RV water system; time to sanitize
Keith Bennett of the Denver RV Travel Examiner provides this helpful information on sanitizing your RV’s water system.
Each spring many RVers take their units out of storage and waken them up for another season of fun and camping. This ritual should include sanitizing and freshening the water system. It is best to do this twice a year to insure clean smelling water and I suggest in the spring and midsummer, depending on how much you use your RV’s water system. This is a very simple, yet important, procedure and is covered below.
Add a solution of bleach and water to your fresh water holding tank. Always dilute bleach with water, about ¼ cup of household bleach for each 15 gallons of tank capacity and mix with 1 to 2 gallons of water, then add into your fresh water holding tank. Fill up your holding tank with fresh water. Using your RV’s water pump, turn on each water outlet until you smell the bleach, don’t forget your outside shower and water drain tubes.
After you have rinsed any antifreeze out and have the bleach smell from all water outlets, top off your fresh water tank and let sit overnight. If sitting overnight is not possible, you need a minimum of 4 hours for the bleach solution to do its work.
Next step is to drain the water solution from the holding tank and refill ½ with fresh water. Run fresh water from each water outlet until the smell of bleach has dissipated and remember the outside shower and drain tubes. Next fill the fresh water tank back to ½ full and no more. Now it’s time to take your RV on a short drive (15 minutes) to allow the water to slosh around in the tank. When you return from your drive, run water through each water outlet until the water tank has been drained. Make sure you are using your onboard 12v water pump and not the city hook up.
If you are still getting some smell, drop a little baking soda in the tank and rinse the system again until there is no odor left. Your tank is now ready for another season of fun.
Happy Camping
Yellowstone sees drop in summer bookings
This article was published in USA Today.
CODY, Wyo. (AP) — Fewer tourists compared to last year have booked advance reservations to visit the greater Yellowstone region this summer, but industry leaders hope low gas prices will lure people to drive to national parks and other attractions in Montana and Wyoming.
Lee Haines, a spokesman for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, told the Billings Gazette that museum planners are expecting flat visitor numbers this year with a slight rise possible in recreational vehicle traffic compared to last year. He said because many RV owners are retired, they have more flexible travel schedules that allow them to drive when gas prices are lower.
Rick Hoeninghausen, director of sales and marketing for Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the main lodging company in Yellowstone, told the Gazette that advance reservations so far this year are down 13% from last year. He noted that bookings are good for July and August, but group tours and early season stays are down.
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