by William Collins

Created on: January 04, 2010

How to clean RV water systems

To get the most of your RV camping season, begin it by taking a little time to make sure your RV's water system is clean and safe for you and your family.

Cleaning the water system does not have to be difficult. By getting a few tools together, you’ll be able to breeze through this job each season.

 THINGS YOU WILL NEED

Plant food siphon mixer 1:16 mix ratio. Lemon dishwashing liquid. Plain laundry bleach. No additives. A one-gallon plastic jug. Drinking water hose. Two feet of tubing.

DRAINING THE SYSTEM:

First you need to drain all the water out.

Turn-off the water pump and water heater. Open all of the water faucets. Open low point drain valves. Your RV may have several or only one of these, look in the owner’s manual. Remove the main and ice maker water filters. Assemble the canisters back together. Open the water heater pressure relief valve. Remove the water heater drain plug, but make sure the water is cold first. Close all faucets and drains. Make sure the filter canisters are re-assembled.

WASHING IT WITH SOAP

By soaping-up the system you will take out many contaminants the bleach alone cannot remove.

Fill the one-gallon jug half-full of water and add two tablespoons dishwashing liquid for every ten gallons of water tank capacity. Mix the soap with the water. Attach the siphon mixer between the water hose and the RV fill hose. Attach tubing between siphon fitting the gallon jug. Make sure the end is in the soap. Turn on the water and fill the RV’s water tank. Turn on the water pump, run water in each faucet until you smell lemon soap. Flush the toilet: Run the shower: Cycle the icemaker. Turn on other appliances you may have. Let it sit for one-hour, and run faucets until the water is out. Drain the water heater tank. Empty the holding tanks.

If very dirty, you may have clean the faucet screen filters.

 DISINFECTING THE SYSTEM

Although the soap bath has removed the slime and debris, there is still the need to kill bacteria that may be lurking in your RV's water system.

Rinse jug and pour 2/3 cup of bleach for every 10 gallons of fresh water capacity. Fill the jug with water. Insert the siphon hose into the bleach/water mixture, this time, and fill-up the water tanks again. Turn on the water pump and open each faucet until the water coming out smells like bleach. Flush the toilet: Run the shower: Cycle the icemaker, once again. Turn on any other water appliance you may have. Turn everything off and let it soak for two to three hours; if you can let it sit overnight, so much the better. Run the water pump and open all the faucets to drain the bleach water into the waste tanks. Drain the waste holding tanks. Fill and flush the fresh water system with clean water until all the bleach smell is gone. Don’t forget to drain and flush the water heater tank. Drain the holding tanks. If your RV’s water system is very contaminated, you may have to repeat the washing/bleaching procedure.

FINISHING UP

Now that you’re finished, it’s time for the final fresh water fill.

Replace all of the filters and screens that you removed earlier. Place one teaspoon of bleach, for every 10 gallons of fresh water tank capacity into the gallon jug and fill with one-half gallon of water. Turn on the water and siphon the tsp/10gal mixture into your fresh water tank.

If you use the siphon mixer method every time you fill-up your water tank, you’ll always have a fresh and clean RV water system.

Now — go enjoy your camping.

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