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Old 06-29-2020, 05:29 PM   #1
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How to put bleach in water tank

I just purchased a 2015 Minnie Winnie 31K and want to disinfect fresh water tank. How do I get bleach solution into tank? There is a spring loaded valve that won't allow me to funnel it in. I appreciate any assistance.
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Old 06-29-2020, 07:07 PM   #2
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not real good at this. what I do is pour some bleach into my white fresh water hose then connedt it up and fill fesh water tank
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Old 06-29-2020, 08:36 PM   #3
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not real good at this. what I do is pour some bleach into my white fresh water hose then connedt it up and fill fesh water tank
This is what I do as well as it seems the easy way when there is no gravity fill port. I hang the ends of the hose up high to keep the bleach from just running out, fill from one end with the amount needed to do my tank, then connect to the fill port(without letting the bleach run out!)and then connect to the faucet. Once the water is turned on to fill the tank, the bleach goes in too!
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Old 07-02-2020, 10:26 AM   #4
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Thanks for the help! I guess I understand why it should be difficult to add to fresh water, such to prevent unwanted or malicious contamination. I won't be doing such disinfection very often, so "fill the hose with bleach" technique will work.
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Old 07-02-2020, 10:54 AM   #5
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Main thing that we need to remember is that all water has some amount of bacteria. etc., even bottled water. Bottled water has an expiration date and it is expected that the bacteria will gradually grow to an unsafe level. Our RV fresh water tank is the same and after it is stored for months, we don't want to trust the water to be safe any longer, so we do a stronger than normal soak to kill a bigger than normal amount of bacteria. But if we used the RV a couple weeks ago and the water we put in is treated to be safe to drink, that chlorine content will do the job on the tank bacteria.
If we have a "gravity fill" port on our RV, we can just pour the bleach in that but many RV no longer have that port, so getting the bleach in becomes more tricky.
But it is not a very precise thing at all as we don't know exactly how much organic stuff the chlorine will react with in the tank so we want it to be strong enough to kill much of the bacteria but not so much that it also kill the bacteria in our stomach.
Drinking too much chlorine content is just like drinking too much alcohol and you know how that feels after a big night on the town???
I go heavy on the treatment but then do a good rinse!
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Old 07-03-2020, 08:52 AM   #6
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Many RV's have whole house water filters and the filter should be removed before sanitizing. The hose method works but if one needs to take the filter out, put the bleach in the filter housing. That is if the filter is the fill flow.
I have 3 ways, Hose through filter housing, direct through fitting, and gravity flow.
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Old 07-04-2020, 08:45 AM   #7
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I am fairly certain every model has best prescribed way by manufacturers to sanitize fresh water tank. In our model 29VE we have fresh water filter. We remove the filter and put in the appropriate amount of chlorine and then run / open every line until we smell the chlorine coming out. We let it sit overnight or few hours is good and then drain entire system. Out in new water filter (dirt cheap at wal mart) and we are good to go.

I suggest sanitizing at least once a year.

If you do don't have filter call Mfg and ask for your model although it should be in manual under maintenance.
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Old 07-06-2020, 12:03 AM   #8
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Don't overdo the bleach

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Originally Posted by Morich View Post
Main thing that we need to remember is that all water has some amount of bacteria. etc., even bottled water. Bottled water has an expiration date and it is expected that the bacteria will gradually grow to an unsafe level. Our RV fresh water tank is the same and after it is stored for months, we don't want to trust the water to be safe any longer, so we do a stronger than normal soak to kill a bigger than normal amount of bacteria. But if we used the RV a couple weeks ago and the water we put in is treated to be safe to drink, that chlorine content will do the job on the tank bacteria.
If we have a "gravity fill" port on our RV, we can just pour the bleach in that but many RV no longer have that port, so getting the bleach in becomes more tricky.
But it is not a very precise thing at all as we don't know exactly how much organic stuff the chlorine will react with in the tank so we want it to be strong enough to kill much of the bacteria but not so much that it also kill the bacteria in our stomach.
Drinking too much chlorine content is just like drinking too much alcohol and you know how that feels after a big night on the town???
I go heavy on the treatment but then do a good rinse!

More ain't always better when it comes to using bleach. You can ruin your tank, and have quite a mess to rinse out if you overdo it.
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Old 07-06-2020, 06:05 AM   #9
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31k Sanitizing

I have a 2014 31K and had the same problem. What I did is cut about a 12 inch section of hose and attached a male fitting to one end. Connected it to the fill port, used a funnel and it worked like a charm.
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Old 07-06-2020, 07:44 AM   #10
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More ain't always better when it comes to using bleach. You can ruin your tank, and have quite a mess to rinse out if you overdo it.
I assume you mean a really strong solution? Do you also know that bleach is sold in plastic containers? Most people don't try to make the solution any stronger than they buy off the shelf! The 6% and diluted is usually what we use.
Could you state what type of mess you would expect to find?
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Old 07-06-2020, 08:13 AM   #11
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According to 29VE manual you are suppose to use 50 ppm; if you wish to go strong you can go up to 100 ppm.

The process depend on if you are using gravity fill or city water (filter). Regardless of method the amount of chlorine should be the same. 2 oz / every 15 gallons in your tank.

I use city water method and my filter. I have 70 gal tank; so I simply add 10 oz of chlorine to my water filter, and let it fill with the city water supply.

I get very strong chlorine coming out of every faucet If something odd were to have happened, or a tank that has sat for a very long long time with water; I could see maybe adding 20 oz (100ppm)? But that would be exception.

If you have gravity fill you do the same thing but have to add 2 oz in one gallon solution to add to tank in 1 gallon increments until you you hit the total number of ounces needed.

Hope this help.
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Old 07-06-2020, 10:42 AM   #12
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The thing to remember before folks get all nervous about bleach is that is is one of the most common things we use for water treatment. I do a lot of fish breeding and folks get just silly about the hazards of bleach but it is almost always the new folks who don't know that it is the same stuff that is used in lots of drinking water, especially in small systems or private wells.
Most of us know we have chlorine or chloramine in drinking water but tell them to put bleach ach in and they get all wild eyed. Just usually a lack of understanding.
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Old 07-06-2020, 12:14 PM   #13
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The thing to remember before folks get all nervous about bleach is that is is one of the most common things we use for water treatment. I do a lot of fish breeding and folks get just silly about the hazards of bleach but it is almost always the new folks who don't know that it is the same stuff that is used in lots of drinking water, especially in small systems or private wells.
Most of us know we have chlorine or chloramine in drinking water but tell them to put bleach ach in and they get all wild eyed. Just usually a lack of understanding.
Could it be relationship with new people not knowing how much chlorine to use versus the concern with just the mere use of chlorine itself? i.e. You put 2 oz of chlorine in my 75 gallon Saltwater tank and everything dies, in fact you use other chemicals to remove the normal household chloramine etc.

I am curious what you call a lot or sufficient amounts? Winnebago says no more than 100 ppm. That is 20 oz for 70 gallon tank. When sterile or finished sanitizing, that water is then drained; so it is only at 100 ppm level temporarily; and NEVER to drink. I use 10 oz (50 ppm) in my 70 gal tank to sanitize followed by brand new carbon water filter.

The Law of diminishing returns comes to mine.

Say you want to make 1 gallon of orange juice. You put in 1 orange and it it is bitter (diluted). You keep adding oranges and lets say at 10 oranges, you have a perfect 1 gallon of orange juice for intended purposes. But assume you want to add 20, 30 maybe even 40 oranges..., it is not going to taste any better or more like orange juice once you hit the optimum ratio of water and juice.
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Old 07-06-2020, 03:52 PM   #14
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Yes, one has to have common sense but I had given the readers a bit of credit for that .
My point is that it is not something we need to obsess over getting the right amount because it is a calculation for an estimate of what is likely to be needed and estimates are never expected to be totally accurate.
Instructions are often written as exact amounts when this is one where we just need to get in the ballpark for the "normal' amount needed without knowing whether the bio load is going to be normal.
Even the water source will vary the amount of total dissolved solids we are dealing with, so getting it exact is not going to happen!
We all need to relax and remember why we bought an RV. The rest of the country may be going to hell, so we need to try to maintain some sort of sanity when we can at least in our own homes.
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Old 07-07-2020, 10:20 AM   #15
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Thanks for reminding us of why we love getting away to the mountains Morich! I put 1/3C bleach to 25gal H2O in My Micro Minnie. run through all plumbing, let it set 24hr. drain, then refill, flush, refill and G2G! bleach solution very easy to introduce into fresh water fill port using a funnel and cup measure. bleach in first, then fill with water...
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Old 07-07-2020, 10:30 AM   #16
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Agree w Morich. How much bacteria is in the water changes from day to day due to the time and temperature of the water and where its been. What did the previous RVer do to the spigot that you just used to fill your tank? Best to use a sanitizing wipe prior to connection! The accuracy of the percentage of hypochlorite (the sanitizing agent) in a new bottle of bleach is an approximation. The concentration deteriorates with time and elevated temperature.
Natural organics in the raw water such as iron and manganese, not harmful in low concentrations, react with the hypochlorite and reduce its effectiveness in combating nasty things like bacteria, parasites and viruses. So, the 40 ppm is a heuristic (best practical answer) for general use.


Over 100 ppm, can react in certain circumstances, and produce chloroform in the water, nasty stuff! This would normally be associated with water treated by a municipality with a fluctuation agent such as alum.
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Old 07-07-2020, 07:51 PM   #17
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Total turbidity is the one which got me into trouble when I mentioned it! Some folks tell me with unlimited certainty that THEIR water comes out of pipes and a well and does run in the ground! I used to do a community well and put out the CCR (consumer confidence report) for the well I monitored, so when asked what that specific reading meant, I carelessly said it was the amount of mud in the water. Horrible discussion broke out at that point!
For other folks who are less "sheltered" knowing that well water is pumped out of the ground lets them see that there is actually a certain amount of dirt and mud in even the cleanest water, so we deal with it and part of dealing with it determines how much chlorine has to be added to make it safe to drink.
That also means if we get water from a river like the Ohio, Missouri, or other larger river, there will be more organics in the water and it changes the amount needed to get the required residual levels to the last house on the line! That leaves the treatment plant to clean it up to meet the requirements but it doesn't mean all water has the same amount of dirt in it and certainly not year round. Floods do change the river water!
It gets back to estimates and how much chlorine you need in the water you add may vary on any given day, so don't sweat it too hard----as long as you get enough!
Don't go crazy with the amount and do it kind of looking at the recommendations but if you get a half cup too much, it's going to be fine once you drain and refill!
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Old 07-14-2020, 05:32 AM   #18
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Just my2 cents. Over the years I have put bleach in the water filter housing with the filter out. Then I run it into the system with the fill position for the tank. Twice I have had a problem with this method of sanitizing. The "City/Tank Fill" valve has deteriorated and failed. The bleach will damage the plastic the valve is made of.
My next sanitizing will be with hydrogen peroxide. Medicinal grade found in any pharmacy. Using the filter housing method, I should be able to run 2 or three bottles into the tank and through the system. It is harmless to the equipment in this solution strength and will kill the bacteria. A stronger aquarium grade is also available.

Has anyone gone this way?
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Old 07-14-2020, 09:50 AM   #19
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Both chlorine and perox are oxidisers, so I would expect little difference, depending on the dilution. Chlorine is the standard item used in water treatment, while peroxide is preferred for medical, making the chlorine much cheaper but they both do pretty much the same thing and react with organics.
Both would work but I have never seen any RV manual that did not recommend using bleach to sanitize.
If bleach does damage plastic, I would not expect it to be sold and stored in plastic jugs. Perhaps your valves were simply worn out?
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Old 07-14-2020, 11:30 AM   #20
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Just my2 cents. Over the years I have put bleach in the water filter housing with the filter out. Then I run it into the system with the fill position for the tank. Twice I have had a problem with this method of sanitizing. The "City/Tank Fill" valve has deteriorated and failed. The bleach will damage the plastic the valve is made of.
My next sanitizing will be with hydrogen peroxide. Medicinal grade found in any pharmacy. Using the filter housing method, I should be able to run 2 or three bottles into the tank and through the system. It is harmless to the equipment in this solution strength and will kill the bacteria. A stronger aquarium grade is also available.

Has anyone gone this way?
Happy trails,
Rick
You did not say the size of your water tank and how much chlorine you used?

But I agree with you that the amount of chlorine can damage components. 2 oz per 15 gallons is what Winnebago says. If you wish to go strong you can go up to 100 ppm 4 oz/15 gallons but unless it known to be severely contaminated I wouldn't even go there. I don't see the need to go to Hydrogen Peroxide, just use the appropriate amount and properly drain tank, and it will never impact any damage.

If it bothers you, just use 1 oz chlorine / 15 gallons. If you can smell chlorine through the faucets you know it is working.
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