Yuck. Nothing tastes worse that the first sip of water through a just de-winterized RV’s plumbing system on the first trip of the year. That’s why it is important to sanitize that fresh water tank. And for that, there are lots of different approaches.

Everybody seems to have their favorite way of sanitizing the fresh water system.

Roadtrek Motorhomes has a suggested way, though. Here it is, lifted from the instruction manual for the eTrek we use. There are similar instructions for all Roadtrek models. Find yours by clicking to roadtrek.com/manuals.aspx and then reading the section on de-winterizing.

Some people will disagree with this and think it overkill. Others will say it’s not enough. But for me, this is what I plan to do.

Note: If you follow this completely, it takes a lot of time, ideally a couple of days at least. And this is for the fresh water system. Your hot water system also needs to be de-winterized. But since there are so many differences in the way the different models heat water, you can look up your recommendations in the manual specific to your vehicle.

Roadtrek suggests a two step fresh water sensitization process:

First step

You will need 2 gallons of water and 1 cup of fresh bleach. (Bleach loses its potency over time; always start with bleach that is less than 6 months old.)

• Mix up two gallons of water and one cup of chlorine bleach. Add to the fresh water fill. Allow a few minutes to drain into exterior tank.
  
• This is a good time to get some stuff for spring cleaning of your Roadtrek, so drive around for an hour. Let it sit for a couple more hours. The driving sloshes it around in the tank. That is good.
  
• When you get home again, open the drain valve and drain both tanks. This kills any bacteria in the tanks before you distribute them through the entire water system.
  

Second step

• Mix 1/2 cup of chlorine with 2 gallons of water and pour into fresh water fill.
  
• Fill fresh water tank about 1/2 full.
  
• Add 1/2 cup of chlorine and fill fresh water tank about 3/4 full.
  
• Turn on water pump, circulate through entire system.
  
• Run water out of every faucet and shower head until you smell chlorine.
  
• With the water pump on, open the city water valve, and let the pump push water through the fill line for a minute or so.
  
• Run the galley faucet for several minutes. If you smell chlorine, your system is safe to use. If you do not smell chlorine or your water is foamy, or has a pungent odor, repeat this step.
  
• Drain completely, fill fresh water tank with clean water, run all faucets for 2 to 3 minutes each.
  
• To help get rid of the residual chlorine smell, pour a cup of vinegar into the fresh water tank, fill, let sit for a few hours, run the faucets for a minute or so apiece, drain the tank to ground, and refill with fresh water.
  

There you go. Let us know how it works for you or what your process of sanitizing happens to be.