Fresh water tank access ports —- yes or no

[Ramdough]

I plan on having a 125 gallon fresh tank with a gravity fill, a city water fill, a vent, a level sensor, and a pump suction line.

Do you recommend having an inspection port?

If so, which one did you use and how well did it seal?

I am concerned that sloshing may cause the lid to pop off and cause a leak. Also, that is one more point of failure. Access will be under the floor of the dinette so it won’t be very easy to access.

I plan to fill from reputable sources and use chemical sanitizers.

Thanks!


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[Alloy]

Access is a good idea but not necessary. If you want to access I've had great luck with these hatch covers. Don't know how food grade they are. Which is another issue with the gaskets and seals on hatches.

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Acess was going to be too complicated on my FW tanks so I installed the tanks at 1/4"/ ft slope and put a 1" drain in the bottom of the tank so they drain 100%. I've seen allot of RV tanks that can't be drained 100% and wouldn't drink water out of them

Water going into my tanks is filtered then I use Chlorine (Purogene) Dioxide.

3R Purogene for Fresh Water Treatment

 

[fwcer]

Boats commonly have an access/inspection port. It makes a lot of sense in order to thoroughly clean a water tank.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

I have effective drain holes in all of our water tanks and the ability to give them a flush but in 20 years I have never seen it necessary to "thoroughly clean" any tank. But we do add chlorine to all water carried and that (along with micro filtration) ensures biological safety.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[Florida Native]

My personal opinion is that they’re more trouble than they’re worth. If you fill from safe sources you should never need more than an annual sanitization.

If you do end up installing a hatch, from what I’ve read, you will want to reinforce the opening (preferably on both inside and outside) and be picky about a hatch that seals well.

-Mike

 

[jim65wagon]

We have an access port on top of our 40 gallon tank. We have that because we do not have a drain other than the pump pickup. The access port allows us to clean and dry the tank when we put our teardrop in storage.

Our first port was thin plastic and prone to flexing and leaking. We replaced it with a much thicker, heavier duty version that does not flex or leak when we fill the tank.


At 125 gallon the tank will be huge and difficult to clean by hand. I don't think having a port would be any advantage in this case. I do think having a dump valve (something similar to the RV drain valves for their fresh tanks) would allow you to flush any dirt, or anything else that might inadvertently get into the tank.

If your water source is even a little iffy put a bit of bleach in it to disinfect and you'll be good to go. Good luck!

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[86scotty]

I like the idea because it seems logical, however in 20 something years I've never needed to inspect inside a water tank. Just sanitize and flush. Seems like the risk of a leak far outweighs the likelihood of ever needing inside it. I would skip it.

 

[Ramdough]

Thanks everyone!

I plan to fill from reputable places. Realistically, I am staying in the US and Canada for as long as I can foresee, at least until I retire.

I think I will skip the lid for now.


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[Florida Native]

@jim65wagon brings up a good point… you WILL want to install a drain in it (separate from the pump intake).

-Mike

 

[Herbie]

More than 1000lbs of water. Woof.

 

[Ramdough]

@jim65wagon brings up a good point… you WILL want to install a drain in it (separate from the pump intake).

-Mike

That is going to be hard. The tank already has fitting friction welded in. If I drill and put in a bulkhead, the water height will be higher than the pump pickup probably. I could just flush using the pump pickup to drain.


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[Ramdough]

My original intent was to get 2ea 60 gallon tanks so I could leave one empty unless I thought I needed it. But, that option is around $800 more than the single tanks based on what I could find that fits. I may just fill how much I think I need, then leave the rest empty.

The truck is a heavy truck at around 26,000 lbs. So, that weight of water is heavy, but not terrible.


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[Herbie]

A single inspection port might not be very useful if the tank has baffles.

And 125 gallon tank without baffles is a road disaster waiting to happen.

 

[sourdoughben]

I added an inspection port in my Tiger RV's 30 gal. tank after a couple years of ownership. I now would not have a tank without. Why, IMHO clear slime on the walls was/is gross. Yes, I always filled with filter purified H2O. After the first season my Domestic Go Hydration Jug had slime. haha, I purchased it because it's fill hole was large enough to get my hand in and wipe. To each his own.

 

[Ramdough]

And 125 gallon tank without baffles is a road disaster waiting to happen.

For scale, if I took my fully loaded Tacoma and scaled that tank down based on truck weight, it would be the same as 24 gallons sloshing around.

In that truck, I probably would barely notice it is there.

Baffles would be nice, but I don’t see it as that big of a problem. The tank will be mounted low and lengthwise also, so any sloshing is front to rear.


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