Fresh Water

[Ray,IN]

22 hours ago, Bill w/bus said:

Use Purogene as alternative to bleach. Bleach takes at least two rinsed to clear the odor from the system. When, not if, you sanitize your water system make sure that you adhere to at least a thirty minute soak after the solution is flowing from all the water outlets.  A proper sanitizer solution is a mild acid solution with the antibacterial addition. I use Purogene with citric acid powder mixed together and added to the water system via the pump.  Maybe a once a year project.  For less frequent usage then sanitize once and drain the system when going into storage. Add the Purogene at rate of one ounce per thirty gallons. Should fix your problem.

Good luck with your system.

Bill

Per this website, the dosage is 32oz Purogene + 4oz citric acid per 50G to sanitize. For water disinfection, those amounts are cut in half. Purogene is chlorine dioxide, special attention should be given to sections 6 and 10 of that SDS.

I'm not saying not to use it, however it should be handled and used with the appropriate precautions, just as I use Sodium Dichlor for water disinfection and sanitizing.

Edited July 4, 2019 by Ray,IN

[richfaa]

For whatever reason  we have not had a issue with  water over many years of Rv.ing. Since 2006 we have been on the road  at least 80 % of the time in general do not use  the onboard fresh water for drinking or cooking.  Helen has a  onboard water purifying system that she uses for that purpose. We have a meter that measures the purity  of the water and have never anywhere found it  to be below Federal  standards but the smell and taste  can be a problem for us. We do have a system from the  water filter guy that we use on the water input  for prolonged stays we flush and drain the fresh water tank and hot water tank on a regular basis.

[Zulu]

6 hours ago, richfaa said:

We have a meter that measures the purity  of the water and have never anywhere found it  to be below Federal  standards

What meter is that?

[Barbaraok]

6 hours ago, richfaa said:

For whatever reason  we have not had a issue with  water over many years of Rv.ing. Since 2006 we have been on the road  at least 80 % of the time in general do not use  the onboard fresh water for drinking or cooking.  Helen has a  onboard water purifying system that she uses for that purpose. We have a meter that measures the purity  of the water and have never anywhere found it  to be below Federal  standards but the smell and taste  can be a problem for us. We do have a system from the  water filter guy that we use on the water input  for prolonged stays we flush and drain the fresh water tank and hot water tank on a regular basis.

Rich, you mean you have a turbidity meter?  One that measures dissolved solids?  A pH meter, to assess the acidity/alkalinity?  Obviously not an ICP to check for heavy metals as you have to send that one out.  And what about possible bacterial/fungal/viral contamination - for that you need to check the residual chlorine content of the water.   And for hydrocarbons, you need Mass Spec.   Water analysis is complex and what you really need to a water supply that undergoes routine testing and makes those results available to those who use the water.   

And before someone asks, yes I often go online when in small towns where we have never been before and review their latest report on the municipal water supply.    

[Ray,IN]

The only meter richfaa can be referring to would be a TDS meter, which we know cannot measure water quality. If anyone uses a TDS meter, a reading above 500 is suspect though.

Edited July 6, 2019 by Ray,IN

[JimK]

A TS meter is not a sufficient way to check for a contaminated water tank.  It is absolutely amazing but after a few weeks of storage bacteria will grow in even highly purified reagent grade water.  Regular use with chlorinated water will help to keep the tank sanitary almost indefinitely.  If the tank sits for weeks on end with little or no use, I would sanitize it before use.  There is another related issue.  In many camping areas the water is pure but not chlorinated.  Without chlorine, bacterial growth is going to occur even if the tank is in use.

[richfaa]

For whatever reason  we have not had a issue with  water over many years of Rv.ing. Since 2006 we have been on the road  at least 80 % of the time in general do not use  the onboard fresh water for drinking or cooking.  Helen has a  onboard water purifying system that she uses for that purpose. We have a meter that measures the purity  of the water and have never anywhere found it  to be below Federal  standards but the smell and taste  can be a problem for us. We do have a system from the  water filter guy that we use on the water input  for prolonged stays we flush and drain the fresh water tank and hot water tank on a regular basis.

 

I do not know the type of meter and none of you can.I will look. It was given to us by a friend whose job involved testing water purity for the city. 

[Barbaraok]

13 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

The only meter richfaa can be referring to would be a TDS meter, which we know cannot measure water quality. If anyone uses a TDS meter, a reading above 500 is suspect though.

Not if you are in the Arizona desert.

[richfaa]

Well we found it and it is a intellitec  digital water purity meter and it is a TDS meter so I guess  I will have to throw it in the trash as it is useless. The water we use is usually city water from a city we are nearby . It is apparently a miracle we have not contacted some horrible disease  using this worthless meter over the years . We have used the meter when we know we are using well water and never found anything out of the ordinary but then again we were using a worthless meter....who knew. Thanks for the information  it is good to have experts on the subject.

[JimK]

The meter is worth little if anything.   A low reading does not mean the water is safe.   A high reading does not mean the water is unsafe. 

[richfaa]

Why would a company knowingly sell a device that does not work.We are going to g ive them a call and ask why they sell a worthless device.

[Zulu]

2 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Not if you are in the Arizona desert.

Roger that. I get readings between 700 - 800 in Lake Havasu City.

A TDS (Total  Dissolved Solids) meter essentially measures hardness.

[richfaa]

Well i guess the TDS meter works for what it was intended to ,measure which is not water purity. We got to find a better meter

[Zulu]

43 minutes ago, richfaa said:

Well i guess the TDS meter works for what it was intended to ,measure which is not water purity. We got to find a better meter

I don't think you'll find one meter that deals with all the possibilities of water pollution. Besides dissolved solids, there are chemicals, bacteria, viruses, etc, etc.

I just assume the worst and filter for as much as I can on a non-municipal budget.

 

[richfaa]

We use a system from the water filter guy.

 

[JimK]

2 hours ago, richfaa said:

Why would a company knowingly sell a device that does not work.We are going to g ive them a call and ask why they sell a worthless device.

Because it is not intended to determine water safety regarding sanitation.  Many people use these meters to monitor pool water.  High levels in drinking water can alter taste and very high levels might be harmful for those with renal failure.  There are other reasons to avoid high TDS.

[SnowGypsy]

We filter our water through a Berkey, but have never drank water from any of our RVs' fresh water holding tanks.  

[2gypsies]

During our 16 years of full-timing and getting our water from many different types of sources we didn't have any issues. We filter the water coming into the RV with a good filter (not a cheapie WalMart-type).  Call and talk to the RVFilterStore for recommendations of what you want to accomplish.  We also use a under sink filter for taste.  We've always used our fresh tank for drinking and cooking.

[richfaa]

We also do not use the onboard fresh water tank for drinking water. Helen has a onboard filtration system that she uses for cooking, coffee, etc.We rarely carry more than 1/3 tank of  water in the tank and it is used for flushing  when in travel. We are 98% of the time on a full hookup site . We do have a filtration system from the water filter  guy that we use on extended stays and the main purpose is to eliminate  taste and smell.We dId not understand the TDS metering but we do now.

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

During our 16 years of full-timing and getting our water from many different types of sources we didn't have any issues. We filter the water coming into the RV with a good filter (not a cheapie WalMart-type).  Call and talk to the RVFilterStore for recommendations of what you want to accomplish.  We also use a under sink filter for taste.  We've always used our fresh tank for drinking and cooking.

We have done that also with all of our RVs since the first one that had a water tank in 1974.

[Sehc]

TDS is a legitimate water quality test. It would have kept you from drinking a lot of bad water. TDS is regulated in drinking water for a reason.  Just a note. When I was in a cannery, qc would use a test strip to make a quick test for e-coli.

[JIMBEA]

We have installed a Ultra Violet disinfecting system in our house (for well water) and it has passed all state inspections for safety. We had a bout of e-coli and now  we a clean.

Would this be something to consider for an RV?-

 

[Zulu]

13 minutes ago, JIMBEA said:

We have installed a Ultra Violet disinfecting system in our house (for well water) and it has passed all state inspections for safety. We had a bout of e-coli and now  we a clean.

Would this be something to consider for an RV?-

 

It sure would. I've had a UV filter in my RV since we started full timing. At the very least, it stopped an algae outbreak from getting into my RV's plumbing system.

 

[Billy W]

Just as a reminder, "bleach does not kill mildew, mold and some algae" it only bleaches it so it looks like its gone. I would suggest using hydrogen peroxide. Its cheep and in eliminates the oxygen the bacteria need to grow. You can also use white vinegar but it is a mild acetic acid 2% and it smells too.

[Zulu]

3 hours ago, Billy W said:

Just as a reminder, "bleach does not kill mildew, mold and some algae" it only bleaches it so it looks like its gone. 

No, bleach actually does kill mildew, mold, and algae.

 

3 hours ago, Billy W said:

I would suggest using hydrogen peroxide. Its cheep and in eliminates the oxygen the bacteria need to grow. You can also use white vinegar but it is a mild acetic acid 2% and it smells too.

Would that be a 3% (off-the-shelf), 6% (cosmetic - hair bleaching), 35% (food grade), or accelerated hydrogen peroxide (AHP)?

Edited July 7, 2019 by Zulu