# Cleaning out fresh water tank.



## shezza (May 1, 2009)

Hi, All I was just wondering as we are getting our MH ready for the main season what method of puryfing do members use for their water tanks IE Milton,Puritabs ect.


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I fear we don't. We do empty it between trips in both summer and winter and leave the cap off so it can dry out inside.

We're still around after many happy years of motorhoming and have not had any upset stomachs.

G


----------



## bigbazza (Mar 6, 2008)

We half fill then put in a full bottle of Milton (baby bottle sterilizer) then fill to the top, then give it a drive round to slosh it about.
Leave it a day then use all taps etc to sterilize the pipework. 
Leave it another day then empty complete,refill and run all taps etc then empty again.


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

We did clean out ours using Milton once but found it impossible to remove the chlorine flavour for months afterewards.

We rinsed, dried it out, rerinsed it, drained it, rinsed it and so on but the flavour stayed for 6+ months.

We followed the instructions precisely but do not use it now!

We have a nature pure water filter in the system which now gives us superb quality drinking wtaer and we always drain the system if the van is going to be unused for more than a few days.

Dave


----------



## daddysgirl (May 31, 2008)

steradent, 2 tabs in full tank, leave for couple of hours, drain, rinse, refill, run all taps.

It's what the handbook recommends!


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Users of Milton might be interested in this:

http://www.milton-tm.com/caravanning_and_camping.html

G


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Water*

Hi

I'm with Grizzly - never wash it out....and it gets filled with a standard garden hose! Still here to tell the tale.

Russell

Oh - and I use tank water to make coffee, brush teeth, shower, cook etc etc


----------



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

It is difficult to give a definitive answer.

I belong to the do nothing group but I think different tanks and water systems might need different solutions (  ).

I can't empty the tank completely so I do the opposite fill it full to the brim and give it one rinse after any lay-up more than a month or so.

Like Russell we drink the tank water.


----------



## PhilK (Jul 1, 2005)

*water tanks*

we are with grizzly, sally and rapide. In ten years we have cleaned out the tank once, chasing an unusual smell. It turned out to be a Camping Gaz bottle leaking.

For tea/coffee and day to day cooking we carry a 10 litre bottle, or two 5 litre bottles of spring water in the shower. This much has lasted a long weekend and the tank is used for showers (showers?, woman dont waste water) and toilet flushing. Teeth cleaning is carried out using the bottled. Just an option.

Phil


----------



## arrow2 (May 9, 2005)

Have not cleaned / sterilised the tank on 5 years of ownership.

Nearly always drain between trips, even in summer. Do not drink water straight from tap. Always have mineral water on board. Use tank water for showers, washing, tea making (ie boiled) and teeth cleaning. No problems.

Kevin


----------



## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

> steradent, 2 tabs in full tank


Does your teeth as well :wink: :lol:

We drain our's after every trip,occasionally I put my arm inside with a soft (clean) brush & have a light scrub around.

We use a Britta jug at home & we have one in the motorhome too.


----------



## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

I usually give mine a yearly (around now) clean using Chempro Cleaner - Home brewers use it for sterilization - plus a good rinse out afterwards. It is not harmful to plastic etc.
The water in this country, France and Germany is ok now for drinking but once a year cleaning is just a precaution/habit I suppose.
Cheers

Bob


----------



## peaky (Jul 15, 2009)

me too !!! any drinking water comes from a bottle, tank water used for showers/ washing up etc have only drained the system completely once when we first bought m/h as it stank !!! (it was the cassette someone elses poo im afraid ... yuk ). the system is a pain to get going again when its been emptied.
im a believer in too much steralizing creates more problems in the long term not that we have filthy tanks u understand, does anyones grey tank smell if they leave it more than 2 days ?? ours does, must be the heat out here, i have to be pretty prompt on home return to drain it out .


----------



## maddicksman (Jan 5, 2009)

I use about three to four Steradent tablets to cleanse the water system. You may laugh, or be a little sceptical, but that is what the Royal Marines use in the field for sterilising their drinking water.


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

peaky said:


> , does anyones grey tank smell if they leave it more than 2 days ?? ours does, must be the heat out here, i have to be pretty prompt on home return to drain it out .


One thing that might help is to wipe over plates etc with a bit of kitchen roll / cheap paper serviette before you wash up and don't drain bits of rice or pasta down the sink- use a removable sink waste cover to catch bits. Also beware of draining water that you've boiled eggs in into the tank. Be careful not to get any oil or fat into the tank.

The less food waste that goes into the tank the less smell in our experience- and we don't get a smelly tank.

If, when you've emptied it at home, you put a capful/ dose of _biological _ washing powder or liquid into the tank with some _warm_ water and then drive to your next campsite before emptying it, you will find it removes all the grease and grot that traps and creates smell.

G


----------



## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

One more for never clean but I do empty the tank at the first opportunity, I never leave any water in at all to go stagnant or stale.

If you use the van regulary and there is a constant change of fill and empty there should never be need for cleaning, but never say never.

We do use the water for cooking and the rest but we drink bottled water which we fill from the domestic supply at home or straight from the camp site supply, once again never a problem.


----------



## twinky (Aug 11, 2008)

Funnily enough I have just this morning filled my tank with a view to purging the system and checking the heater.

I was careful to drain the tanks and lines and used milton in the autumn and left the top off to allow air flow.

However the first flush through produced a disgusting clear slime at the taps which even blocked the tap holes :x :x .

I never drink the water from the tanks anyway but its going to be getting the milton treatment this afternoon.

PS Do you find your water pump needs priming when its been empty and dried out?


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

twinky said:


> PS Do you find your water pump needs priming when its been empty and dried out?


It only takes a few minutes of coughing and spluttering on the first fill and then is fine. The secret we find is making sure you close all bathroom taps- inc shower- before you run the water through from the kitchen taps. If not you come back into the bathroom to find it full of water.

G


----------



## twinky (Aug 11, 2008)

Grizzly said:


> twinky said:
> 
> 
> > PS Do you find your water pump needs priming when its been empty and dried out?
> ...


The pump was whirring for ages (I dont like to run it when dry) and nothing. No coughing and spluttering.

However I switched 12V off, opened the tap, pulled the end off and sucked :x . I only needed to drag some water into the pump and away it went.

Thats when I saw the slime   .


----------



## zappy61 (May 1, 2005)

*Disinfection of Water Tanks and Containers*

Hi All,

The main ingredients of Steradent tablets is sodium bi-carbonate, Potassium monopersulfate (carbonate peroxide), citric acid (plus a few others) and whilst they can be used as disinfectants the problem is knowing what concentration is in the tablet. A glass of water is much smaller than a tank of water. To be effective it needs the right concentration for a prescribed contact time.

See

here.

Graham


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Tanks*

Hi

I threw two litres of bleach down my sinks yesterday and the agitation of the 80 odd mile journey to my next destination cleaned out the tanks a treat.

Russell


----------



## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Another thought is to confirm with the tank manufacturer either what they suggest or that what you're doing is OK. We were using Milton tablets, but CAKtanks didn't like it and suggested what you would use to steralise things if you were home brewing. If Milton is ok for bottle teats etc I'm not sure why they wouldn't be for tank seals etc, but it wasn't as if they were plugging their own steralising solution.


----------



## zappy61 (May 1, 2005)

*Re: Tanks*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi
> 
> I threw two litres of bleach down my sinks yesterday and the agitation of the 80 odd mile journey to my next destination cleaned out the tanks a treat.
> 
> Russell


Hi Russell,

No reason why you can't use bleach for the waste tanks but I would only dose at about 50mg/l twice the dose for fresh water tanks see 
here. If you poured 2 litres of bleach in at <5% sodium hypochlorite this represents 50000mg of free chlorine x 2 = 100000mg so in 100 litres of water this is 100000/100 = 1000mg/l (ppm) or 20 times stronger than 50mg/l. It would certainly clean your tanks but sodium hypochclorite is very agressive and corosive at this level.

Graham


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Bleach*

Hi Graham

Thanks for the numbers - I love facts and figures.

I thought I was overdoing it a bit and then thought - oh bugger it, bleach is kept in a plastic bottle and that does not get decayed etc

Tank is all clean now though. I reckon it was two litres of bleach and about 10 litres of water slopping about.

I confess towards the end of the journey the bleach fumes were coming through the sink drain!

Russell

I never clean the fresh tank with anything.


----------



## Kipper (May 1, 2005)

I flush the system through once a year using puriclean at the recommended dosage. Used to use Milton in my previous van but notice that Truma strongly recommends not to use it. Also remember a posting on here a year or two ago where someone had poured neat Milton into their kitchen sink when laying their van up for the winter and come spring found that it had eaten through the stainless steel!

Didn't used to bother at all but noticed little black bits floating in the water after using the bathroom sink - showed up against the white where it didn't notice against the stainless steel in the kitchen.

I use the van's tank for drinking water - both boiled when making tea and also straight into the glass for drinking. Still here to tell the tale and never noticed any taint or the slightest illness. However I do use food grade hose having had a friend who contaminated their tank using an ordinary garden hose.


----------



## zappy61 (May 1, 2005)

*Re: Bleach*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi Graham
> 
> Thanks for the numbers - I love facts and figures.
> 
> ...


No problem Russell. I suppose risk assessment is all about balancing the risk with how often it might happen (frequency). When I was in the water industry I was involved with this quite often especially for legionella (Legionaires Disaese)

If you never disinfect the tank then the the risk factor goes up.
For me filling up the motorhome tank with water and popping 2 1000mg/l rapid release tablets in (costing £1) is a bit of insurance against gastro disorders of which I have been a victim twice and don't want it again especially when on holiday.
Water from the mains is supposed to have a chlorine residual of 0.2mg/l to combat secondary infection, but the further the water has to travel and the higher the temperature will affect this considerably. Water standing over night in a tank (cistern) will probably have no residual at all because it comes out of solution as a gas. If you live near to the treatment works and are troubled by high residual levels and TCP taste try storing a bottle of water in the fridge overnight the taste will be gone.

Regards,

Graham


----------



## wendyandjohn (Feb 14, 2009)

Hi there, we are with you 'don't do anything' gang. Just empty the tank and leave the screw top off till we next go out. never had any upset tummies or funny tasting water. We drink, scrub and wash in the water straight from the tank. No problems.


----------



## zappy61 (May 1, 2005)

*Disinfection of Water Tanks and Containers*



wendyandjohn said:


> Hi there, we are with you 'don't do anything' gang. Just empty the tank and leave the screw top off till we next go out. never had any upset tummies or funny tasting water. We drink, scrub and wash in the water straight from the tank. No problems.


Hi Wendy and John,

So you leave the cap off the water tank when not in use? No problems with the water? then you have been very fortunate. I couldn't imagine ever doing that. The reason? There is always some water left in the bottom where airborne infection can breed. Mosquitoes, flies and others. If you don't disinfect I think it is still a good idea to leave the cap on.

Graham


----------



## wendyandjohn (Feb 14, 2009)

Hi there, Graham,
I'm mean the screw top on the main tank under the bathroom floor, that's what I leave off, just balanced on the edge, not the outside screw cap. I'm always very carefully when we park up that there are no flies or creepies left in 'campie' 
I used to flush 'Milton" through, but found a funny taste the next time we used 'campie' Now, I'm really careful what goes down the sink and always empty both tanks on our return home.


----------

