How best to condition new Fresh Water Tank

[hwitten]

It's the first time we've had to break a new tank in so didn't give a good taste test before trip
Tried using the water on my trip. Yuk and double YUK. To say that it tasted bad is an understatement.
Giving it the baking soda treatment but thought I'd ask if there is a better procedure.

[robertey]

Depends on what your tank is made of I suppose, and how long it has been stored. Some plastics are better suited to storage of drinking water. You may consider swapping it out for another type.

Generally the longer water has been stored the funkier it tastes. Anything more than 4-5 weeks days is going to leave your water tasting kind of flat. For long term storage of water, sanitization is required. The faint chlorine taste this imparts is better than the funky taste of stale water, or (in extreme cases) unsafe stored water.

I washed my tank when I got it with a water hose, plenty of dawn dish soap, and a soaking in a modest amount of bleach. I did this before mounting it and it made it a lot easier. I also cleaned all the tubing/fill line that transports the water. After thoroughly cleaning and rinsing, taste was OK, but not great. Roughly the quality of tap water in my area.

I am currently using my under-tear water tanks for nonpotable water for showers, washing equipment, and washing cookware. I use an insulated 1 gallon jug for drinking and cooking water. This is nice because I can pack it with ice and cold filtered water and keep it on the front seat for the ride. A 1 gallon jug frozen solid in the cooler can be used to replenish this as needed.

[Jiminsav]

you should fill it almost full of water..add up to one cup of bleach, fill it up to the top..let it sit 6 hours..drain, and flush, fill with fresh water, and add a couple teaspoons of bleach to keep it from growing bad things...might taste a little funny, but it won't kill you.

[hwitten]

you should fill it almost full of water..add up to one cup of bleach

That's what I have in progress now on the advice of an accommodating local RV Dealer. He suggested to leave it in for a day or two since tank was new.

Hopefully works

[Jiminsav]

glad to be of almost assistance..

[hwitten]

Always nice to have confirmation/2nd opinion

[Shadow Catcher]

The fresh water tank in Compass Rose was rather nasty and even after a good chlorine sanitizing it still was nasty tasting so I went to the local RV dealer and found a product for neutralizing the taste. And it worked, well! OK so what was it, and I looked up the MSDS sheet and it was 100% sodium carbonate, baking soda.
For more information http://oconto.uwex.edu/files/2011/02/Baking-Soda.pdf

[hwitten]

I've always used baking soda in the fresh water tanks of my RV's. Aside from helping to keep it fresh it also makes sending units for water level work. If water is too pure it's almost like an insulator for the sending units.

This go-around I had several sessions of baking soda mixture and water changes but nothing worked.
Hopefully the bleach will do the trick. Just draining it out now and I'll flush a couple of times and then leave a baking soda mixture in it for a day or so.
How much did you use per gallon of tank?

Heinz

[Corwin C]

1 treatment with bleach to sanitize ... another with baking soda to take care of "funky flavors" (not always necessary). It's important to have the tanks/lines/etc. completely full (to the brim) of the bleach/soda for the entire time of treatment. My system uses compressed air to create water flow...make sure the compressor is turned OFF, anything not submerged will not be adequately treated.