Fresh Water

[Billy W]

Ray IN thank you for taking the time to look into this and confirm my suggestions on the use of hydrogen peroxide. Its a very inexpensive product and has worked well for me in the past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Zulu]

5 hours ago, Billy W said:

Ray IN thank you for taking the time to look into this and confirm my suggestions on the use of hydrogen peroxide. Its a very inexpensive product and has worked well for me in the past.

It may remove odors, but off-the-shelf (3%) hydrogen peroxide is not suitable for sanitizing/disinfecting an RV water tank.

[Billy W]

whatever you think.... have a good day

[Vladimir]

Somewhere in this thread....somebody made a comment about avoiding water systems in National Forest campgrounds.

The campground water is tested every two weeks when the water systems are operating. A bad test would get another test immediately, and a second bad test would result in trying to track down the problem in water quality.

In ten years.....on a National Forest with several hundred water systems.....I can remember only three bad tests after the first one. One was using bleach on the well pump. Can't remember the second, but the third was linked to lack of a back flow restrictor on a water system that served the campground and special use permittee.

I ALWAYS fill up at a National Forest campground. I know the water is tested on a regular basis and bad tests are followed up on. Can you say that for your commercial campground??

Your tax money paid for SAFE water at National Forest campgrounds. Take advantage of them.

BTW...the Forest Service discovered that the vast majority of the bad tests were related to the threads on the faucets. Which is why all the faucets in National Forest campgrounds are smooth....so if you are really paranoid, clean the faucet before using.

The Forest Service folks that RV......don't drink the water out of their tanks. To many things to go wrong, not to mention those "drinking water hoses". It is good to see people raise the issue of water hoses and contamination.

I carry one gallon jugs drinking and distilled water jugs. IF I run out of water I run my drinking water through a gravity water filter.

Anyway....use the water systems at your National Forest campground. The water is good.

[2gypsies]

Public places aren't going to risk illnesses because of the water.  Along with the national forests, the national parks also regularly test the water.

[Sehc]

I was Licensed Operator for many commercial campgrounds, and trailer parks. I had to resign from most as the owners did not even do what the State Inspectors told them to do, following a fine. I issued many boil water announcements. I trust bottled water more than I do many small drinking water systems. And bottled water is not as regulated as drinking water systems. Chlorine and Cl compounds are the only sure thing for sanitizing water storage.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Sehc
spell check failure

[Zulu]

1 hour ago, Sehc said:

I was Licensed Operator for many commercial campgrounds, and trailer parks. I had to resign from most as the owners did not even do what the State Inspectors told them to do, following a fine.

This problem is more pervasive -- National Trends in drinking water quality violations . . . long story short: health-based drinking water quality violations are widespread.

[Ray,IN]

On 7/21/2019 at 11:22 AM, Sehc said:

 And bottled water is not as regulated as drinking water systems. Chlorine and Cl compounds are the only sure thing for sanitizing water storage.

Actually bottled water must meet the same standards as municipal drinking water. This document published by the FDA is very long and tedious reading, about a third of the way down is where the standards are published.

 

Edited July 22, 2019 by Ray,IN

[Sehc]

Missing link. I stand by my statement. Bottled water is not held to the same standards as municipal drinking water suppliers.

[chirakawa]

8 minutes ago, Sehc said:

Missing link. I stand by my statement. Bottled water is not held to the same standards as municipal drinking water suppliers.

I think this may be what he's referring to https://bottledwater.org/education/regulations/fda-vs-epa

" At the federal level, bottled water must comply with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) (21 U.S.C. §§ 301 et seq.) and several parts of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Section 410 of FFDCA requires that Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) bottled water regulations be as stringent and as protective of the public health as the EPA’s tap water standards."

[Sehc]

It has more to do with amount of inspection, and certified testing required. Any drinking water system, municipal or bottled, can go wrong. How fast is the problem discovered?  What regulations cover the corrections? Most, not all states, have more stringent regulations for municipal water than the US EPA. The epa is the lowest limit.

[Alice]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 4:45 PM, Lou Schneider said:

Easy way is to add 1/4 cup bleach to enough water to fill the hose.  Raise one end and pour the mixture into the other until the hose is full.  Join the ends so the hose is sealed into a loop and let it sit for an hour.

Maybe shake the loop a couple of times to ensure the bleach mixture splashes into any air pockets.

How to tell how much water you need?  Fill the hose, then empty it into a bucket.

Reading these long posts take time, but there are some jewels of advice in them!  I admit, I'd have NEVER thought of doing this!  Too many years drinking from the garden hose as a kid I guess.  Our plan (not full-timers yet) has been to add an in-line filter to the hose at the faucet end, there is also a filter between the tank and the sink...and to use a Brita Pitcher for drinking water.  We figured that we'd have to do something after winterizing in the spring to clean and flush that stuff out of the system, but I never thought about the water-only hoses needing cleaned! 

Love this site!

[Lou Schneider]

Thanks, Alice.  I'm just passing along what I learned from others through the years.

Before Mark Nemeth started his Gadget Box, Scott and Karen Bonis would have a session at the Escapades where they showed tricks and modifications they made to their RV over a decade or so of fulltiming.  Both were engineers so they were well organized and had lots of good ideas.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Lou Schneider

[Barbaraok]

1 hour ago, Sehc said:

It has more to do with amount of inspection, and certified testing required. Any drinking water system, municipal or bottled, can go wrong. How fast is the problem discovered?  What regulations cover the corrections? Most, not all states, have more stringent regulations for municipal water than the US EPA. The epa is the lowest limit.

I don't think I would want to hang my hat on what local municipalities do in terms of monitoring/testing in light of the fact that we have systems throughout the country that can not maintain lead levels even to EPA standards (and the regulations are always the minimum and one that any one can strive to exceed).  Municipal systems have to meet those standards AT THE TAP, and when you have old, old distribution systems and people not paying attention or cutting corners, you get Flint - but not just Flint, lots of old systems in the east have high lead levels.   Bottled water, if done correctly, will meet standards when capped and then no worries of contamination during transit, etc.   Not that it couldn't happen, or that the company's testing protocol can't be ignored, etc., just the water is likely to meet standards when the cap is removed.  

[Kirk W]

4 hours ago, Alice said:

Our plan (not full-timers yet) has been to add an in-line filter to the hose at the faucet end, there is also a filter between the tank and the sink...and to use a Brita Pitcher for drinking water.

When we were on the road fulltime I used one of the dual filter, whole house filter cartridge assemblies on our water supply. 

For sanitizing I would remove the second stage filter, leaving the first (particulate) filter in place and pour chlorine bleach equal to 1/4 cup per 10 gallons of water capacity. By the running the water through it and into the tank it would mix well. 

[Ray,IN]

13 hours ago, Sehc said:

Missing link. I stand by my statement. Bottled water is not held to the same standards as municipal drinking water suppliers.

 My bad, I forgot the hot link: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=165.110

Edited July 24, 2019 by Ray,IN