Milton Fluid ... and cleaning fresh water tank. (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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From Milton Fluid product information

NGREDIENTS
Sodium Chloride 16.5% w/v

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS
Sodium Hypochloride 2% w/v

In other words, a salt solution containing common bleach

My question..

why do people buy it at ~ £1.50 per 500 ml when the active ingredient can be bought for £1.50 per gallon .. at about 5% w/v

I appreciate it is safer to use by the very nature of it being a weak solution .. important for mums who use it for baby sterilising etc .. but I'm intrigued why people buy it to chuck down a drain or clean a grey / black tank ?

The other use I see advocated ( for Milton ) is sterilizing fresh water tanks and pipework .. again why, when bleach in a weak solution does exactly the same job.

To sterilize a fresh water system ...

Quantities need to adjusted depending on tank size.. this is for a 50 - 70 gal tank

1. Add about 1 cup of bleach to holding tank and fill up with water
2. Pump through to each tap, including the shower head.
3. Leave for a 30 mins
4. Drain down tank, fill with fresh and pump through each tap until you can taste fresh water, do this twice.

It's a good idea to also sterilize your filling hose at the same time.. use a small funnel to add a small amount of bleach to the hose, fill up and leave for 30 mins then flush through.


Do this once per year or at start of season if van has been in storage.
 

geoff1947

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Water

have noted how you do it but surely it cheaper to buy Milton etc as opposed to wasting over 100 - 140 Gals off water!!!:Eeek:

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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have noted how you do it but surely it cheaper to buy Milton etc as opposed to wasting over 100 - 140 Gals off water!!!:Eeek:

hmmm.. not sure I follow you. ... care to explain ?

perhaps you misunderstood, the point I made was that Milton is just weak bleach.. see OP.. you can dilute bleach to the same strength and use as you like.. washing and sterilizing is the same method whether you use Milton or bleach ..
 

wivvy's dad

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Any pub owners here?

What do you use to clean out your beer pipes each week? Sounds a bit like what Jim was advising.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Any pub owners here?

What do you use to clean out your beer pipes each week? Sounds a bit like what Jim was advising.

where did I mention pubs ?

as it happens I managed a pub and no we don't use Milton or bleach for the pipes but a proprietary sanitiser as supplied by the brewery.. however was used in the kitchen to sanitise salad vegetables.

It is also used widely for santising pre packed salad in the food industry... lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber etc . I worked in this industry for a good few years so if there is any other info you want feel free to ask..

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wivvy's dad

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where did I mention pubs ?

as it happens I managed a pub and no we don't use Milton or bleach for the pipes but a proprietary sanitiser as supplied by the brewery.. however was used in the kitchen to sanitise salad vegetables.

It is also used widely for santising pre packed salad in the food industry... lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber etc . I worked in this industry for a good few years so if there is any other info you want feel free to ask..

I know you didn't mention pubs Jim.

I've cleaned a few beer lines out many many years ago, but I can't recall what the proprietary fluid is called. I wondered whether it might be a useful alternative to bleach or Milton fluid.
 

dave newell

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Do not use Milton or bleach if your water system has any stainless steel components as it will eat through the stainless steel. Truma and Carver water heaters have stainless steel water tanks.

D.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Do not use Milton or bleach if your water system has any stainless steel components as it will eat through the stainless steel. Truma and Carver water heaters have stainless steel water tanks.

D.

All pumps , tanks and pipes we used in the factory were stainless steel.. and I never saw any corrosion .. as maintenance manager I would have been aware if there had been.

It will only damage s/s if in a neat solution ie 50 % w/v and left for a long time.. a weak solution left for a few hours will do no harm.. bear in mind we are talking about a cup of household bleach at 5% w/v mixed with 30 gals of water ..that is very diluted. about 0.01 b/v you can barely taste it.

Holding tanks a feed pipes for 50% w/v bleach were nylon as it would corroded s/s

The main cause of hot water tanks failing is scale build up.. that does eat them.

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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I know you didn't mention pubs Jim.

I've cleaned a few beer lines out many many years ago, but I can't recall what the proprietary fluid is called. I wondered whether it might be a useful alternative to bleach or Milton fluid.

sorry, can't recall the name ... but IIRC it was quite expensive.. but it was used in diluted form.. I suppose if you procured it cheap it could be used .. but as you know , even after soaking the lines they had to be flushed thoroughly before pumping beer though and we always threw away the first pint.. just in case there was any taste left
 

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