Water tastes bad

[Randommoose]

Hi,
We have recently bought a second hand motorhome.

We have sterilised the tanks and all pipes with Puriclean and drained, refilled, drained 3 times now. The water still tastes 'chemical' and has scum on the top.

When he replaced the water sensor my husband noticed the tank had some bits and scum floating in it which is why we decided to sterilised and flush though. The old water sensor had broken electrically, the probes were still clean and not scaled up. Pressure is fine at both taps and shower. I've checked and there is not a water filter in the kitchen.

Any suggestions for what we have done wrong or what extra we need to do?

Thanks,
Moose

 

[Jamwitt]

We never drink from tanks take a bottle of water and top up only drink tea /coffee from boiled water

 

[Stealaway]

How old is your van?
Our old 2003 Burstner vans water tasted awful and it never improved. Our new one 2012 has never been a problem.
They have probably improved the tank material but we still keep drinking/coffee water in separate containers - 5 litre water bottles from Tesco.

 

[ianthebuilder]

It sounds pretty clean to me,,,

I keep carp in mine!!! X

 

[Jamwitt]

Ian I don’t doubt that I have seen yours and Stewart’s cups

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[PP Bear]

Clean it out with this....

Then flush through thoroughly and treat with these when required.

 

[Jo662]

We never drink the water from the tank either,we prefer to have a separate bottle for drinking water.We use the tank for the shower and washing up.

 

[Euphony]

We never drink the water from the tank either,we prefer to have a separate bottle for drinking water. We use the tank for the shower and washing up.

Ours tastes fine apparently (Boss tried it when we got the MH) but we only use it for shower, flushing the loo and washing up too.

 

[DBK]

I suggest adding some sterilising stuff, filling it to the brim, run the taps, top up again and leave for 24 hours or whatever the sterilising stuff instructions say. You may have to repeat.

 

[Randommoose]

The problem seems to be residual chemical taste from the sterilising solution and physical scum. So I'm guessing it is a flushing issue rather than a sterilising issue. Hence why we have flushed it out 3 times now trying to clear it.

I know we could drink bottled water but I would rather sort this out first. We will be living in the motorhome (and a lot of wild camping) for 18 months so I would rather have a working on board supply.

Maybe we need to get a hose pipe into the tank itself and wash off the surfaces? Maybe install a water filter?

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[CazPaul]

Get a few dozen lemons and squeeze them and strain them to get rid of the pith.
Chuck the juice in the tank the add a few litres of water, go for a drive to let it slosh about and leave 24 hours.

Remember no pith,so remember, pith off

 

[Enword]

What sort of hose are you filling with? if I fill ours with the garden hose the water tastes of plastic even when boiled & in coffee, I got some blue food grade (cold water) hose to fill with & it fine, just a thought.

 

[icantremember]

Simple answer is to fit an inline filter.

 

[Just smiffy]

The problem seems to be residual chemical taste from the sterilising solution and physical scum. So I'm guessing it is a flushing issue rather than a sterilising issue. Hence why we have flushed it out 3 times now trying to clear it.

I know we could drink bottled water but I would rather sort this out first. We will be living in the motorhome (and a lot of wild camping) for 18 months so I would rather have a working on board supply.

Maybe we need to get a hose pipe into the tank itself and wash off the surfaces? Maybe install a water filter?

Where is your location.? Is their fluoride in your water.? Leave the fresh water in for at least a day before you flush it so it absorbs the chemicals... it will eventually go...

What chemicals did you use?

 

[Just smiffy]

Just seen you used puraclean...

Edit... how long did you leave it in for?

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[Randommoose]

What sort of hose are you filling with? if I fill ours with the garden hose the water tastes of plastic even when boiled & in coffee, I got some blue food grade (cold water) hose to fill with & it fine, just a thought.

Ah, that might be the issue for the taste (taste also stays after boiling and in tea). We have been using the garden hose. Will have to get food grade hose.

 

[Just smiffy]

Ah, that might be the issue for the taste (taste also stays after boiling and in tea). We have been using the garden hose. Will have to get food grade hose.

I’ve been using any old thing to fill our tank, water goes through a hose too quick to pick up any taste....

 

[Randommoose]

Where is your location.? Is their fluoride in your water.? Leave the fresh water in for at least a day before you flush it so it absorbs the chemicals... it will eventually go...

We've left it in for more than 24 hours and driven with it. We are in Gloucestershire. Severn Trent has our postcode down as moderately hard and fluoride between 0.04 and 0.11mg/l

 

[Badknee]

Bottled water for us too. We have never liked drinking from the fresh water tank, showers and washing up only. Bottled water for cooking too.

 

[deleted-member02]

We too carry separate containers for drinking water.
5 litre for everyday use and an additional 20 litre for when we're away from a water source.
The benefit is that you always know how fresh your water is.
I'm not too keen on drinking water from a topped up tank, although I appreciate that many do it without issue...

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[Freespirit1]

Ah, that might be the issue for the taste (taste also stays after boiling and in tea). We have been using the garden hose. Will have to get food grade hose.

Definitely use food grade hose - and why not change your water tanks?? And that garden hose is full of bacteria

 

[Freespirit1]

Not cheap - but it ticks all the boxes for quality and absolutely no taste problems!

 

[Lenny HB]

Always used a good quality garden hose for filling as others have said flow through too fast to cause any problems.
The taint is often caused by minerals in the water reacting with the plastics in the tank and hoses, that is why sometimes you get a taint other times it's fine depending where you filled up.
I certainly couldn't be bothered with having a separate container for drinking water, the water in the tank is perfectly safe providing it is changed every few days (chlorine disperses after 4 or 5 days). Any taint is easily got rid of with a cheap inline filter or you can use a jug filter.

 

[sallylillian]

As @Lenny says filter is the answer. We use a Brita jug now although have had an inline filer in the past. We use it for drinking and tea everything else we use straight from the tank which to be frank is fine. The filters last 4 weeks by manufacturers instruction but we get much more before any issues. Asda now have their own brand which fit Brita and are £'s cheaper.

 

[Freespirit1]

Always get rid of the problem at source rather than mask it or filter it out !!

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[Lenny HB]

Always get rid of the problem at source rather than mask it or filter it out !!

As the problem is normally caused by a rection of minerals in the water with the plastics you have 2 options. Filter the water before it enters the tank which would get rid of the chlorine and make it unsafe to store or replace tank and plumbing with stainless steel ones.

 

[pappajohn]

I would suggest you just get on with it.
It isn't likely to kill you unless you were brought up eating and drinking sterile food and drink.

 

[Freespirit1]

I don't agree @Lenny HB - you keep your views I'll keep mine and I do not want to play ping pong with you either!!

 

[Randommoose]

Personally I'm not concerned about bacteria (I happily drink from a stream on a walk, don't wash out water bottles unless they grow algae etc). The main problem is that it tasted horribly 'chemical' so neither of us can stand drinking it as it is.

Going by all your suggestion I think this is the process to try:
Get food grade hose (we need a hose anyway as our garden hose is too big and cumbersome to take with us)
Wash out the tank with a hose at pressure to blast any crud off the walls.
Another flush through the pipes.
Then if it still tastes bad (say a reaction between water and tanks) then a filter (jug or inline) to get rid of the taste.

Thank you for all your input!

 

[TheDogMan]

we put all water to drink or for the kettle through a Brita filter jug

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