Back to the well - Fresh water question - storage

[Robin Goffrier]

Once again I come to the well seeking knowledge and experienced input.  I have 2 questions.  First, the other day our shore sourced water pressure just fell to a trickle.  The expected investigation determined that the source was not the problem, neither was there a constriction in the hose from the source to the coach.  The pressure when accessing the fresh water tank via the pump was normal.  When to removed the washer from the coach water connection I noticed a significant amount of bright greenish material similar to algae. I cleaned what I could from the washer and screen and the pressure improved, somewhat.  Any thoughts of advice on cleaning the water pipes/hose inboard of the connection and screen or other opinions.  Second, we are about to move the coach from the park where we have stayed for the past month in Ft Monroe, Virginia to heated storage in Richmond.  We will not be plugged in to power and there will be no ability to access solar charging.  We will be gone for 45 days.  When we return, I'd like the engine to start, meaning I need juice in the starter batteries.  Should I disconnect them from the leads?  Thanks.

[David T. Richelderfer]

One piece of advice I learned early on was to let the fresh water run for 15 or 20 seconds from the faucet before hooking up the water line to the faucet.  Let it run until you're sure it's clear.  I have seen some pretty nasty green stuff come out of the faucet when I let it run first before hooking up.  If the faucet has not been used for several weeks, then the pipe under the faucet can grow some stuff you don't want to introduce into your coach's water system.  Also, if your water system has been introduced to that first nasty water, then you may have to put some chlorine into your fresh water tank and pump it up into your coach's water system to kill any growing stuff.  Let the chlorine sit in there for a while, say overnight, then drain the fresh water tank and flush the tank and water system with fresh water until the chlorine is gone.

[Jerry Emert]

In addition to running water through the faucet I also run it through the hose if I haven't used it in a week or more.  In my Navy days we did this at any pier we hooked up to, even US Navy bases.  Good luck.
Jerry

[Keith Moffett]

Robin
What you are describing sounds like algae. 
We sanitize our fresh water system once or twice yearly depending on where we have been. 
1)  disconect all water supply and turn off the pump
2)  open all faucets and drain all low point drains and fresh tank
3)  close all faucets and drains and drain water from supply hose.  Clean the hose, connectors and water connection screen with bleach.
4)  connect hose to supply faucet and fill with bleach from the coach end.  Be sure it has two cups or more.  Keeping bleach from spilling, attach hose as normal to coach.  Turn on water supply and fill fresh tank about 1/2 full.
5)  turn off city water andmuse only the pump.  Run all faucets and drains until there is flow everywhere.
6)  Stop and let the system set for at least 15 minutes.  Too long might be hard on the pump.
7)  Now empty the fresh tank and run city water in all faucets and low point drains.
  Lastly fill the fresh tank 1/4 and dump it.  I do this twice.
You should also dump the tanks because the bleach kills the bio agent and may not be good for the tank.

Hope this helps

[Gerald Farris]

Robin,
On most coaches, if you just turn off the batteries at the disconnect switches, there are a few drains that do not go through the switches, so you still get discharged batteries. Therefore, if you are going to store your coach inside without power, you should disconnect the main negative battery cable at the battery to your chassis and house battery banks.

Gerald