Water heater sterilization

[david]

[p]I plan to "decommission" my 16TBS in a week or so: remove the battery and put it on a trickle charger, winterize by draining and blowing dry and bleach sterilizing the potable water system.[/p][p]
[/p][p]To sterilize, I plan to add a few cups of bleach to the water tank, open all hot and cold water taps until I smell bleach solution coming out, tow the RV for a few miles to agitate the water tank and hot water reservoir, drain and winterize by blowing out each leg.[/p][p]
[/p][p]This will leave a little bit of bleachy water in all of the plumbing which is somewhat corrosive. I am not worried about fixtures, pumps, tubing etc. But I wonder about the hot water tank. I think I have a Surburban water heater (looks like the picture on Camping World) and the specs say that the tank is porcelain lined. It also has a protective anode which I wonder why if the tank is porcelain lined. So I am hoping that a little left over bleach solution won't hurt anything during the winter season.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Anyone know for sure if the above assumptions are ok?[/p][p]
[/p][p]David[/p]

[tinkeringtechie]

[quote source="/post/4125/thread" timestamp="1412694667" author="@david"][p]I plan to "decommission" my 16TBS in a week or so: remove the battery and put it on a trickle charger, winterize by draining and blowing dry and bleach sterilizing the potable water system.[/p][p]
[/p][p]To sterilize, I plan to add a few cups of bleach to the water tank, open all hot and cold water taps until I smell bleach solution coming out, tow the RV for a few miles to agitate the water tank and hot water reservoir, drain and winterize by blowing out each leg.[/p][p]
[/p][p]This will leave a little bit of bleachy water in all of the plumbing which is somewhat corrosive. I am not worried about fixtures, pumps, tubing etc. But I wonder about the hot water tank. I think I have a Surburban water heater (looks like the picture on Camping World) and the specs say that the tank is porcelain lined. It also has a protective anode which I wonder why if the tank is porcelain lined. So I am hoping that a little left over bleach solution won't hurt anything during the winter season.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Anyone know for sure if the above assumptions are ok?[/p][p]
[/p][p]David[/p][/quote]Are you going to drain your water heater through the plug, or through the low point drain? If you're just using the low point drain I wouldn't trust that all the water is removed. I like to tilt the trailer toward the plug and drain it that way. While I have the plug out I use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-11691-Water-Heater-Rinser/dp/B002XL2IBS/

to flush out any debris that has settled on the bottom. Are you going to sanitize again in the spring? Personally I only do that part when I'm de-winterizing so I don't have to worry about any contamination over winter.

[david]

I could tilt it to get more of the bleachy water out through the plug as you suggest.

I thought about sterilizing in the spring, but our storage situation makes that more difficult- no hose bib at the storage yard for water. I would have to take the RV somewhere to partially fill in the spring, put in the bleach, run it through the taps, drive it to the first campsite in the spring, dump the water and then refill with fresh.

So I think I will do it this fall and get as much water out as possible using your suggestion. I could back flush a little water from a jug into the plug to rinse the bottom out a bit.

David