Water Tank Sanitization

[JimK]

If it gets bad enough you will see discoloration in the water tank and if really bad you will see and taste the problem.  More common is pseudomonas growth which will start as a very faint pink color on the sides of  your tank.  Other serious organisms can grow and not show any discoloration. 

If you are using non-chlorinated water, I would recommend adding a small amount of bleach to the tank.  Fill the tank and refill and rechlorinate as needed. 

As you point out the fill hose can be a serious source of contamination that is often overlooked.  Even when using clean, chlorinated water, the hose will remain wet inside almost indefinitely.  That environment is a great breading ground for bacteria, algae, and molds.  When you store your water hose for days, weeks, or months consider sanitizing the hose before use.  I have not found a good way of doing this.  I make a stout solution of bleach in a gallon or two of water and pour it into the hose.  Stretch out the hose so the solution trickles out of the other end.   

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, chirakawa said:

How did you determine that you had algae in your RV water system?

Pam first noticed something in the ice cubes from our ice maker. That lead to investigating and I found green algae growing in the white hose by removing it and looking. That lead to checking the water line to the ice maker and since it was clear I could see a small amount of algae growing there also. The line went up the back of the refrigerator which was on the sunny side of the RV which I suspect is the reason it showed there first. I didn't find evidence anywhere else inside. In flushing everything I lifted the upper end of the ice maker water supply to avoid putting the residue through it. I then used a jumper to supply 12V to the water valve for it. The supply hose I used a mix of 1/4 cup of bleach in 2 gallons of water and then filled the hose with that and let it stand for several hours, using a different hose to supply the RV. 

[chirakawa]

6 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

Pam first noticed something in the ice cubes from our ice maker. That lead to investigating and I found green algae growing in the white hose by removing it and looking. That lead to checking the water line to the ice maker and since it was clear I could see a small amount of algae growing there also. The line went up the back of the refrigerator which was on the sunny side of the RV which I suspect is the reason it showed there first. I didn't find evidence anywhere else inside. In flushing everything I lifted the upper end of the ice maker water supply to avoid putting the residue through it. I then used a jumper to supply 12V to the water valve for it. The supply hose I used a mix of 1/4 cup of bleach in 2 gallons of water and then filled the hose with that and let it stand for several hours, using a different hose to supply the RV. 

Thanks.

[Waterjosh]

On 7/12/2018 at 5:13 AM, Sehc said:

In community water treatment. First choice is Chlorine Gas. Second choice is Calcium HypoChlorite. In emergency we used Sodium Hypochlorite. When I retired these were the only chemicals approved for use in potable water. Why use a very hazardous chemical when a gallon of Clorox is so inexpensive and readily available?

 

Actually, most of the places I have been either have or are switching to Sodium HypoChlorite, reason being that Gaseos Chlorine is just damned dangerous.  Granulated or Puck form chlorine (Calcium HypoChlorite) is used at a couple of our well sites and on new installations of mains and services due to its relative long term stability and ease of use.  Sodium HypoChlorite, in the form that we get for Water Treatment is 12.5% vs your normal over the counter bleach being 2%-3% chlorine.  Sodium HypoChlorite loses strength over time but the risks are SO much lower that it is fast becoming the if not already the preferred method of chlorination for groundwater.  Surface water on the other hand is often switching to a process called Chloramination due to the fact that Chloramine's do not have the Disinfection Byproduct of Trihalomethanes which is a known cancer causing agent.  In short, I would go with the simple method, use bleach, don't try to use other pool chemicals or what have you, bleach is safe, readily available, and cheap.  Also I would suggest ordering some simple  total chlorine test strips such as http://a.co/bmNyePI to use when you first hook up in order to make sure that the water you are getting has been chlorinated, the reason I say to use total instead of free test strips is because if Chloramination is done correctly there should be no free chlorine.  Anyhow, this was my first post here I hope it was useful to someone.

 

PS I am not a chemist, but I am a Water Treatment Plant Operator

Edited July 15, 2018 by Waterjosh

[Ray,IN]

Barb, I do not use it to disinfect drinking water, only to sanitize the entire fresh water system(110G) annually. I run the frig/ice maker during this process to sanitize the ice maker lines too.

[Barbaraok]

Welcome Aboard.  😁

[Barbaraok]

Ray, are you using municple water to fill tank as needed all year long?

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, Waterjosh said:

Anyhow, this was my first post here I hope it was useful to someone.

Welcome to the Escapee forums. Glad to have you with us and please do not hesitated to join in on any of our forums or in any active thread!

[Ray,IN]

On 7/14/2018 at 11:16 PM, Barbaraok said:

Ray, are you using municple water to fill tank as needed all year long?

Yes, but the low amount residual chlorine does not prevent algae from growing in municipal water when exposed to sunlight.

As far as I know ALL public drinking water must meet the same standards, whether it's municipal or private well at a licensed CG.

[Barbaraok]

Ray, how is the water in your fresh water tank being exposed to sunlight? 

[2gypsies]

Sounds like we're not the norm but in 16 years of full-timing and getting water from many different sources and not all municipalities, we never sanitized.  We drank and cooked from the tank.  Every so often we'd buy a new fresh water hose.  We did use good water filters though.

[Kirk W]

44 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

Sounds like we're not the norm but in 16 years of full-timing and getting water from many different sources and not all municipalities, we never sanitized.  We drank and cooked from the tank.

We never sanitized our water tanks over more than 25 years of part-time RVing with our family, mostly from ignorance. But as we were researching in preparation for going full-time I learned about the process and the reason for it. I learned of some of the health issues that can be caused by water problems and those don't sound like much fun so I now sanitize annually. The only time it was ever done that wasn't preventative was the lone green algae problem I mentioned earlier. I look at sanitizing my water system much as I look at wearing a seat belt. It has been years since I had any reason to need a seat belt, but I still put it on each time I travel by motor vehicle. 

[2gypsies]

1 hour ago, Kirk Wood said:

We never sanitized our water tanks over more than 25 years of part-time RVing with our family, mostly from ignorance. But as we were researching in preparation for going full-time I learned about the process and the reason for it. I learned of some of the health issues that can be caused by water problems and those don't sound like much fun so I now sanitize annually. The only time it was ever done that wasn't preventative was the lone green algae problem I mentioned earlier. I look at sanitizing my water system much as I look at wearing a seat belt. It has been years since I had any reason to need a seat belt, but I still put it on each time I travel by motor vehicle. 

Hmmm... 25 yr. with the family and then you changed?  What's the difference?

 

[Pat & Pete]

5 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

Hmmm... 25 yr. with the family and then you changed?  What's the difference?

 

Most likely the overall condition of this countries water supply . 

Use to be the creeks were fairly clean . Now they could probably be used for acid washing .

[Barbaraok]

4 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Sounds like we're not the norm but in 16 years of full-timing and getting water from many different sources and not all municipalities, we never sanitized.  We drank and cooked from the tank.  Every so often we'd buy a new fresh water hose.  We did use good water filters though.

You aren’t that different from us.  Once we had to flush out.  Otherwise, we dump fresh water and fill with municipal water on a fairly regular basis and don’t sanitize.  We do dump water and refill when taking out of storage each spring, and then dump the desert water as soon as we get to the coast as the desert water is so high in TDS.  

[Barbaraok]

2 hours ago, Pat & Pete said:

Most likely the overall condition of this countries water supply . 

Use to be the creeks were fairly clean . Now they could probably be used for acid washing .

But municipal water systems are not creeks.  

[Pat & Pete]

Just now, Barbaraok said:

But municipal water systems are not creeks.  

That might depend on how long it's been since the last shock treatment . LOL  But , overall , I agree .

[sandsys]

We sanitized each new rig before use but then never again. But, we never stayed in one place with water hookups long enough for anything to grow anywhere.

Linda Sand

[Ray,IN]

7 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Ray, how is the water in your fresh water tank being exposed to sunlight? 

Sorry, I jumped from one subject to another. I was thinking about my whole-house water filter at the CG hydrant, it has a clear bowl(my selection mistake) which promotes algae growth inside when exposed to sunlight, regardless of residual chlorine in the city water.

 

[Barbaraok]

11 minutes ago, Ray,IN said:

Sorry, I jumped from one subject to another. I was thinking about my whole-house water filter at the CG hydrant, it has a clear bowl(my selection mistake) which promotes algae growth inside when exposed to sunlight, regardless of residual chlorine in the city water.

 

But if you are using city water from spigot, that isn’t going into your fresh water tank, is it.  Get the bowled covered, black tape if nothing else.

[Waterjosh]

59 minutes ago, Barbaraok said:

But if you are using city water from spigot, that isn’t going into your fresh water tank, is it.  Get the bowled covered, black tape if nothing else.

You could spray paint it or wrap it easy enough

[Sehc]

If algae is growing in the water, there is no chlorine residual. At distant parts of municipal systems, chlorine residual can be lost. That is why you see the crews flushing mains. Maybe the camp ground is not so diligent.

[Kirk W]

12 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Hmmm... 25 yr. with the family and then you changed?  What's the difference?

I drove for just as long before I began to wear seat belts too. Do you ever visit a doctor if you are not sick? Some of us take preventive measures because of things we have learned as a measure of risk management. As a society, we do many things today for both health and safety reasons that nobody bothered with for many years. It just could be that those changes play some small part in the reason people are also living longer today? 

I sanitize annually now that we are part-time as the rig sits in storage for several months each year and did pretty much the same when on the road full-time. Unless you check the water at every stop, you very likely put well water into your RV from time to time that is not chlorinated as many rural areas use it. If you stop at COE parks, some of those are on well systems that are not chlorinated as is true of some state and county parks. We lived the RV volunteer lifestyle and we did sit in one location for anywhere from 1 to as much as 4 months and sometimes we were using well water. While such wells are tested on a regular basis, they are seldom chlorinated. 

Edited July 17, 2018 by Kirk Wood

[mike hood]

just bought a brand new trailer   how should i prep the tank?

[sandsys]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:42 AM, Kirk W said:

While such wells are tested on a regular basis, they are seldom chlorinated. 

We once lived in a park where the well water was guaranteed 99% pure. What they didn't tell us is that 1% was ants in the system. We discovered that when we removed the faucet screen to see why the flow had slowed down. We moved. Be proactive, people.

Linda Sand