Sediment In Water

Hi!

We have an unusual problem: when using water from the tank, if you allow the glass to sit for a while a white, talcum-like sediment that is about 1/2 inch deep settles on the bottom of the glass. It is not anthrax! We have flushed the tank many times but it still happens. We have determined that it is from the water in the tank itself, and not from the source of water.

I have asked the dealer about it, but no suggestions as of yet. Has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks!

Phil

[Sinclue]

Phil,

My father had a similar problem in his 15 year old RV (not a TM).  He (I should say we) wound up replacing the tank itself.  That cleared it up so we figured that it was some sort of breakdown of the tank material.  You don't say what unit you have or how old it is, but if you didn't get it new then a previous owner may have added something to the water for reasons unknown and the residue may still be there.  But if you've flushed it repeatedly and it hasn't cleared up any then your only recourse may be tank replacement.  There are many wise souls on this board so perhaps somebody later on will have a different solution.  Depending on the tank's location replacement might not be that difficult, but I have no idea of the cost.
Good luck.
Jim
Good luck.

[BobWilson]

Sounds like you have a hard water problem and calcium salts are precipitating out of the water after it sits in the tank.  A drop in temperature will accelerate the rate of precipitation.  When calcium and magnesium salts are disolved you can't see them until they precipitate out. The hard water won't hurt you and is probably more healthy.  It just doesn't look good.  You could put in water through a water softener.  Or, bring bottled water for drinking on your trips.

Thanks, guys, for the quick response! I am impressed.
The trailer is a 2001 2720SL, and has been towed a total of 60 miles. We do stay in it for part of the year, however, and have filled the water tank maybe 6 times.

Bob, that is a great analysis. However, when we take a sample of the same water from the house or from an outside water tap, the sediment problem is not there. It only happens when water is taken from the trailer tank. When the water comes out the tap in the trailer, it is milky. The sediment is very powdery. It did not happen once for a day, but lo and behold, the temperature dropped and it happened again. But the fact that the sediment is not in the same water from a different source stumps me.

Thanks again!

Phil

I'm kinda curious if maybe it's coming from the deterioration of your annode rod. When was the last time you checked it? When the metal in them starts deteriorating, it does produce a white powerdery substance. (At least it's simple enough to check it and see).


[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails.........[/glow]

Great idea! You know, when we stored the trailer this past four months, I drained the water tank but not the hot water (lesson learned.) Maybe the anode is it. However I have never used the hot water heater. Would that make a dif?

Thanks!

Phil

[Bill]

Wait a minute.  When you say "tank", are you referring to the 20-gallon fresh water storage tank, or the hot water tank?  If the anode rod in the water heater is bad, then you could get sediment out of the hot water faucet, but I don't think it can backfeed into the cold water system or the storage tank.

You say you have thoroughly flushed, presumably directly through the drain connection on whichever tank we are talking about (rahter than the faucet) until the water runs clear.  If you flush the appropriate tank (or both of them) until they run clear, and then refill, and still get a half inch of sediment in a glass of water, then I am for sure stumped.  That's a lot of sediment!  Perhaps someone put a strong bleach solution in the fresh water tank to try to sanitize it, and left it in for a long time (like over the winter) and it attacked the polyethylene.  In that case, as Jim said, replacement will probably be the only answer.

Let us know what the answer is.

Bill

Oh man! You guys are great and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the input. This reminds me of group therapy (meant as a compliment of course!)

Bill, the water always is drawn out of the cold water tap. When I flushed the system, I drained the 20 gal. tank and the hot water heater from their respective drain valves. I then refilled the whole system, hot water tank included, with fresh water. Drained it all again, and refilled. I have done this three times. No chlorine ever used. The last time the water ran clear......for a day. Then the next day it was milky. (And the radical drop in outside temp. was the coincidence.) I hope nothing has been left out. This is starting to remind me of the poor Columbia!

The bleach answer is a good one, however I am the original owner of the trailer and nobody else has used it. It is parked at my father's house all year, and we just live in it while we are here in Ore., maybe three months out of the year. I drain the system while we are gone, except for the time when I didn't realize the hot water tank filled up whenever you fill up the 20 gal. tank. That water sat in the hot water tank, cold, for four months. No additives.

Again, thanks for the responses. I promise to let you all know when it is remediated. I have to pull the anode first.

Phil

Phil,  

I'm probably restating the obvious, from some of the other excellent ideas above, but it sounds to me like you need to really give the hot water tank a good flush throught the big drain.

The big drain is where the anode rod is installed.  draining the tank using the little valves at the bottom of the trailer only drains about 10% of the hot water tank volume (if that much).

Pull the anode rod and blast the tank with water.  They sell a nozzle for this, but I just used a scrap piece of garden hose...  I pinch the hose to get extra velocity to make sure things are all stirred up.  Then pull the hose away from the hold and let the water drain out.  It took me about 10-15 min before I got most of the mineral sediment out.  

{I could reach through the hole with my pinky and feel gunk in the tank}.  Once the the tank was clean I re-installed the annode rod...

This should help with the problem.  Too bad there isn't a similar way to flush the fresh water tank....  All I can suggest is pushing scrap hose into the gravity fill line to hopefully get some velocity into the tank to stir things up.  Do this with the drain valve open and check for sediment (use a clear glass of something).  Flush vigorously until you see absolutely nothing in the glass...

Hope this cures your problem.

Excellent! I will do both of those things as soon as it quits raining here (which probably will be July!) When you flushed your tanks did you get a white powdery residue?

Again, thanks so much for all the help. This is a fabulous website. Couldna dunnit wichout youse!

Phil