Ive been battling this issue for years.The water out of my rv storage tank always has a foul oder to it.Ive flushed the system through the taps for hours and hours.Even sent it to the dealer to have the tank sanitized and they seemed perplexed even how to do it.
There is only a water spicket style fill and no other ways to get anything into the tank.
Anyone have a solution to this issue?

I always add Camco Drinking Water Freshener (available at Walmart) to mine when I fill. I still don’t drink the water, but I haven’t had any odor issues.

If you are not drinking the water and just using it for showers, dishes etc. I would put a good amount of bleach in it and flush the system out of each outlet really good. Then I would add a cap full or so with each fill up.

Yes on the bleach. I put a half cup of bleach down the fill hose before filling, hook it up and fill. Half of a cup in a 90 gal. tank and I can smell the bleach in the shower. We only us for shower and flushing. Even the dog gets Arrowhead.

I also put a few ounces of bleach in... I would never consume water from the tanks. I bring bottled water for drinking and a few gallon jugs for cooking & making coffee. I had a few instances of funky water so now I drain my tank if I wont be racing for a few weeks. I also let my garden hose run for a minute or two before I connect to the MH & fill, I feel like that flushes any stagnant water (and bacteria) that may have been laying in the hose. No issues since.

this^^^

I'm told by experienced RVers that the smelly water typically is a result of water sitting in the hot water heater for weeks or more and I know several racers that drain their HWH when parked between races. You also may have to flush the HWH with vinegar too.

Yes I added a few ounces of bleach every fill up in my MH and Camper before that

Possibly some RV anti freeze got pumped into your hot water heater at some point and it is nasty smelling once the heater gets hot

I never used AF in my MH other than in the traps

I drained the system, blew it out with air, AF in the traps only and removed my WP and filter during winters

Learned the hard way about getting AF in the hot water heater....

i struggled with that as well...i started draining between races.

Recently I started putting a little bit of hot tub disinfectant when filling the fresh water. Left the hot water tank full for two weeks, drained it yesterday. No funk.

Is it both the hot and cold? Water heaters anode rod can be stinky

I second the rv antifreeze. I got some in my tank and it took several flushes and a generous amount of bleach to get the smell out. Definitely dump the water tanks between races

Do you guys leave your water heater on all the time? I just turn it on about maybe an hour before i shower. I wonder if it is on all the time it will cause a smell? I also have used 1/2 cup bleach in the water tank. We do not drink the rv water just use it to shower. If im not racing for a couple weeks i will drain the water. But usually i dont have a problem with smelly water.

I put a hose bib on the bottom of my water heater and drain it when I'm not using it. It cured my water odor issues.

I only use my water heater 2-3 times per year (only carry 60 gallons so typically use track showers), but I don't drain it or do anything special during the season. I've never had a water odor issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
Is it both the hot and cold? Water heaters anode rod can be stinky

This in have heard removing it will rid the smell after a good flush

I installed a new anode rod at the beginning of the season because there was nothing left of the one installed and I did have smelly water about 1 month later.

In my house, I had to change from the standard anode rod to a zinc one to stop the sulfur smell. The iron in my well water reacted with the aluminum anode rod & gave the water a sulfur smell. That was before I got my current MH. When I had foul water in the MH, I believe the biggest steps were the ones I posted above - draining the tank for longer periods and running the hose a bit to flush out any stagnant water instead of introducing it to the tank.

And for the love of god, It's a 'Water Heater'.... not a 'hot water heater'.

quote:

And for the love of god, It's a 'Water Heater'.... not a 'hot water heater

Picky Picky Picky

Billy gets "triggered" easily and words really push him over the edge....

When foul water smell appears I drain the fresh water tank and water heater. I fill the fresh water tank about 1/4 full and then add a water bottle filled with chlorine. Fill the water heater and then run all the faucets including shower until the lines are filled with the chlorine water. Let that sit in there for a day or two and completely eliminates the foul smell. Drain the water and put in fresh and good to go. Do this a couple times each year.
I also don’t drink from the fresh water. We drink bottled water.

My water heater tank is bypassed...i like cold showers!! Drain the water after every trip and have flucshed it for hours.
Im going to try the bleach/chlorine method.Unfortunately be next year now

Do you filter the water when filing up the tank? I started using the blue inline filters and they make a world of difference. The green filters from walmart are even better but take forever. They are just carbon filters. We have an additional bacterialastic sink filter and are able to drink the water.