 hours of contact time. More is better here. Then open the fresh tank drain, drain the tank, close the drain and refill it. Go back to the hot water faucet and run at least a coupla gallons more than the hot water tank holds through it. Then repeat the process with all the hot and cold faucets and spray hoses, running them longer this time to get as much of the bleach out as possible. Top the fresh tank off again.

Let this water sit an hour or so, then drain the fresh tank again, and close the drain.

When you fill the fresh tank this time, if you're sensitive to chlorine, dilute a pound of baking soda in a gallon of water for every 20 gallons of fresh tank capacity, pre-fill with these gallons, and then top off the tank.

Go back around and do the faucet thing again, starting with enough from a hot to flush the water heater, using plenty of water through each faucet. Let it sit an hour or so and drain the tank again.

Then do the final fill of the tank.

Works for me.

As far as the grey water tank goes, are you sure you have one? My 77 only has one big tank.
Neil.

We don't drink much water, but here is how we used to do it:

If you use bleach, be sure to get the right bleach. Some has soap or something bad in it. 1/4 cup per 15 gallons is about right. Dilute it before adding ti to the tank. Fill the tank, run each faucet until you smell chlorine. Let it sit. Longer is better. Drain it. Fill it enough to run each faucet until water taste and smell is acceptable. We never found any kind of bleach acceptable.

Here is how we used to do it more recently:

Use Chlorinating Concentrate (Sodium Dichloro-s-Triazinetricone or Sodium Dichlor for short) from a pool or spa supply store.

About 1 teaspoon of the concentrate per 100 gallons of water is about right to initially sanitize the system. Remember to run water through all the faucets. After that, just a half teaspoon per 100 gallons with each refill will keep the tank fresh.

Here's how we do it now:

Pour a bottle of cheap vodka in the tank. Half a lime squeezed into the mix helps. Use a Mexican style squeezer so you get the oils from the peel and zest. If you have a Breakaway, use Wybrowka. Regencies prefer Chopin. With the last two, skip the lime, as it does not do well with potato-based vodkas.

quote:

Originally posted by MGmobile:
Can someone explain how to drain the grey water tank?

Thanks!

If you have a gray tank, there will be two dump valves, a three inch one for the main and maybe a smaller one for the gray or feeding into the big dump. If all you see is a big three inch dump valve, you might not have a black tank. Slide underneath and have a look.

Always store the fresh water tank empty. Run the pipes dry, too. Less stuff will grow. Pouring a little chlorine in it and letting it sit for a day before you empty it will further prevent things growing while it sits. Much more stuff grows in sitting water than when the system is being used. There should be a fresh water drain valve somewhere, as well as a few other line drain valves. Follow the plumbing all over the coach to find them. They will likely be gray plastic with little paper tags attached with string.

Hi Guys...thanks for all the great info! I especially like the giant Barth vodka mix method.

I believe there is only one dump valve, at the side of the coach, so no gray water tank. I'll have to hunt some more for the fresh water drain, though running the fresh tank empty via the taps is probably a better bet. I saw available a huge inline water filter for the city water hookup, and i've got a brita on-tap filter inside the coach--neither deal with bacteria.

quote:

Originally posted by MGmobile:
I've got a brita on-tap filter inside the coach--neither deal with bacteria.

The Brita faucet filter is pretty good. If you use a Pur pitcher afterward, you will have very good water. If you are interested and can open an Excel file, I can send you a spreadsheet my son did on the filters. He lived in a lot of Third World countries and came up with the combination as the best way to filter water. We do it at home and in the Barth, both for drinking and making ice. Even melted ice cubes have a good taste. If you can't open an Excel document, I can print, scan and email it to you. Or US Snail.

Let me know.

BTW, you may not need a separate gray water tank. Chances are the tank you have is pretty big. How long do you stay out when dry camping? Are you averse to watering the shrubbery with sink water?

Hi Bill,

I need to get a new flter so I'd like to have the spreadsheet when you have time.

We got a bunch of original Barth literaure with our Regency including an epistle on "Sanitizing your Potable Water System."
In a nutshell it says:
1. Prepare a chlorine sol'n using 1/4 cup of household bleach to 1 gal of water. With tank empty pour 1 gal. of sol'n into tank for each 15 gal ofcapacity.
2. Complete filling of tank with fresh water and operate all faucets to release trapped air and pressurize the system, then turn off the pump.
3. Allow to stand for 3 hours.
4. Drain and flush with fresh potable water.
5. To remove chlorine taste prepare a sol'n of 1 qt. vinegar to 5 gal water and pour into tank. Allow sol'n to agitate by vehicle motion and let stand. Do this over several days if possible.
6. Drain and flush with fresh potable water.
Right from the horses mouth!
Don

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:

quote:

Originally posted by MGmobile:
I've got a brita on-tap filter inside the coach--neither deal with bacteria.

The Brita faucet filter is pretty good. If you use a Pur pitcher afterward, you will have very good water. If you are interested and can open an Excel file, I can send you a spreadsheet my son did on the filters. He lived in a lot of Third World countries and came up with the combination as the best way to filter water. We do it at home and in the Barth, both for drinking and making ice. Even melted ice cubes have a good taste. If you can't open an Excel document, I can print, scan and email it to you. Or US Snail.

Let me know.

BTW, you may not need a separate gray water tank. Chances are the tank you have is pretty big. How long do you stay out when dry camping? Are you averse to watering the shrubbery with sink water?

Bill, i can open an Excel file, that would be great. I found some notes on winterizing in my manual binder from PO, and location of fresh tank drain valve. Re: sink water--are you suggesting i use a portable tub in the sink and toss it after? I use eco-friendly soap, so that would work.

It's funny you should bring this up at this time, as I witnessed just an hour or so ago how a Winnibago owner took care of this question. While exiting a storefront he crossed straight across the hump instead of approaching it at an angle, thus shearing off the poorly designed drain system and emptying both holding tanks very rapidly as he accelerated down busy 41. As I was turning the other way[thankfully] I didn't see the outcome but unfortunately he probably got away with dumping a huge amount of raw sewage directly onto the road.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:


a Winnebago .......thus shearing off the poorly designed drain system and emptying both holding tanks.

Perhaps they need to build a few more motorhomes to learn how to do it right.

Things like that make me SO glad to have a Barth, after 6 or 7 "other brands"

quote:

Originally posted by MGmobile:

Re: sink water--are you suggesting I use a portable tub in the sink and toss it after?

Oh, No, I would never suggest you do something illegal. Never ever. However, in some jurisdictions it is legal. In some, even, it is encouraged that you water the natural vegetation. Just check before you do it openly.

Susan likes our Barth sink so much that we use the sink and drain it into a bucket for dumping. Our sink has a storage compartment underneath it with access to the P trap. I have installed a P trap with a hose connection on it that allows me to remove the cap to allow water to drain into a bucket in the compartment. Some of you may remember when all RVs had only an external hose connection for the sink drain.

BTW, for desert campers, be very careful of water leaks. Even a drop now and then will attract bees(including Africanized) and other insects. This, in turn, will attract bark scorpions, cow killers, wind scorpions, praying mantis and tarantulas. The last three are benign, but will upset wives. Some time ago, we had a small leak, and I went into town and bought a portable black light so the kids could see the nature show at night without bothering the bugs. That was when I learned that bark scorpions really light up under black light. Great "special effects". ....Oh-Oh......thread drift.

quote:

I use eco-friendly soap, so that would work.

What soap do you use? We have been using Dr Bronners for so long we don't even know what else is out there. We find that it requires less water for rinsing than other soaps. This is particularly useful for water-conserving hair washing.

Just to clarify, the Winni was an older class A with a pretty good overhang, the remaining 3" drain running down the backside aft of the rear wheels on the port side, apparently to where it at one time met up with the valve system in the rear. I assumed the jumbled up mess dragging by a hanger of some sort was the afformentioned valve system.

Bill...thanks for the excel file. Interesting info.

Re: Soap...Yes, a Dr. Bronners fan myself! Do you use it for dishes, laundry, bath, all-in-one! Praise God!