💦SANITIZING RV FRESH WATER TANK • Have PURE, SAFE, GREAT TASTING WATER
Вставка
- Опубліковано 19 чер 2021
- SANITIZING your RV water tank often is important.
It’s NOT NECESSARY TO CARRY toxic plastic water bottles, big jugs of water, perhaps a Berkey water filter or maybe an under the sink filter that you use for drinking & cooking. I know some of you think using your fresh water tank is not safe to drink or cook with. If you want to keep practicing those methods, that’s fine with me, but it’s just not necessary. All that other stuff you carry with you takes up more room, adds more weight to your RV & more plastic that ends up in the land fill.
It’s simply not true that RV water tastes funny & is not safe to drink or to cook with.
If you filter your water properly BEFORE it comes into the RV or fill up your fresh water tank & then SANITIZE your entire fresh water system at least once a year, using your fresh water tank is TOTALLY SAFE and you’ll have good tasting water throughout your RV all the time, that you can use for everything.
I’ve had my fresh water professionally tested and it has better readings than the house we had built in Houston, TX and lived in for 12 years.
How I installed my Game Changing fresh water tank drain adapter:
• RV FRESH WATER TANK 👍 ...
WATER USAGE WARNING:
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TURN OFF YOUR CITY WATER & WATER PUMP ANYTIME YOU LEAVE YOUR RV OR AT NIGHT TIME. HERE'S WHAT WE DO:
After dinner when we start to settle into the RV for the evening, Joanie & I always turn OFF the city water supply. For the rest of the evening we use our fresh water tank using the water pump. Right before we go to bed, we turn OFF the water pump. If we have to use the bathroom at night, we simply turn ON the water pump, flush the toilet, then turn the pump back OFF. The reason we do this is, if your water system happened to spring a leak during the night while you're sleeping, you could very well wake up with a lake of water on the floor. This actually happened to a friend of ours that has been RVing for over 40 years. He had catastrophic water damage and his RV was out of commission for weeks. So we ALWAYS have ALL WATER TURNED OFF when we leave the RV and when we go to bed.
• Another solution is many people just use their fresh water tank all the time. The only time they hook up to city water is when they fill their fresh water tank. This method eliminates the additional steps OR forgetting to turn off the city water when you leave the RV, again at night time & back on in the morning.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FILTER & SOFTEN OUR WATER:
• TOP THINGS RV OWNERS S...
💦 SET UP YOUR RV WATER RIGHT and be done with it
• 💦 SET UP YOUR RV WATER...
The link to my RV Water Store and all the part numbers of what I use are in the description text of the above video.
If you prefer to talk to my water supply vendor before buying any equipment, just call them @ 602-625-1875 and ask for Justin or Dave. They're great folks and is a family operated business. Also, please be sure to tell them that you watched Martin's RVstreet video on youtube and you need some help setting up your water system correctly. If you mention my name I will receive a small commission from all your purchases. It's a great way to say thank Martin for making these video's and helping the RV community. 👍
Please...consider SUBSCRIBING to our Channel. It's FREE. It’s a great way to support us, our channel-and Martin-who is a “Purple Heart Veteran” 💜
Check out my PLAYLIST page here:
/ rvstreet
💗 OUR AMAZON STORE 💗
FOR THE PRODUCTS WE USE & RECOMMEND IN ALL OUR VIDEOS
www.amazon.com/shop/rvstreet
💗 BUT THERE’S MORE:
EVEN IF WHAT YOU NEED IS NOT IN OUR AMAZON STORE, YOU CAN STILL CLICK OUR STORE LINK BELOW, THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR STORE, SHOP AND SEARCH ON AMAZON LIKE YOU NORMALLY WOULD, PUT YOUR ITEMS IN THE CART AND CHECK OUT. Using our Amazon Store to buy your RV gear, parts, maintenance items “AND ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED” is a great way to say "Thank You" Martin for making these videos and helping the RV community.
I participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to my Amazon Store
DISCLAIMER:
We are in no way experts or professional mechanics. But being a journeyman millwright for years & being EX Military, has proven to be very helpful in my lifetime learning how to care for & maintain all sorts of machinery & equipment like: helicopters, airplanes, tanks, motorcycles & many types of other vehicles. That, along with 18 months preparing & upgrading our RV before we went full time, & now traveling for several years has gained us a lot of knowledge. Regardless of what we recommend, consult a professional if you're unsure about working on your RV. Work you perform or products you purchase based on any information we provide is at your own risk. - Навчання та стиль
Man... Your details on what to do, how to do it, why your doing it and when to do it. FREAKING ROCKS !!!!
Thank you Kerry. All details matter. 😜
Your RV already has a BIG, food grade fresh water tank, so it’s NOT NECESSARY TO CARRY toxic plastic water bottles, big jugs of water, perhaps a Berkey water filter or maybe an under the sink filter that you use for drinking and cooking. I know some of you think using your fresh water tank is not safe to drink or cook with. If you want to keep practicing those methods, I mean that’s fine with me, but it’s just not necessary. All that other stuff you carry with you takes up more room, adds more weight to your RV & more plastic that ends up in the land fill.
BASICS BEFORE SANITIZING…
You have to plan for the day that you decide you’re going to sanitize because you will not be able to use any of the water in your RV for about 8hrs. except for the toilet. With the bleach concentration we’re using, 8hrs. is plenty of time to sanitize. If you’re staying at the RV during the day time that your sanitizing, always have some stand by water for drinking and cleaning. Now Joanie & I when we plan to sanitize our fresh water system, we do it right after dinner. We fill up a couple of cups of water to brush our teeth and what have you, get our water ready for the next morning coffee and tea, and we sanitize overnight while we’re sleeping. If you sanitize during the day make it easy on yourself. Eat an early breakfast, prepare a simple lunch prior to getting started or go to a Subway the evening before and get a Subway sandwich for lunch. This way you won’t have to be bothered by making lunch. Another idea if your sanitizing during the day, it’s a great time to go exploring to a winery, or go shopping, go to the pool, play cards with some friends or what have you. Just find something to do for about 8hrs. Some people suggest sanitizing on their move day. That way sanitation is taking place while you’re driving. But that just adds another thing to do on move day and finish up when you arrive at your destination. And of course you’ll be carrying a whole lot more weight while traveling. I personally don’t like this method. So we like doing sanitizing while we’re at a camp ground, where we are sitting in one place, have full hook ups and we pick a day that is designated for sanitizing. It just makes this process go a whole lot easier.
Bleach amount - 1/4 cup per 15 gallons of water OR 1 cup per 50 gallons of water.
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TURN OFF YOUR CITY WATER AND WATER PUMP ANYTIME YOU LEAVE YOUR RV OR AT NIGHT TIME.
Goodness!!! What could we do without you!!!!!! Thank you a million!!!
As a 4 time owner of RV I still didn’t know how to properly care for water and d sewer system. Thanks much , SUBSCRIBED
Hey Martin, Class A newbe here. Great info, attention to detail is always the best way to teach. 2nd best is demonstration. You do it all so well that I will be using your vids to get me out there on the road and hopefully free of interuptions from premature breakdowns of common problems due to being uninformed of proper prevetative maintenance.
Great video, I have been waiting for that one, our Montana will be getting the fresh water tank sanitized soon!
Thanks again Martin!
Thank you Martin for another great video!! Keep up the good work!
As always, great vid/info. Keep them coming amigo.
Another great video Martin.
Sanitized my water system this weekend thank you Martin !
I am always amazed at how much I did Not know about my Motorhome. Thanks so much for all you have taught me!
Great information for new Rv’ers!
Great Video. Very informative. Thanks Martin
Excellent video!
Another important point. ALWAYS shut the water off to your house when you're gone for an extended period. I work for a big city FD and we attend serious water problems all the time.
New to RVing and I've found your videos to be the most detailed and filled with helpful tips & tricks.
I feel more confident in being able to more with my RV. TY!🙏
I am so pleased you find the videos helpful. You can do this. 👍
Another outstanding video. As always be safe.
Marty you are a gift to this World Brotha 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Thanks for your hot water tank cleaning. I followed your instructions to the letter
Really like the detail you go into when explaining how you do things. We do travel with water and fill up the fresh water tank when we get to the park. We learned our lesson when there was a water line break and the park was without water for hours and we didn’t have much water on hand.
Yep. Roger that. We do the same thing at a park. When traveling, we usually carry with us about 1/3 tank JIC. You never know what might happen between point A and point B.
Great show! Thank you!
Excellent video. Thank you sir!
So thankful for Martins videos
Great video. You're a great teacher.
Thanks Martin for the education on Sanitizing
Thank you so much Martin for sharing your knowledge with those of us who don't have someone to guide us thru the process like you did for us. May God Bless you always ! Thank you.
Great tips for sanitizing the H2o tank and lines and faucets. Thanks Keep the great videos coming. Your videos are always easy to do things for the average guy. Others rvers get waaaaay toooo technical for the average guy to follow.
Nicely done!
This was great. Thank you. The tip to turn off the water is new to me. Thank you!
Ya, and that tip is a BIG one 👍
Wow, I am so grateful for you sharing this information in such an easy to digest way.
So glad it was helpful 👍
You are my go to guy for RV maintenance, Martin. My Southwind is now “Martinized.”
Being MARTINIZED is good. Very good. 😜
I agree 👍👍👍
Ditto!
Thank you for this info. I'm a newbie at RV living and learning as I go. 😂
Thank you for all your info!!
You truly have a gift for teaching! I wish my husband and I would have seen this before we tried sanitizing our system recently! We struggled trying to get the bleach solution into our gravity fill. We have the same filter system as you, using that would have been so much easier!
I’d love to see you do a video on taking care of rubber slide and door seals AND replacing them! Thanks so much for your great videos! You’re my new go to source!
My PLAYLIST page: ua-cam.com/users/RVstreetplaylists
Taking care of rubber slide and other stuff: ua-cam.com/video/F5YSBrmuTCA/v-deo.html
Thanks Martin for sharing your knowledge and time…..🤟🏼
My pleasure!
Hi Martin,
Great info. I would add it's a good time to clean the inlet filter/screen bowl to the pump also.
I like your channel dude. I just bought a 40 foot diesel pusher that my lady and I are going to live in full time. Rent almost doubled, so we're hitting the road. We're going to stay close to home for a few months while we make sure everything is in good running order.
Nice presentation, thank you . I subscribed.
Hey Martin Great vid mate ,
I purchased my class a winnebago about 2 years back now ,
the people that owned it used Bore water heavy in minerals , Mate it stank so i bleached the whole system for weeks , then flushed it about 20 times , then used a product for cleaning baby bottles (Sorry cant remember the name) so flushed again and then got a sample from every tap and gave it to the local guy at the Drug store (yes they will check the water for you )Cost about $5 he gave it the all clear , we then added new filters the two can type like you have and an In lime fill filter ,, i recon the water is now better than the water in our house ,,
Again Great vid mate .
Rob
NSW
Australia
Great video Martin. The last time I did this I forgot to write a checklist and try to do everything for memory and of course I forgot one or two things. Joanie After I went to bed I remembered to get up and shut my water off at the Spicket. Hopefully I will stay in that routine. Thanks for the great info also it was wonderful to meet you both. Francis and Lare.
Hi Francis. Thanks for chiming in. It was great to meet you and Lare. You've got quite a rig. Also don't forget to check and be sure the water pump it off too. when you leave or go to bed. 🔧👍
I really appreciate this how-to video! Excellent material. If I could mention one thing, regular household bleach works perfectly for sanitizing, as you said. However, it loses its ability to sanitize quickly. 6 months after buying, it will only have half of the effective sanitizing ability, and after one year, it will basically be useless for sanitizing. Buy fresh bleach just prior to sanitizing for fully effective cleansing power.
Martin god bless you, we miss you, I refresh my mind with issues with your Videos
Good info, thanks.
Another great instructional video. Thanks 🙏.
Great Job!
Your videos are outstanding
Great advice. Carry water and l never thought about the water pump.
I want to thank you very much for all your videos You've helped us so much we are newbies and without you I don't know if we would want to continue doing this journey so thank you so much you are such a wonderful person
You are so welcome!
Martin
You are certainly saving money for RVers by using normal products
Kudos to you
I knew you were going to make this video so I waited on sanitizing my system. You of course have great information and after watching this I have to smack myself in the head for not thinking of it - to use the filter housing for the bleach, how simple. Now I can sanitize my water system with ease. I do like your idea of attaching a sewer hose to the drain port, but until then - another idea for others on draining the fresh water tank, I use a "Water Bandit" to hook up a garden hose to the drain port. Thanks again Martin for a wonderful video!
I know simple right?
Yeah that would work too. My drain hose was to large for a Bandit to work.
Great video and very helpful. I'm a subscriber now! 😊
Thanks for the sub!
As I'm watching, the Roberta Flack song, First Time comes to mind....
The first time.....I ever saw your video.....
I thought the ideas in your brain..
And the info and pictures were gifts you gave....
Thank you again, for an awesome and informative DIY! You two are fabulous!
I can see that I should have been taking notes during these to make outlines to do them myself.
thx 👍 Like the analogy too.
If you're interested I have some other good videos here: ua-cam.com/users/RVstreetplaylists
Thank you !!
Great channel
Thanks so much!
Another Great Video Martin , Ill check out your safe Rv water Video maybe ill upgrade! I have a Basic exterior Filter and then a filter under sink!
Ya I love my fresh water system. It just makes everything so easy and it's all right there in one spot.
Thank you!
Great video, Can't wait to see you on the road so we can talk RV's for a couple of hours. :)
Thank you awesome!!!!
Awesome
This guy should have hundred of thousands of subscribers
thx Goof-y....😜
I humbly ask you to please pass the word.
ua-cam.com/users/RVstreet
@@RVstreet I already do…..keep ‘em coming. Peace.
Wow. I’m overwhelmed but also recognize how important this is. Will be going full time by end of year. Just waiting for my 2021 Lance #2465 TT to be completed and ready to pick up. I’ll b a solo, senior female out there, terrified and excited at the same time. Soooo much to learn but I’m willing and able. This was informative and doable…..once I accomplish it the FIRST time! Your videos help prepare me and teach me preventative maintenance issues that I wasn’t even aware I needed! So thank you.
Hi Lauren,
I totally understand how you are terrified and excited at the same time. Trust me, I really do. Your entering into a whole new world of living and having to do things you've never done before. But you can do this and you have the right-can do-attitude. I looked at your coach online, what type of options did your order? What type of truck are you going to pull it with?
@@RVstreet hi again. I got ALL the options except the ‘lift’. I’m only 5’ nothing, so didn’t want the trailer raised higher. Got 2 solar panels, fireplace, the better stairs that are wider and closer together. (I have rheumatoid arthritis) so stairs can be painful for me. The electric jack, the ladder, televator TV in bedroom, triple propane tanks with cover, rear camera. All I know is I spent an additional $14,000 in ‘options’. I got every safety feature possible! I told them I want a weight distribution stabilizer bar put on once they get it to Yakima. And I plan on taking a training course of RV maintenance, but the one in Eugene might only be for Class A’s, which is where I first started my research 3 years ago, so might have to change course but I definitely want to take classes. The one in Eugene was like a $1000.00 but it was over 5 days. And I want to learn and practice as much as able to be as safe as I possibly can be. I had to buy a truck and sell my very new sedan. Again I researched cause I know absolutely NOTHING about trucks. Never drove one or even ridden in one b4! But I have a friend very knowledgeable and I finally found what I wanted, but it was 6 hours away, in Spokane! It’s a 2018 Ford 150 Lariat with 3.5 Eco Boost. I love it. Never knew a truck could b so luxurious. It’s loaded with all the options too. Most importantly, it has the button for backing up the trailer (after u put in the correct measurements), which I’m hoping will really help me. Only one owner, and he had hauled a travel trailer too. He just traded in for a newer year. I’m not sure where to take the trailer, once I’ve loaded it to be sure about the weight. Articles talk about truck weigh stations but say it’s dependent on who’s there at the time. I just want and need to b safe. It’s only going to b me out there and I have never camped with anything more than a chalet, A-frame, hard sided trailer. I am sooooo out of my comfort zone. But at least I’ve towed a trailer. Problem is, it only weighed 1000 lbs and folded down to a rectangular BOX. Nothing like what my new endeavor. Any words of advice will b most welcome. I now watch all your videos (since I accidentally found you when watching UA-cam videos about weight distribution stabilizers for RV’s). I have them saved. Some I watch over and over again just to help my brain retain the information . Have to say tho, your videos scare me because there is just tremendous amount of learning involved with my going solo. But in a good way. You don’t know what you don’t know, right? So I’m just gonna dig in, go slow, practice and practice and practice in parks close by, to gain confidence b4 I truly venture out .
@@laurenkeon3267 Well it sure seems to me that you've been doing your due diligence and that's good. Now all you have to do is over come your fears and concerns. I just got thru watching a tremendous 4 episode documentary on the first civilian space launch with SpaceX. It's called COUNTDOWN and it's on Netflix. You really should watch this. It's soooooo inspiring on how to to push your limits and overcome fears of the unknown. I know you'll really like it. 👍
Just take baby steps, you'll be fine. There is a world of wonderful RV's out there that will help you along the way.
Why do I love this guy off the rip? lol
Nice job god bless
Miss you Martin. The RV Street Legacy continues.
♥️♥️♥️
Hi Martin and Joanie, love your videos. I have a question about this water tank sanitizing video. Is it a necessity to turn the water switch back to city water from the tank fill position after you have filled the tank with the sanitizing bleach solution and before you start running your Water faucets. If you do have to switch back to the city water position could you please explain why. Again love your videos. Thanks
We have done this same operation in our well in the country
Hi Martin, you are an excellent teacher. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us. One thing how often do we need to sanitize the RV?
Depends on how and where you use your RV. I do it twice a year.
My setup is such that I have to thread a hose into the fresh water fill in order to put water into the fresh water tank. I'm going to cut about a 10 inch piece of house with the threaded end on one side and stuff a funnel into the cut end. That way I can thread the funnel hose into the fresh water fill and pour bleach into the funnel to put bleach into the fresh water tank.
Thanks god bless
I always look forward to viewing your videos for great tips for keeping my RV rolling along. By reusing the water filters and just reconnecting the an un-serviced softener, won't this leave the possibility of re-contaminating the water system?
No not at all. There's was nothing contaminated in the first place. We're just doing an annual cleansing.
Now concerning the filters, in my case, I had just changed both of those filters a couple of weeks ago. I normally change out my filters about every quarter or so. Depends on my water usage and where I am. But they were still practically brand new. The water softener doesn't need any servicing during sanitation. You want to bypass both those areas and any other filters you may have too. All filters and the water softener if you have one are bypassed. If you ran bleach in any of those areas they'd be ruined. Once sanitation is complete, you hook everything back the way you had it.
Thanks for the question Walt. 👍
Good info Martin, also it's a good idea to remove all your faucet strainers after sanitizing to flush out all the gunk so it doesn't clog the strainers. Ask me how I know this?
Yep another good step to take.
Just ran across this video, great tutorial, thank you.
Depending on how you treat your black tank, I would highly discourage using the toilet while bleach is in the lines. Many of the big name/popular tank treatments that people use are enzyme based and introducing bleach could/will kill those enzymes and render the treatment ineffective. You will have to do several black tank flushes to remove the bleach residue...as the saying goes "Ask me how I know" 😂 Sorry, didn't want to read through all 200+ comments to see if this was already addressed.
Thank you for your input and helping the RV community with your knowledge.👍
👍"Nobody has to go to the school of hard knocks". RVstreet
But many do unfortunately 😂 🤣 👍
as i always say and will always say, martin is the best, i have learned so much , he is a walking book of knowledge,,,,thank you sir i love your water filtration system and how its mounted , awesome, what kind is it ????
Well, I went into great detail of all what I did in the wet bay in the video below and in the description text of that video, I link to where I purchase all my water gear and all the part numbers.
ua-cam.com/video/1Reh8q6-rC0/v-deo.html
Thanks Michael for all your kind words. It keeps me going. 💗
BTW...have you ever checked out my PLAYLIST page: ua-cam.com/users/RVstreetplaylists
@@RVstreet i noticed it now , a real duh on my part, thank you martin for all your help , you and the better half make a awesome team and couple, im have learned so much from you , bmws i know , motorhomes im learning
Super informative! I have a tankless on demand hot water heater. How would I know if I can run bleach water through it? Thanks for the great video. :)
Confer with your manual. OR....bypass it just to be safe.
Hi there 😊 thank you so much for this video. I have the suburban water heater. How do you bypass it?
Well, whether you have an Atwood or a Suburban water heater the bypass valve will be in a specific location according to your make, model and year of RV. Check your user manual for it's location in your RV.
Thank you for another great instructional video! I successfully sanitized the fresh water supply in our motor home for the first time. From that experience, I have a couple of questions. I noticed that you added bleach to the second filter canister so everything from that point downstream was sanitized. You also sanitized the water hose. Should the connector hoses, first filter canister and water softener also be sanitized?
Thank you Mimi 👍
You could sanitize those to short hoses that I connected together to bypass the water softener separately if you want but NEVER the water softener itself. But in reality I don't think it's necessary. Remember those two short hoses are special custom hoses, the material there made from is protected from the sun and they also get a good blast of bleach as you fill the fresh water tank. The long main water hose that I sanitized is long, usually out in the sun all time and is more prone to need sanitizing. I hope that answered your question.
Three issues I’d like to point out: 1. There is no reason to bypass the water heater. While chlorine can corrode steel, it’s over a long period of time(weeks/months). Overnight, or even 24 hours will not be an issue. 2. If you turn off your city water supply, and then run your faucets to distribute the bleach solution, that means your water tank will no longer be full and thus the top of your tank will not be sanitized. Instead, leave the city water turned on while you run each faucet. This ensures your tank stays full & gets fully sanitized. THEN turn off the city supply. 3. You should NOT drain your entire tank of bleach solution into a septic tank. The solution will kill all of the necessary bacteria that breaks down the sewage in the tank. It’s better to drain the tank on the ground, driving down the road, into a storm drain(perhaps on a rainy day)etc. but septic tanks are definitely a no no.
I agree about the water heater I aways wondered why people bypass it
Thank you for another great video. I just sanitized our Winnebago Navion just as you instructed and it worked great. Did you have any thoughts regarding Purogene vs. bleach for sanitizing or general use in the water you are carrying?
Never considered Purogene and no need to have in the fresh water tank if you filter it right to begin with and use it often like we do.
@@RVstreet Thanks again.
Great video....When quoting gallons I assume you are talking US gallons ? If so Canadian viewers should multiply US gallon by 1.2. FYI.
Martin, you provide a great service for all of us in maintaining our RV's. But I have a question that I am hoping you can help me with. I have an '07 Tiffin Allegro Bay with a 84 gal fresh water tank (I am a recent owner of). I have purchase a small in line hose water meter (like I see in your wet bay) to measure the amount of water I am putting into the tank. Problem: I can only get 40 gallons of water into the tank before it overflows out the gravity fill spout. I have fully drained the tank, the tank sensors confirms that the tank is empty, and yet I can only get 40 gallons into it. Any idea what is preventing it from completely filling? Thanks in advance for your help on this.
Ok, if I understand your story correctly, you're filling your 84 gallon fresh water tank with a line hose water meter (like mine) but the tank starts to overflow out the gravity fill spout when the meter reads only 40gallons. If your fresh water tank water overflows out the gravity fill spout that means the tank is in fact full. But the line hose water meter is only showing 40 gallons has passed thru. Here's what I'd check:
1) Make sure your line hose water meter is set to gallons and not liters. You can change that by pushing the two red buttons
2) Replace the battery and reset by holding both buttons down
3) Get a 5 gallon bucket and run a hose to it with your line hose water meter hooked to the end and see if it's calibrated correctly. When the 5 gallon bucket is full the line hose water meter should read 5 gallons
In conclusion I suspect either your have it set to liters not gallons OR the line hose water meter is defective and not calibrated correctly.
Please follow up with me and let me know what you find out. 🔧 👍
Hi Martin, long-time viewer, and first-time blogger. I have a question about getting bleach into the fresh water tank. My dilemma is my winterizing kit bypasses the freshwater tank and goes directly to the pump. There is a short connection from the outside "city fill" connector to the "bottom" of the freshwater tank. The outside connector has a built-in check valve, (which is higher than the top of the tank), so I am unable to simply pour bleach into the freshwater tank. Do you know of a "gadget" or a simple solution that will bypass the outside "city fill" and get bleach into my tank? BTW, love your channel and really appreciate your work.
Thank you Keith for your question...
Well....you should have some sort of outside water filtering system BEFORE water goes into the RV or the fresh water tank. If you don't have one you should for safety and good tasting water. Get one and add the bleach like I do.
Other than that I don't know of any gadget that would bypass the outside "city fill". I don't think that's possible.
You may have already watched this video on how my water system is set up, but if not here it is again:
ua-cam.com/video/14Zo8Vkvh5o/v-deo.html
Here's where you can get an excellent water filtering system to have good tasting, safe water throughout the RV: www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Affiliate=RVstreet
What water meter do you use? I think knowing how many gallons you put in is great. Also I really enjoy your videos, thanks.
I have it in my Amazon Store in the "Everything Water and Sewer" category. My Amazon Store link is in the description text under every video.
www.amazon.com/shop/rvstreet?listId=3Q0KMKYCTJVT
Thanks Ken 🔧 👍
Funny. I also spent about 18 months and $10K upgrading our RV before we started our official retirement touring of the US.
That was a smart thing to do Tom.
I put the bleach in the freshwater hose. Just pour it in the empty hose end. Put the hose in the tank fill and turn the water on....done.
This was in a Tech Tip Tuesday video.
Using the winterizer siphon and the water pump (Martin's third way) would not work for me. I do not have a tank fill valve. This would not disinfect the fresh water tank on my rig. My pump only draws off the tank and will never fill it.
Disinfecting the hoses. I drain them after use, but this is a good idea.
Martin, is there ever a time that you would install a backflow check valve (stop water from back flowing), and if so where in the system would you install it?
Great info as always 👍👍
Stop water from back flowing from where?
@@RVstreet A lot of times they are used to stop water from returning back in to the supply line. Like on a garden hose.
Mostly to keep from contaminating the good water.
I guess it was a question from someone who doesn't have a very good understanding of plumbing.
@@joeblow3939 Ya, cool.....the only place where water could even possibly return back to the supply line is from the fresh water tank and that isn't going to happen for two reasons:
1) If the fresh water tank gets to full it will just start to discharge out the over fill tube
2) On every RV that I've ever seen, on the main city water valve on the RV where you switch from city water or to fill the fresh water tank there's either a check valve right there already OR that valve either is turned to the RV or to fill the fresh water tank.
So I see no way water contamination can take place.
I tripped upon your channel.. great video.. followed your tips to the “T”. .. I had one RV friend say use vinegar instead of bleach.. your thoughts?
Unless the vinegar is HOT it will not sanitize all forms of bacteria. Bleach will sanitize it all at ambient temperature.
Hello family.
I'm a rookie at this, however the approach, and the way you teach,is truly captivating. I've been looking for information on how to live this way, and by far in my opinion has been the best. So as they say "I'm stuck like glue" shucks, I knew none of this was going to be easy, but what is? Keep up the good work. Thanks again.
"The NOBODY"
Thank you Paul 👍
JIC...you haven't visited here yet, here's a link to my YT home page. If you'll click the PLAYLISTS tab up at the top, there's a ton of videos there that will keep you from going to the school of hard knocks: ua-cam.com/users/RVstreetfeatured
Great video. Can you save water by only using a half tank of bleach and water instead of filling it full. Since the water is sloshing around when driving sanitizing the tank while driving, it would save on water and gas mileage with less weight. I have close to 90 gallon tank.
Thank You
Thank you for your input and that is a good plan.
Hey Martin, love your channel. I have a question, I bought the Weboost through your Amazon store and I installed it and I think you had mentioned putting your outside antenna on a telescoping pole would you happen to have a pic of that you could share with me? I can only achieve 11 1/2 ft I would like to get it up around 13 1/2 ft and I can't figure out how to achieve that. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Lee,
I don't know if you mean 11.5' from the ground or an additional 11.5' above your roof line. I mounted my weBoost up on the top of the RV rear ladder. That means it's right at 12' 3" and that's where it lives all the time. In 4yrs. we've only had one instance where even the weBoost couldn't help. And I have the older model. However, on the way to Maine this spring we stopped in NC at a park and I had a pretty weak cell signal. We we're kinda sitting in a bowl in the camp ground surrounded by a lot of trees. So I unbolted my weBoost from the ladder, took my telescoping washing pole and extended it all the way out (which is another 9') tied the weBoost to one end of the pole with zip ties, added another short cable to it so it could screw into my existing cable and then zip tied the other end of the pole to the vertical part of the ladder. It helped some. We were there for two weeks and I was able to maintain our YT channel and watch Netflix with no problem. If you want to go higher than that, you'll have to use a longer pole. Now remember this was a temporary fix to get me by for two weeks. If you want to rig something up that is more permanent so you can raise it up like that all the time, you'll have to design a mount where you can do that for your rig. But IMO-like us-our weBoost always comes thru for us so I never saw a need to go thru all that. Hope this helps. 🔧 👍
This is my pole I used: www.amazon.com/dp/B00192AAC6?ref=exp_rvstreet_dp_vv_d
@@RVstreet thank you Martin, that is very helpful. I have not had an opportunity to try it out yet but we have a trip set for the end of month I southwestern Colorado. I will try it then. Thank you so much for taking your time to respond. Have a Fabulous Fourth of July.
Hi Martin thanks for the video. My question is I looked at the fresh water tank line it’s got some black stuff in the line. Will flushing the system get that out? I’m not sure if it’s mold or just garbage My other questions is the tech I had a while back said that theirs debris in the tank from manufacturing. Will doing this get that out of my fresh water tank? Single Woman RVing! 💪🏼
Well it should get rid of it, but since you can see it, that means you have some sort of access to it also. What I'd do is get an appropriate diameter, long bottle brush, dip it in a bleach/water solution and clean it as best as you can....THEN.....do your flushing. Now if the line you're referring to is the bottom of the drain line I wouldn't worry about it b/c it's below the fresh water tank drain valve.
I don't know how that tech knows there is debris in the tank from the factory. How would he know that? Now.....sometimes I guess it could happen, but that's why you sanitize even a brand new tank. So yes, it will clean it out and sanitize it too.
It does my heart good to see that you're jumping right in and taking care of these things and not being afraid to tackle this stuff. 🔧💪
Nice video about sanitizing and martinizing the fresh water system. Going back to the back fill valve preventer, I have read elsewhere that they should be used specifically on the black tank flush system to prevent contaminated water backing up the hose. In your opinion, is this a common issue? Thank you.
We don't have a black tank flush system on our RV but many RV's do. I flush our black tanks with a wand down the toilet. Does a great job and I have a video coming out how that works. There's no way our black tanks could contaminate anything. But for you, I'd refer to your rigs user manual to see how yours is set up and the proper procedure. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
For those that have a designated black tank flush port on their rv, it is recommended that you buy a water hose that you only use for flushing the black water tank. Why? For the reasons your concerned about, back flush possibilities. Store that designated black tank flush water hose in your rv separately from your drinking water hose too. Cheers 🍻
@@RVstreet I use a designed hose. I add a little bleach and dawn dishwashing liquid. Flush it out with lots of water. I heard about the wand but exactly how deep into the toilet will it go? I have a 16’ Jayco Jayflight RB45.
@@WonderingMom Yep I use a dedicated hose too as I showed. The wand has a 27" shaft. I carry it in my Amazon Store in the "Everything Water" category: www.amazon.com/shop/rvstreet
Water system cleaning
I NEED YOUR HELP!!!! I mentioned to a person that I was sanitizing the travel trailer water tank and lines using bleach, 1/4 per 15 gallons or 1/960 dilution rate. They were horrified and said that would destroy the PEX (?) (not sure what PEX is). The person advised I should be using ammonia for the job not bleach. I have never heard of using ammonia for sanitizing a rv's water tank and lines. Your advice is needed. Thank you.
Don't worry about it, that is a low concentration of chlorine and will not harm the PEX as it is treated to be resistant to chlorine when manufactured. Bleach is what you need, not ammonia and be sure to use pure bleach not one that contains scents or additives.
Very much enjoy your site. I have a question. If my camper sits for a month in 90 degree weather with no AC on, do I empty my fresh water tank or do I leave water in it. Will I need to re sanitize the system again?
If you have previously sanitized your fresh water tank in the last 6 months, letting it sit for a month is totally fine to continue to use. If you haven't sanitized it lately, just add additional water to what you have that's been sitting there, add the appropriate amount of clorox, fill it up to the top, let it sit for 6-8hrs. drain, rinse and fill it up to the level you normally do.
Not only are there hundreds of plumbing connections, they were all done in a hurry, and often in a cramped space.
Merle Haug cool
new to rving. we are only going camping about 3 to 4 trips a year. is this a do it once a year thing? or everytime i'm going on a trip. my travel trailer is new. we have gone on one trip and didn't use the water except to shower, and toilet. the RV had be de winterized when i picked it up last month. guess i need to do this soon. again, if its just sitting in my driveway for weeks at a time , do i need to do this before every trip???
In your case since you winterize every winter, then in the spring when you de-winterize, sanitize the fresh water tank. That will get you to fall or early winter when you winterize again.
How long can water sit in a tank between uses ,it may be 1 to 3 months before we travel again. Should we drain then refill once a week once a month , how long can water sit unused or should we drain the tank after trips? We do like to keep the RV tank partially full just for emergency back up even when home not traveling. Thank you Karl
Well it depends on the quality of the water in the first place and whether it's filtered properly BEFORE it goes into your fresh water tank. If it's good water to start with and filtered properly 1-3 months shouldn't be a problem IMO. And of course it should go thru a water softener too. That will save your plumbing and appliances over time.
I have a PLAYLIST of other videos covering this subject if you're interested: ua-cam.com/play/PLkQXtMp9xodT-mrqODN1IH_B2ZAJJ--1c.html
Martin, how do you feel about the Rhino Blaster for the BT????
That unit won't work for our rig. I've tried every possible adapter and nothing works for us. But it may work for you and the way your plumbing is set up. But, I have another remedy to clean and rinse our BT's. I have a video coming out in the future about that and other RV tank procedures.