Sanitizing

Topic: Sanitizing (Read 1312 times) previous topic - next topic

Sanitizing

August 21, 2018, 05:54:56 pm

I am about ready to sanitize the fresh water system on my coach and have a question.

From the picture below I hook my hose to the back side of this filter setup (I have a new one to install) then can I take the fitting with the green coupler on it off and pour my bleach solution in it and hook it back up and then fill the tank?

I will check the system with just plain water first as I have replaced the tank and all new filters and I am not sure about the one under the sink so a pan and slowly turn the water on fist and figure out the valve under the bathroom sink is the first order.

do you like the little red trim around the screw??? that is plastic that got installed because the holes are pulled so they have been packed with Marine-Tex "LOL"

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #1 – August 21, 2018, 06:31:59 pm

Hard to get much bleach into a garden hose without spilling it...usually on your good work pants. I got one of the little inline filters linked below. Very handy - just screw it on the hose, fill the clear cup with bleach, turn on the water. EASY!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Care-Garden-Hose-Inlet-Filter-AP31076/202560210?keyword=ap31076&semanticToken=2003000+++%3E++++st%3A%7Bap31076%7D%3Ast++cn%3A%7B0%3A0%7D++cn%3A%7Bnull%7D++ap31076+%7Bproductkey%7D+qu%3A%7Bap31076%7D

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #2 – August 21, 2018, 09:26:54 pm

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – August 21, 2018, 06:31:59 pm

Hard to get much bleach into a garden hose without spilling it...usually on your good work pants. I got one of the little inline filters linked below. Very handy - just screw it on the hose, fill the clear cup with bleach, turn on the water. EASY!

Thanks for the link Chuck, I will check it you.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #3 – August 21, 2018, 09:44:47 pm

Or better yet. use a pool or spa chlorine treatment. It is granular and about a teaspoon will sanitize 100 gallons. Just fill your tank and turn on all the faucets.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #4 – August 21, 2018, 10:02:17 pm

Quote from: bigdog – August 21, 2018, 09:44:47 pm

Or better yet. use a pool or spa chlorine treatment. It is granular and about a teaspoon will sanitize 100 gallons. Just fill your tank and turn on all the faucets.

That is a good idea, I will have to see if I can get some from my neighbors, I took my pool out about 12 years ago

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #5 – August 22, 2018, 12:50:26 am

Bleach in the filter housing works great.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #6 – August 22, 2018, 06:58:48 am

Quote from: Carol & Scott – August 22, 2018, 12:50:26 am

Bleach in the filter housing works great.

Oh that sounds very easy, just remove the filters and pour the bleach in?

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #7 – August 22, 2018, 07:15:54 am

Yes.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #8 – August 22, 2018, 07:51:58 am

Just did it myself. Should have done the bleach in the filter housing, but instead poured it into a empty hose. Worked fine that way as well. After, fill your tank, then let it sit while you drive after you have run water through all your lines, so sink, toilet, shower, etc. Then drain and fill with fresh, then flush the lines again. Then install new filters. Make sure you remove the old filters first before you do this. They have carbon in them and will try to remove the chlorine. You should smell bleach when flushing the lines or you didn't put in enough.Wear eye protection and old clothing. Make sure you have new filters on hand before you do it. I used these and undersink

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #9 – August 22, 2018, 07:59:44 am

Thanks Bob, I have new filters as the old ones froze when FT moved the coach outside last Feb. I called and asked them to make sure the furnace was on and they called back and said it was, well turns out the heat strips were on, not the furnace so the bays did not get any heat and the filters froze and split apart.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #10 – August 22, 2018, 09:28:22 am

I am interested in the granular idea. Where would I get access to the tank on my coach? One teaspoon, fill tank and drive around??? Sounds good to me. Thanks

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #11 – August 22, 2018, 10:19:42 am

If you do not have a particulate filter, you should get one. They hook up to the water spigot and catch any chucky stuff, sand, rust, plastic and keep it out of your system. The bottom valve lets you flush it out. The filter screens conpme in different mesh sizes and the fpfilter bowl screw off, a perfect place to add bleach. This cleans your hoses and everything.

If you are sanitizing then bypass your carbon filter, is traps the bleach.

Water Pressure in Coach

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #12 – August 22, 2018, 10:37:45 am

Is this sanitizing something that needs to be done in all situations? I have never sanitized any of our motorhomes. We fill with Los Angeles city water after each trip as an earthquake stand-by. The water will kill your fish in a pond and checks higher than a swimming pool tester requires. I always figured that our use is keeping the chloramines high enough in the tank to take care of any bacteria etc. The water sits the longest between Nov. and May, our last and first trip each year. That will change at the end of Sept. this year with my retirement and probably 3 months max there after.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #13 – August 22, 2018, 11:45:59 am

Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 – August 22, 2018, 10:19:42 am

If you do not have a particulate filter, you should get one. They hook up to the water spigot and catch any chucky stuff, sand, rust, plastic and keep it out of your system. The bottom valve lets you flush it out. The filter screens conpme in different mesh sizes and the fpfilter bowl screw off, a perfect place to add bleach. This cleans your hoses and everything.
If you are sanitizing then bypass your carbon filter, is traps the bleach.

Thanks Roger, I will have to get that type of filter for larger stuff as a pre-filter, so from the bib first would be my pressure regulator then the large particulate filter then my 2 filter set?

here are the filters I got a while back, the right side is for small particulate stuff and the left is a carbon filter. I guess I need to figure out how to turn off the filter under the sink as it is a new carbon filter too, I just have not figured out the valves for it yet "LOL"

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #14 – August 22, 2018, 12:42:57 pm

Thanks, also to Roger. I wish I could park my coach next to you for a while and learn LOTS of stuff.We have the same coach, to boot.!! I am getting ready to order the filter and pressure regulator that you recommend. Before I do, I would like to clarify: You bought the FAMCP34, according to your post. It is the 155, not the 50. Is that adequate? Also, you mention an $8 40 psi regulator. I don't see it on the link you provided. You go through 2 pre filters. What did you buy, if you recall. What softener did you buy? How often do you have to recharge it? I assume that you also have an under sink filter, as I do. So.....I put bleach into the pre filter, by pass all other filters and run the water until you smell bleach. Let it sit. Flush. Correct?? Do you sanitize the fresh water tank also?? I know for a fact that the PO did NOT do any of this, and we spend 8 months in our coach. Getting it ready for our winter journey, as we speak. Thanks for you help. You are a wealth of information. And you do such pretty work too !!

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #15 – August 22, 2018, 02:05:39 pm

Quote from: GleamB – August 22, 2018, 09:28:22 am

I am interested in the granular idea. Where would I get access to the tank on my coach? One teaspoon, fill tank and drive around??? Sounds good to me. Thanks

With the granular spa chlorine. You just mix it in hot water in a 2-3 cup glass measuring cup. Then pour that (wearing gloves) into the hose or particulate filter canister you use to fill your fresh water tank. Since the spa chlorine is so concentrated you aren't likely to over flow the fill hose. Just pour slowly and have a helper as you don't want to lower the hose to make the final connection or the solution pours back out. Or do the filter thing as Roger said. Which is much, much easier and safer.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #16 – August 22, 2018, 02:57:57 pm

Quote from: Super8mm – August 22, 2018, 11:45:59 am

I guess I need to figure out how to turn off the filter under the sink as it is a new carbon filter too, I just have not figured out the valves for it yet.

If you have the Everpure filter under the sink, it can be kinda tricky. Some models have a lever that when rotated to the "UP" (vertical) position, turns off the water going through the filter. On other models, the lever is not a valve, but is only a "lock" to hold the replaceable filter in position.

If your filter head does not have a water shutoff valve, you can buy a "blank" plug that installs in place of a filter. This is usually used during the winterizing process, to avoid getting the pink stuff in the filter.

OR, you could install a shutoff valve on the supply line to the filter. This is a good idea if you live in (or visit) a place where below freezing winter temps are common, just in case one of the small plastic water lines (going to filter or ice maker) ever freezes and breaks.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #17 – August 22, 2018, 04:12:22 pm

I used to use the whole house adjustable water pressure regulators for sticks and bricks.

Now we use this one and prefer it: https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/Fixed.htm

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #18 – August 22, 2018, 07:29:26 pm

Thanks Chuck, I will get some pictures tomorrow.

Does the filter under the sink go to the ice maker too?

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #19 – August 22, 2018, 08:45:01 pm

Quote from: Super8mm – August 22, 2018, 07:29:26 pm

Does the filter under the sink go to the ice maker too?

It does on our coach, and I assume that's the way it is on most Foretravel coaches...unless it was changed by a prior owner. Most ice makers need a filter of some sort in the water supply line. On our coach the filtered water also went to a "instant" hot water dispenser at the kitchen sink. Ours was broken, and we had no need for it, so I replaced it with a hand soap dispenser.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #20 – August 22, 2018, 08:55:35 pm

Thanks chuck, I have a water dispenser at the sink but I dont know if it is hot or just cold

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #21 – August 22, 2018, 09:00:23 pm

If is an insta hot there should be a switch to turn it on. You can tell by looking under the sink if it is for hot water there will be the tank directly under the faucet.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #22 – August 22, 2018, 09:02:50 pm

On ours, standing in front of the sink, the cold (drinking water) dispenser is on the right side of the sink. The hot dispenser was on the left side of the sink, and there was (is) a switch on the panel below the sink that turned the little water heater on. Actually, the switch turns on a duplex 110V outlet under the sink. The hot water dispenser was plugged into that switched outlet.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #23 – August 22, 2018, 10:16:21 pm

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – August 22, 2018, 09:02:50 pm

On ours, standing in front of the sink, the cold (drinking water) dispenser is on the right side of the sink. The hot dispenser was on the left side of the sink, and there was (is) a switch on the panel below the sink that turned the little water heater on. Actually, the switch turns on a duplex 110V outlet under the sink. The hot water dispenser was plugged into that switched outlet.

Thanks Chuck and RT mine must have only the cold water one then.

Re: Sanitizing

Reply #24 – August 23, 2018, 12:21:50 am

Thanks Glenn for the nice comments. Everybody starts out trying to figure this stuff out. It can seem pretty daunting but like most things it is just a stepmby step process and mostly common sense.

The FAMCP34 particulate filter from Dripworks is a 155 mesh screen
The FAMCP34200 prticulate filter has a 200 mesh screen which is the finest they have. Either will work.
Amiad Tagline Filters - DripWorks.com
For $20 they stop a lot of crud from getting into the system.

The pressure regulator from Dripworks had a couple drawbacks so I went to a Valterra 50 psi high flow brass regulator.
Amazon.com: Valterra (A01-1122VP Lead-Free Water Regulator: Automotive

The dual water filters are like Stave has above.
Amazon.com: Watts POE12DSA1KDF Dual Exterior Water Filter Kit: Automotive

The filters are sometimes not available so I keep as spare set ready to use. And then start looking for more. These get changed once a year or more depending one how much we travel. For FT probably twice a year.

Water softener is a Watts
Amazon.com: Watts Water Quality/Condition M7002 Flow-Pur RV-Pro 10,000 Water...
It uses ordinary table salt to recharge, takes about 20 minutes. It has test strips to tell when to recharge, it seems like it is good for about 800 gallons

The drinking water filter gets changed every six months, may be a bit longer.. For us it gets removed when we winterize and a new one goes in after dewinterizing.

When we put the coach in the barn the fresh water tank gets filled with maybe a tablespoon of bleach. If it sits more than a few weeks before we leave again that water gets emptied into the garden and the fresh tank refilled when we leave.

If your tank is clean one or two tablespoons of bleach is plenty for 100 gallons. If you smell,the bleach us a little less next time. If it is getting filled with cpgood city water you really don't need any.

After a winterizing the fresh tank may have sat empty for three months or so before we leave. We flush all the lines out and add fresh water to the tank with 3-4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of bleach in the particulate filter. This gets the hose and everything. Youncan run it through the filter cases with no cartridges in them and the waster softener as well. Pump it through all of the lines and faucets. Let it sit for an hour or so and then drain everything out. And the repeat with little or no bleach, drain it out. Then put in new filters and run water through them before hooking it up to fill the tank. Sometimes you will get some black water coming out of the carbon filter and then it will,clear up. Hook the filters up to fill the tanks and fill the tank and run water theough all of the lines. Put a new drinking water filter in and run water through that.

It seems fussy but it is just one step at a time and it is done. It is not hard to keep your water system clean and healthy. Just stay with it.

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Affiliate Notice