Can i clean out the fresh water tank? (1 Viewer)

Jan 4, 2012
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My M/H is a few years old and i am giving it the once over before i use it.
Bleached through the waste water tank.
The fresh water tank is now empty, is there any way i can put something in there to clean it against any nasty bugs that may ruin my hols?

joner
 

scotjimland

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From a thread I posted about sterilizing tanks using bleach .. Link Removed


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.
 

chatter

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or you can buy 'puraclean' from a caravan shop, granules that you put into water then into tank and fill same process as scotjim said but it doesnt have the bleach 'taste' as much, others use Milten - the stuff for doing babies bottles

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Peter JohnsCross MH

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Puriclean

Hi

Can not agree more with the use of "Puriclean", a great product, safe, cheap and it works :thumb:

johnscross workshops
 

Terry

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I agree with Jim :thumb: You can buy 2 ltrs of thin Bleach for 29 p from Morry's etc, It does not take much to flush the Tanks / get rid of taste and it will do you no harm.
terry
 

dave newell

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DO NOT USE BLEACH! It can erode stainless steel and that is what your water boiler is made of. Truma do a 3 part system called Aquastar which is specifically designed for motorhome and caravan water systems.

D.

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Terry

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Dave we are not talking leaving Bleach in for days on end JUST half hour and then flushing---to say it will damage a boiler in that time is simply not true :thumb: again it is not that big of a concentration to do any damage just kill any bacteria.Aquastar uses Citric acid which in pure foam would do more damage than bleach :cry:We are only talking a cupful of bleach into 20 /30 galls of water for half hour before flushing :winky:
It is like people who buy Milton,oxi,and ace stuff all based on bleach just a milder solution,so water bleach down to 10/20 parts water and you have practically the same stuff-----29P = 2 ltr bleach - water down by x 20 or more to get 40 ltrs of Milton/oxi or Ace washing additive ::bigsmile:40ltrs of Milton = aprox £80 :Eeek:
terry
 
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We got a big bag of lemons and squeezed them out so no pips etc, then chucked it in with some water and left it for a couple of days.

Cleans it lovely, there is no way i would ever use bleach on a fresh tank.

Paul.
 

scotjimland

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DO NOT USE BLEACH! It can erode stainless steel and that is what your water boiler is made of. Truma do a 3 part system called Aquastar which is specifically designed for motorhome and caravan water systems.

D.

Dave we are not talking leaving Bleach in for days on end JUST half hour and then flushing---to say it will damage a boiler in that time is simply not true :thumb: again it is not that big of a concentration to do any damage just kill any bacteria.Aquastar uses Citric acid which in pure foam would do more damage than bleach :cry:We are only talking a cupful of bleach into 20 /30 galls of water for half hour before flushing :winky:
It is like people who buy Milton,oxi,and ace stuff all based on bleach just a milder solution,so water bleach down to 10/20 parts water and you have practically the same stuff-----29P = 2 ltr bleach - water down by x 20 or more to get 40 ltrs of Milton/oxi or Ace washing additive ::bigsmile:40ltrs of Milton = aprox £80 :Eeek:
terry

Terry is absolutely correct ..

I worked for many years in the food processing industry , diluted bleach is used for washing fresh salad and veg for sandwiches at quite a high concentration in s/s tanks, with s/s pipe and s/s pumps.. never saw any corrosion .. after washing the product wasn't rinsed as this risked reintroducing bacteria..

To corrode stainless steel it would need to be around 100% full strength and left for several days.. the stuff you buy in bottles is 5% by volume..

Truma market a product , do you think it would be in their interest to say bleach was ok ??

Read my link on Milton... (first post)

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scotjimland

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We got a big bag of lemons and squeezed them out so no pips etc, then chucked it in with some water and left it for a couple of days.

Cleans it lovely, there is no way i would ever use bleach on a fresh tank.

Paul.

it may look and smell clean but it won't kill bacteria .

see previous post .. best not eat any pre packed salad or veg or eat a take away sandwich .. if you think I am wrong ..
 

dave newell

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I have seen Milton eat through a stainless steel sink in a motorhome, don't use bleach or Milton use the proper stuff.

D.
 

chrisgreen

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while doing research on this problem i found this pdf file but cant get past page 4:Doh::ROFLMAO:anyone help:ROFLMAO:
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Terry

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I have seen Milton eat through a stainless steel sink in a motorhome, don't use bleach or Milton use the proper stuff.

D.
Hi Dave how do you know the sink was eaten by Milton or bleach for that matter?I have had a SS sink in my house for about 14 yrs that has had bleach/water in it since day one-The wife insists that any dish cloth is kept in a solution/bleach/water and wash up liquid all to no effect on the sink.
Not saying don't use proper stuff ::bigsmile: just saying there are alternatives. :thumb:you pays your money and make your choice ::bigsmile:
BTW I have seen a couple of rotted sinks in M/Hs as well one SS and one enamel-not got a clue as to why ?I just put it down to crap metal ::bigsmile: who knows it may have been down to a squirt of bleach/milton :winky:
terry
 

Terry

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while doing research on this problem i found this pdf file but cant get past page 4:Doh::ROFLMAO:anyone help:ROFLMAO:
Link Removed

I have all 7 -----What a numpty I did not realise that was page 4 :thumb: ::bigsmile:
terry

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Jun 30, 2011
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it may look and smell clean but it won't kill bacteria .

see previous post .. best not eat any pre packed salad or veg or eat a take away sandwich .. if you think I am wrong ..

You maybe correct Jim, although the reason i don't buy the pre packed salad is because of the cocktail of chemicals which are used to ensure no slugs eat it. Bleach is probably required to remove this, one poison to kill another.

I use lemons for all variety of cleaning, they have great antiseptic, antibacterial and anti oxidant qualities.

I will have to take my chances and hope that i don,t catch anything, natural is best in my opinion.

Paul.
 

pappajohn

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Mmm! dont use bleach, dont use milton, dont use lemon juice......

I took the only sensible option......i use a General Ecology 'Nature Pure' filter.

i could pi$$ in the tank and still have clean, uncontaminated water at the tap.
 

scotjimland

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Techno

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Yes there are those who take that view unfortunately. However he is an expert and it's not expensive either.

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scotjimland

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Yes there are those who take that view unfortunately. However he is an expert and it's not expensive either.

It's not a view , it's a fact.. he is selling an expensive alternative

cheap thin bleach is 5% sodium hydrochloride .. no surfactants or disinfectant .. about 50p for 5lt .. the same product he is punting in tablet form

The Rapid Release 1000mg/l Tablets: 1 tablet makes 1 litre @ 1000mg/l or parts per million (both the same) concentration.

(House hold bleach is normally 3 – 5 % or 30 to 50000mg/l or 50 times stronger than 1 Rapid Release 1000 tablet.)
 

Techno

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The cost of using the Rapid Release 1000mg/l tablets is very reasonable compared with other commercial products. It works out to about £1.10 per treatment for drinking water tanks and £2.20 per treatment for grey (waste) water tanks.

If you think that is expensive :ROFLMAO:
 

scotjimland

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The cost of using the Rapid Release 1000mg/l tablets is very reasonable compared with other commercial products. It works out to about £1.10 per treatment for drinking water tanks and £2.20 per treatment for grey (waste) water tanks.

If you think that is expensive :ROFLMAO:

He is salesman with a vested interest in selling tablets.. so he is bound to rubbish bleach .. but plenty are taken in by it no doubt

I don't sell sodium hydrochloride in tablet or liquid form .. I give advice based on experience .. take it or leave it.

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Techno

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Graham is much more than a salesman as you seem happy to label him. If you take the time to browse his numerous blogs on various subjects from Garmin sat navs to Glomex dome fitting all for free! That is outstanding value :thumb:
 

scotjimland

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Graham is much more than a salesman as you seem happy to label him. If you take the time to browse his numerous blogs on various subjects from Garmin sat navs to Glomex dome fitting all for free! That is outstanding value :thumb:

I am well aware of the writer and the blog 'doing your dream' .... and I respect what they do .. I wasn't 'having a go', nothing personal... just pointing out the facts ..
 

vwalan

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i worked for south west water and there scientists told me just fill with normal chlorinated water . maybe leave it over night . empty it then fill up and use . here in uk most water companies do put a very small amount in to stop bacteria in pipe work . it works .
i do have a further berkenfeld filter system using ceramic filter with silver inlay. silver is the best known purifier. but i only use it if i put river water etc in. try not too but sometimes have no choice . forget all the bleach etc just use tap water from uk to clean out.

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Techno

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To be honest I've not cleaned our tanks for close to a year. We use 2 5 litre jerry cans for fresh water. The tank is used only for washing and cleaning teeth and we've not died yet
 

Terry

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I am well aware of the writer and the blog 'doing your dream' .... and I respect what they do .. I wasn't 'having a go', nothing personal... just pointing out the facts ..

Morning Jim,we are trying to educate pork :Eeek:Let them pay 100x plus the price for basically the same thing :thumb: 29p for 2 ltrs of bleach that would last 5 yrs or more :ROFLMAO::Doh: either way you have put facts in front of everybody :thumb: You can lead horses to water but cannot make them drink ::bigsmile::winky:
terry
 

Techno

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OK I give in ::bigsmile: which one of yer is pinky and which is perky :Doh:

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