Howdy folks! Picture it: you're camping in God's country, sun shining, birds chirping. You slice a lemon, add sugar, water, and ice, and savor some fresh lemonade. Can it get any better? Wait — you didn't sanitize your fresh water tank, you say? Zoom in on that glass and you may be ingesting more than you expected: bacteria like H. pylori, legionella, and harmful coliform, or parasites like cryptosporidium and giardia — all fully capable of ruining your day, your week, or worse. The fix is an hour of simple maintenance (the process starts at 2:05 in the video if you want to jump straight there).
The Recipe
The supplies: a drinking-water-approved hose, a quarter-turn shutoff valve, plain regular bleach, a measuring cup, a small clear hose with a funnel, a gallon water container, and gloves. The ratio: 1/8 cup of bleach per 8 gallons of tank capacity — for the Tramper's 7-gallon tank plus lines, right around 1/8 cup. Crucially, the bleach gets diluted in the gallon container of water first, so what goes into your tank is already a safe solution, fed in through the gravity fill with the clear hose and funnel.
The Process
Close the tank and low-point drains, faucet off, pour in the diluted solution, then fill the rest of the tank from a safe water supply. If you have a hot water tank, many recommend bypassing it first. Run water through both the hot and cold lines until you can smell bleach — that's how you know the solution reached everything. It's also the perfect moment to check all your lines and drains for leaks that crept up over winter.
Then: wait at least 12 hours while the bleach does its work. Our favorite trick — drive around a bit, so the solution sloshes into every nook and cranny of the tank. Afterward, drain it all out, refill, and flush both lines until there's no strong bleach smell left, repeating if needed.
The Other Half of the Battle
Proper sanitizing only counts if the water going in is trustworthy — fill a freshly sanitized tank from a contaminated source and you're back to square one. Be wise about your water sources. (And the usual disclaimer applies: we're not water-quality experts, so do your own research beyond one entertaining YouTube video.)
Oh — and there's a hidden question somewhere in the video, visible on screen. See if you can spot it, and answer in the comments.
The Tools
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Solid Brass Y-Valve
Makes the fill-and-flush cycles painless.
Camco 25' Drinking Water Hose
Potable-water-safe — never use a garden hose for this.
1-Gallon Measuring Pitcher
For getting the solution mix right, not approximate.
Measuring Shot Glass
Small doses, measured exactly.
Water You Can Trust
An hour of maintenance buys you a season of water you don't have to think twice about — for drinking, dishes, and showers. Watch the full process above, and while you're at it, see how the whole water system fits into the build in the Tramper tour.
Maintenance videos that don't put you to sleep
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▶ Subscribe on YouTubeDisclaimer: The information provided in this article and its video is for entertainment/educational purposes only. By following any advice from this article, video, or any provided links, you do so at your own risk. Please consult with a professional before attempting any construction, plumbing or electrical work.