RV Site Sanitation

[B Wilson]

Actually some dump stations have seperate stations for dumping and potable water ! The Dump station at Oregon Inlet on Cape Hatteras has a fresh water fill across the driveway from the dump station.
I watched an idiot camper wash out his porta potty at the fesh water spigot on Ocracoke island NPS campground . Needless to say the ranger was not happy and sprayed clorox over the entire area. I still was not comfortable using that spigot.

[Minno]

About those disposable gloves: any health care worker will tell you that they are not totally impervious. You need to wash your hands well after using them and before doing anything else. It's SOP in health care world.
That said, I'm one of those who fills fresh water tanks at the dump station. The water comes from another source than the water you use to flush your sewer hose. Run the water till it's coming out cold, then fill the tank. In 40 years of camping, we have never gotten sick from our water supply. And, yes, we drink our RV water. I'm sanitizing the trailer right now. Ya gotta build up some immunity to the common stuff, so the nasty stuff doesn't drop you.
And antibiotic soap won't really do you any good. Kills 99.999% of bacteria but the other .001% gets stronger as it builds up immunity to the antibiotics. That's where the super bugs are coming from.

Kay, RN

[Muriel 1]

Talk about disgusting.
I had to take Muriel yesterday to dump my gray and black tank.
I went to The Colonies Rv park at Ft Monroe
Virginia.
In a steady rain,I arrived at the campground and the Sani-Station was under water!!!
You cannot unload black water,when the
port is covered with 3 inches of water.
I noted standing water all around the camp.
Mainly on roads and tent sites.
I had to move to Newport News city park to
use their facility.
I’m not easily grossed out.
But that did it.
Tom

[cwf]

Follow the signs. non-potable.. just for flushing... it isn't very clean anyway..

For FW tank fill, always a 'known safe' source...

I have used some sanitizer I use for my beer equipment sanitizing.. when I am really concerned about the 'connection' process. A couple spritzes and a little time.. nothing much survives.. it will even kill skin... so be careful..

And, put Clorox inside the 'FW hose' when storing... also a good way to get a 'slug' of chlorine thru the fresh water plumbing when you hook up at a site..

[thiel]

Always assume the world is covered in a thin layer of human feces.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by thiel

Always assume the world is covered in a thin layer of human feces.

And enjoy hiking in the great outdoors with this assumption always in mind?

[rmkrum]

Take reasonable precautions, then sally forth....

[HHPJ]

I always carry Lysol (the commercial disinfectant spray type) and spray around spigot area

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by hhendrix

One of the biggest potential cross contamination issues was built into Airstreams when they introduced the black water tank flushing connection. Great idea but they placed the connection directly over the city fresh water connection.
.

GRAVITY IS OUR FRIEND
Think about the location of the black tank. It is 2 to 3 feet lower than the tank flusher inlet. Poo water is NOT going to climb up the flusher inlet unless you have the black drain gate closed while flushing. If you do that, and your toilet valve seal is perfect, the path of least resistance is the vent stack to the roof! (Saw a SOB do that once, ) so ICK, Without a backflow protector you could contaminate the hose attached to the flusher, but if you pay attention while flushing it simply won't. A leaky toilet valve is more likely to back poo water up inside! Paying attention AND using a clear extension so you can see that the tank is draining is really the best idea, especially if you use a Sewer Solution rather than a slinky.

The comment about putting the flusher inlet Below the water inlet is.... yes, valid but if the fresh inlet is closed, a squirt of a bleach product following flushing should do the trick. I use Clorox bathroom cleaner for all inside and outside stuff except sanitizing the white tank. It's convenient, and for as little as is needed, why have another spray bottle?

Now for the really "eeuh gross" but true story... the cheapass cover on the flush inlet never stays shut. A dozen times I've sworn I will replace it with a better one, but only really notice it when I'm using it... so I go to flush my tank and there is a dead grasshopper nymph staring out at me. Got the twitches just looking at the thing, and how the heck do I get it outta there? (Two twigs used as tweezers did the job, but how many more critters might be inline? Cup of bleach down the inlet! Should kill anything, but I don't wanna have to take this apart!!!! Any advice on really quadruple rinsing the black tank, opening the gate, then applying a wet/dry vacuum to the inlet? And immediately replacing the cover with a better one?