Does the thought of cleaning your RV water tanks give you a big case of the procrastinations? You aren’t alone. It’s a task that many RV owners put off consistently. While there is no getting around the 5-10 hours until the job is done, RV water tank cleaning is an easy task, and your active working time is about an hour. That’s manageable, right?
Drain All Water
To begin, drain water from your hot water heater, water lines and holding tank. Turn off the power and extinguish the gas pilot prior to removing the hot water heater’s drain plug. Remove water line plugs located at the low points in the lines. Open faucets and flush toilet several times, closing faucets when water stops. Empty all water from your fresh water tank by opening the drain, turning on the water pump just long enough to push out the remaining water.
Flush With Bleach Solution and Wait
Next, you are going to flush the fresh water tank with diluted bleach. Close up all valves and prepare your bleach solution. The general rule is to use one cup of bleach for each 10 gallons of water tank. Mix the bleach with several gallons of water to dilute it prior to pouring in the tank. Then go ahead and fill up the tank all the way with clean water.
Switch on the water pump and open all faucets. Allow water to run until you smell bleach, and then close all faucets. Top off the water tank with fresh water and let it sit for a minimum of four hours. Leaving it overnight is best. Please note: doubling the bleach does not cut your wait time in half.
Refill With Fresh Water
After the waiting period, turn on the water pump and run all water systems until the tank is drained. Refill with fresh, potable water and run through read full article faucets until the bleach smell is gone.
Once you follow all of these steps, your job of cleaning water tanks is finished. The water is clean and ready to drink.
