Fresh water source priority: Internal vs External

[Neal]

I would like to see a feature that I'll call "Fresh Water Priority" of internal (fresh water tank) vs. external (city water hookup). The scenario is I'm hooked up to city water but there is no way once that is done to use water from the fresh tank. This causes stagnation of the fresh tank, possible hard water build ups, less than ideal health situations. There is a secondary purpose and that is water heating. Heating water that is coming in from a city water line, IIRC ground temps are stable at 56F. The fresh tank is heated in cold climates when getting below a certain temp and otherwise is warm by the nature of being contained in the basement and the water heating system can better heat fresh tank water vs. city water. For example where I am now I don't want to use the diesel burner but instead electric burners on the OASIS hydronic heating system. Due to the higher flow rate and colder temps of the city water source the electric heat elements cannot keep up.

My suggestion is a system that will automatically use water from the fresh tank via water pump and then when the fresh tank gets down to a level such as 25% autofill then kicks in to refill the tank. In my current configuration autofill will trigger at a higher point but the other issue is that the water pump will not come on if sufficient water pressure is coming in from the city water line. We need a system that turns off the city water line (electric valve) so that water is drawn from the on board fresh water tank and then when down to the set level the electric valve allows water in to refill the fresh tank.

The end goal is to keep the fresh water tank cycled and also use the warmer source to ease the load on the water heater system.

 

[AbdRahim]

You do need an Essex. ?

 

[Joe Hogan]

To your point, when we arrive at a campground, we will fill the main tank, disconnect the city water and stow the hoses. Unless we are doing laundry and taking long showers, the main tank should be sufficient for a week or more. Also, we travel with less than full water so I can adjust the main tank as necessary this way. Typically I will hook up the city water on the day before we move on, do laundry, get everything cleaned up, set the main tank to a travel level, and stow the hoses for travel.

Yes a bit of extra work but I am not too busy...

 

[redbaron]

Easy solution. Adjust your city connection pressure control to 40psi
Turn your pump on, and run all water off your tank and pump, with auto fill enabled

 

[Neal]

Easy solution. Adjust your city connection pressure control to 40psi
Turn your pump on, and run all water off your tank and pump, with auto fill enabled

What kind of techy are you???

 

[Neal]

You do need an Essex. ?

I'm proud to announce you are in first place for RVF Person of the Year! ?

 

[MapNerd]

Easy solution. Adjust your city connection pressure control to 40psi
Turn your pump on, and run all water off your tank and pump, with auto fill enabled

Was going to say the same. This is exactly how we operate. We always use the water pump to keep that tank cycling and water fresh

 

[Neal]

Another techie fail! We never take the easy path! What is happening here????

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Common sense?

TJ

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I like it @Neal Time for the arduino community to take this challenge up. How about this:

pressure sensors on the tank drain to determine water volume.
Ozone generator to bubble the tanks water for purification (stagnate water fix).
your 12v solenoid to turn on and off city water.
clock for arduino to time all functions according to bluetooth info received from trip schedule via phone app.
Programmable water level control with dump/fill option before travel(remember programmable).

All this with a minumum Nano arduino with daughter boards i.e. clock, relay, and isolation board. Sounds very doable to me.