Tired of condensation in your empty Vanagon Westy water tank allowing all
sorts of yucky bacteria and algae to grow and slime everything up so that
you have to rinse the damn thing out with bleach every time before you use
it?

I was.

So here's a simple technique I figured out to avoid the problem.

For those of you who've never looked, the water tank lives underneath the
hindmost of the two top opening cupboards that lie between the stove unit
and the closet. On the bottom of the cupboard you'll see a plate held down
by two phillips screws. Removing this will reveal the top of the water
tank. On the top of the tank, you'll find a big giant screw top lid.

Now here's what I do.

When I'm done camping, I drain the tank from below. Then I unscrew the big
lid on top of the tank. I lay a couple of sheets of paper towel over the
hole, and  set the lid back down into the hole on top of the paper towel.
Finally, I replace the screw down plate and screw on the bottom tank cap.

In this configuration, air can easily pass in/out of the tank. All
remaining moisture evaporates out and no condensation occurs. The paper
towel under the lid keeps any dirt from getting into the tank.

Total time to do this is about 5 min. A lot less hassle than the
rinse/bleach/rinse routine.

Also, in my bus, if I haven't had the tank full for a while, the water will
tend to have a plastic taste at first. If - while I'm filling - I run about
a gallon through the pump and down the sink, the taste dissipates to
negligible levels.

Hope this is of use to y'all.

Paul
puusital@adobe.com