Keeping my fresh water tanks fresh:

[Smart-n-Pretty]

I have 100 gallon fresh tank & 50 gallon grey. I do not know how to keep cooties from growing in the tanks. So far it has literally been freezing every night so I have gotten lucky, but, any day now I need to start addressing it. What can I put in the water that won't hurt the pets?

[kdickerson]

This might be a stupid suggestion, but what about contacting Coat Handler about using Odor Handler powder in the tanks? I've heard that they have chemists on hand to talk to, and that they are really helpful.

I know it works really well on a variety of skin issues, and I think it does that by killing any of the nasties residing on the skin... Not sure if it's safe for eyes, or how much you'd have to use for it to be effective. Also not sure if it would be cost effective.

Maybe do some reading up on what's in it? They advertise that it is all-natural and environmentally safe, and I know from first hand experience that it is useful for a variety of issues.

[workingchihuahua]

go over to your local rv store. they have tablets you can add to fresh water to keep it fresh. as there are lots of different tablets, make sure you get the right ones.

[Dolly]

I guess I'm confused........why would your water be "going bad"? If you do 3-5 dogs a day, you will be using the water up, and at the end of the day, you will be "topping off" your tank with fresh water. You will be doing this 5 days a week, so I don't see why your water would be "growing things". Even in the summertime, over the weekend, my water was just as fresh as they day I put it into the tank, and I'm using well water that's gone through the softener. Your fresh water tank, is and should be, clean, the gray tank should be drained each day.

I hope you are not allowing your tanks to freeze (water expands as it freezes and may cause damage to your tanks).

Happy Draining your tanks

Dolly's Barking Bubbles, LLC

https://www.dollysbarkingbubbles.com

[kdickerson]

Didn't even think of that! I looove to make things way complicated...

[Smart-n-Pretty]

I guess I'm confused........why would your water be "going bad"? If you do 3-5 dogs a day, you will be using the water up, and at the end of the day, you will be "topping off" your tank with fresh water. You will be doing this 5 days a week, so I don't see why your water would be "growing things". Even in the summertime, over the weekend, my water was just as fresh as they day I put it into the tank, and I'm using well water that's gone through the softener. Your fresh water tank, is and should be, clean, the gray tank should be drained each day.

I hope you are not allowing your tanks to freeze (water expands as it freezes and may cause damage to your tanks).

Happy Draining your tanks

Dolly's Barking Bubbles, LLC

www.dollysbarkingbubbles.com

I JUST bought the unit so I am not doing 3-5 dogs per day.(You HAD to make me say that, huh?) Even so I'm sure it is necessary to break the bacterial chain and since mechanically is not posible I choose to do it chemically. It doesn't get cold enough in Texas to freeze 100 gallons of water solid overnight. It just stays really cold. My gray tank is drained daily.

Working Chi, any hints as to what type chemicals I should be looking for? do I just tell them what it is for and they will "know" what to use or is there anything I need to avoid? Can anyone tell me what brands they use?

[workingchihuahua]

the packaging will state clearly what it is intended for, you just have to watch the salespeople who simply hand you the first packet of tablets they come across.

[PoodlePal]

I have been grooming out of my van for 6 years now. I pulled my water tanks out 2 weeks ago (1st time in at least 4 yrs.). The fresh water tank had absolutely no buildup of any kind inside the tank. The grey water tank needed some cleaning (not as bad as one would think though); however, the drain to the grey water tank was real yucky. I had to take the drain apart, scrape the crud out, scrub it real well and then santize it with bleach & water.

[Smart-n-Pretty]

Thanks, WC.

[elizo]

I have a 65 gallon fresh tank and a 45 gal grey. I am new to mobile too (so I'm not doing 3-5 a day either, though I wish I were!!). 65 gal weighs a lot, so I try to only fill my water to what Im going to use...just a thought. But unless you are using pond water (lol) I haven't really ever heard of anything growing in fresh tanks.....I drop a Tidy Bowl tablet in the grey tank and that works great (does turn the water pretty blue for awhile though!)

[workingchihuahua]

leave a glass of water on the counter for a couple of days. while you may not see anything growing, there could be bacteria in it. very few of us actually FULLY drain our tanks and let them dry before filling every day. i know i don't. there is always some water left in the tank. popping a tablet in keeps the fresh water in the tanks drinkable.

[mylady]

I guess I'm confused........why would your water be "going bad"? If you do 3-5 dogs a day, you will be using the water up, and at the end of the day, you will be "topping off" your tank with fresh water. You will be doing this 5 days a week, so I don't see why your water would be "growing things". Even in the summertime, over the weekend, my water was just as fresh as they day I put it into the tank, and I'm using well water that's gone through the softener. Your fresh water tank, is and should be, clean, the gray tank should be drained each day.

LLC

www.dollysbarkingbubbles.com

There is no way you are getting every drop of water out of those tanks. I would bet if you had your tanks tested you would find some pretty nasty things in there. Water will grow things in a few days that you may not be able to see or smell, but it is there and can cause huge problems. I actually will add some bleach to my tank and then fill and rinse about 5 million times to make sure I get the majority of it out. I figure whatever may be left in the tank is less than a chorinated pool. I've also tried adding vinegar and listerine, but I just feel safer with the bleach. I know it may not be good for my hoses, but I'm more worried about using contaminated water on dogs. I've looked at the tablets for the water in the camping sections, maybe I should take another look at those.

[Smart-n-Pretty]

You can actually start growing staph in a couple of days. That would be all I need is for all my dogs to get skin or eye infections.

[Gracy Rose]

Why not just stand next to it and say "circle, circle, dot, dot... now you have your cootie shot" :-) Oh, that was back in First grade.

Clorox actually recommends 1 cap to a sink full of water as a final rinse to baby bottles. I actually remove both Fresh and Grey water tanks weekly to bi-weekly and add a cup full of bleach to water, swish it around and rinse.

[gottalovegracie]

smart-n-pretty: my suggestion was also to only fill 1/2 full or so right now while you're not busy. Mine is only 50gal and on most days (5-7 dogs) I don't quite use all of it. At least you'd have fresh-fresh water daily...even though it would require you to fill more often.

I asked my hubby (who is a safety/sanitation manager for a large food company)...he said air entering the tank would contribute contaminates. He said if you're worried about growing funk in there, you could put like an 10 ounces of bleach in your 100 gallon tank. I asked about the safety of that with the dogs and he said it should be perfectly fine...even our city drinking water has a trace of bleach in it. Hope this helps...bleach would be alot cheaper than the tablets.

-glg