Treating your potable water in your fresh water tank

[Retired Mountie]

Good morning everyone,

Well, it's a sunny 0C (32US) degree morning up here in Ottawa...more cold coming along with the white stuff

My question is in regards to treating your water supply so that it doesn't spoil due to bacteria. I know all about sanitizing your fresh tank but it's a process I hate....it takes time and being that we are not hooked up to a water supply at the park, it means driving to the fill station to rinse out the tank, hoping that no other campers arrive (don't want to keep folks waiting).

I was doing research about how municipalities treat their potable water supply. Most use chlorine or chloramine. My research indicated that sanitizing a new tank is not required IF you treat your water. Now the park water is from a well and is potable as is...what I want to do is treat it for the possibility of contaminants in our fresh tank. What was recommended the most was either unscented household bleach or simple pool chlorine. For the size of our tank, 1 tbsp. of the pool stuff would do the trick. There should be no chlorine taste with this minute quantity (or very little) and it's enough to kill bacteria such as
e-coli.

What are your thoughts and experiences? I will also be installing a water filter under the sink.

[MartyG]

RM, you are challenged if you have no running water, and an ok place to drain. At home I will occasionally put in 1 cup household bleach (cheap stuff, not the concentrate that is thick and foamy), and fill my 28 gal tank. Run it through all the pipes, even the hot water (not needed to be lit). Drain and refill with fresh once or twice until I can't taste the bleach any more. (could use swimming pool litmus strips I suppose). Think of that cup on your bathroom sink that you drink out of. As long as it's dry, no problem. Rinsing it daily keeps it clean. But let water sit in there for more than a day or two, especially in the warm and.....

[Retired Mountie]

MartyG.....I don't have the luxury of being able to fill and refill the tank to rinse it out as we are not hooked up. I might rinse it with bleach on the first outing which will be early May so the filling station at the park should not be busy which will give us time to empty, rinse and refill.

[MartyG]

RM, you might have to think outside the box a little. Look around for outdoor spigots, perhaps restaurants, drive ins, motels. Midday is busy for food joints, but quiet for motels. Tell them you want to drain your fresh water tank and refill with fresh. (don't tell them about the bleach) Would $5 cover that? You might get a "yes!"

[Nana & Poppy]

How about having "drinking/cooking water" store bought gallon jugs - use your holding tank for showers - dishes, etc.


We usually carry 6 gallons of "clean" water from home which will last us 7 days of camping......when we run out we will fill the empty jugs with potable water or go to Walmart they sell water (I think it is Deer Park) and it sells by the gallon, you bring your own container.....

[Wanderer]

I sanitize my tank at the beginning of the season.
I also have installed a filter plus a second carbon filter set in my supply line to the kitchen sink. This way I only filter the water to the one tap.

[WASABI]

I think I am just going to buy a travel size Berkey for the TT for drinking and cooking. Use the untreated fresh for bathing.

[Retired Mountie]

Good ideas but I'll try the chlorine treatment first and get the water tested at a facility near the park (actually, I think the park might even do it's own water tests). It takes a couple of minutes to tell you if your water is good to go. If that doesn't work, I guess other measures will need to be taken ;(

[Retired Mountie]

MartyG, that's not bad There are a couple of car washes in town too near the park and maybe they have spigots I can hook up to. Will have to check that out!!!

[Chalkie]

I can't say how it is where you are, but around here if a park is not on a public/municipal water system they are required to test their well(s) periodically.


We used to own a place with a well and I would send off a sample every year for testing. Only once in all the years we owned that place did we have to sanitize the well. We were told by the state to pull the well cap and pour 1/2 gallon bleach down the well.

[WASABI]

For my drinking water only

Berkey Water Filter Systems - World Leader in Portable Water Purification

[Retired Mountie]

Thanks Chalkie....our park is also required to test their well water on a regular basis. As for the TT tank, I'll put about a quarter tank before we leave the dealer to go the park and then I'll flush all faucets and drain the tank. I will then fill it up with the required amount of chlorine to kill bacteria. A new tank should not be infected with bacteria but if you leave your untreated water standing in the tank for a few weeks, then you may get the runs after drinking it ;( Chlorine takes care of that but we will drain out tank every time we tear down simply because w don't want the extra weight.

[Retired Mountie]

Good link WASABI however, our problem is not the water supply itself as it is tested well water and nearly tasteless. We want to treat our water tank so we don't have to haul drinking water in separate containers. All the research I have done so far indicates that simple pool chlorine, in the right amount will render water safe to drink (within reason of course and considering the source)......we would treat our water simply because of the tank that may contain some contaminants but the chances of it containing something harmful is not too likely......especially if we flush it first, even if it's just a quarter tank flush or less - just to clean any dust off the bottom. And if we drain it every time we leave, then there will be no water left in the tank to ''rot'' so to speak. Whatever bacteria will form in the dampness of the empty tank and maybe in some pipes will be killed by the next filling and dose of chlorine....at least that's how it was explained to me