Water Tank Question -- Dallas Area

Teardropping

I am a new RV owner. I am trying to develop good habits and standards. In preparing my 2019 TAG XL Boondock, I poured through the Owners Manual (and I did not get a Manual as to the water tank supplier) but I failed to get a good understanding as to the water tanks.

When you store your teardrop, do you leave the water tank full or empty it out?
What are your standard procedures for filling prior to leaving to go camp?
If you go to a cold place do you really have the antifreeze IN the system that you drink from? (I know that RV style antifreeze is not harmful, but what about the taste?) At what temperature does the inside of the cabin potentially freeze to where this is an issue? I do not want to be rolling around with antifreeze unnecessarily when traveling out of Texas.

Thanks for your help and patience with me!

BBsGarage

Water gets stale over time not to mention moldy so I would drain it after each trip.
I've never heard of keeping anti-freeze in the tank when traveling, only when in storage and even then you run the anti-freeze thru and then drain the system as much as possible.
But....this is me, others may do something different.

Sharon_is_SAM

We have a TaB, but same concepts. We do not use antifreeze in the fresh water tank. We always empty it in between in-season trips. To winterize, we empty it, drain the inlet and outlet tubings to the pump after running the pump dry, then blow out the lines. Then when we want to use the fresh tank in the spring, we sanitize with bleach water (less than a quarter cup per 11 gallons of water) and run that through the lines after sitting in the tank. We hauled out to Utah in freezing weather with an empty tank and sanitized/rinsed once we got to our above freezing destination. Then filled with water.

beaky

we wash down the rig with the remaining water

WilliamA

In addition to the above comments, don't forget that water weighs a lot! I don't really have a schedule for sanitizing my tank but do it a couple times a year as Sharon_is_SAM said to do. When I'm trolling locally, (within a couple hundred miles or so) I fill the tank at home and keep it full as the situation allows. For longer trips, I empty the tank so I'm not hauling the extra weight. I always carry a 7 gallon water jug with me (empty) to do my on-road refills so if I roll with an empty tank, I'll put a couple of gallons in the water jug and leave it in the car for making coffee and washing my hands, etc. I don't know what temperature the tank would start to freeze but I've been down to 20 degrees with a full tank and had no problems. I had my furnace running the whole time so the ambient heat from the interior must certainly heat the water tank enough to prevent ice. More important are the tiny lines and valves under the sink. In really cold weather, I have concerns that the plumbing from the tank through the pump might freeze. I have drilled a large-ish hole between the cabin and installed a piece of pvc through the double wall to allow warm cabin air to blow under the sink to prevent this. I use a small (computer) cooling fan to pull air into the space beneath the sink and a cold air return to circulate warm air in there. With the sink cabinet doors closed, it keeps things nice and warm so no worries about freezing pumps and lines. For most folks, that's a bit much. I've dry-camped in really cold weather (0-15 degrees for a week) and didn't use the water tank. I just worked out of my 7 gallon water jug. When traveling, I put it in the car (fits nicely right behind the drivers seat on the floor of my Jeep) and then when camping, I'll put it in the camper next to the door so I can open the door and pour out the precious juice to make the precious juice. (coffee). For my money, it's a lot easier to work out a system to prevent freezing plumbing than to try and fix it once it does. Actually, the water can system is pretty easy to do once you get your "chops". I mostly travel alone when it's cold for reasons that should be obvious, but if you can find someone as brave/crazy as you, then you'll have to come up with a better way to store the water can.
I used RV anti-freeze in my 5th wheel and then tried it in the T@G. That stuff might not BE poison, but it TASTES like poison! It's awful. Thank God my brother was with me on that one. I don't have any firearms, but he carries. I had him hold his gun on me while I finished my coffee, then I held it on him while he drank his.
Once I got the taste of that junk out of the tank on the T@G I determined that I'd find a way to not use it.
For on-road quick winterizing (draining the tank) I pull the plug and let the tank drain, then close the drain and run the pump until it's sucking air. Then I pull both lines from the pump (no tools needed, just twist off the connectors) and run the pump for a moment or two to clear what's in the diaphragms and valve. Just takes a few minutes. Don't be THAT guy and drain your tank in a truckstop parking lot. Truckers have long memories and after taking a digger on your ice slick, they'll pass the word. I try to back the trailer's butt off the pavement and drain into the grass or gravel. Many people pull the plug and just drive down the road, but I also find that to be bad form. The county workers are going down the road working like dogs to get rid of the ice on the road and you're driving along installing it? Think it through.

WilliamA