Sewer and water question

[DougZ]

I have a 1972 Overlander 27' AS. The city water intake valve is located about 10" from the sewage outlet. Is this the original design or has my trailer had some modification? This just doesn't strike me as being very sanitary. I have seen accidents at the dump stations and wouldn't want my water intake anywhere near the discharge. I think I'll carry a gallon of bleach just in case.

[SteveH]

We had a '75 23', and that's the way it was plummed. And come to think of it, we used it quite a bit and never got sick from the water.

[Minno]

Hi Doug,

Yes, our '72 31' Soveriegn was plumed the same way.

Chris

[Jim Foster]

Many Airstreams are plumbed in that manner. You can and should get a plastic plug that screws into the water inlet. They are available at most all places that have RV stuff. Not only for what you mentioned, but to keep dirt, spiders etc. out of that inlet. Many trailers have a one way valve just inside that outlet that must be kept clean, or when you are not hooked to city water, and turn you water pump on, the water will leak out at that point. If that plug is in place when you dump, nothing can get inside.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by DougZ

I have a 1972 Overlander 27' AS. The city water intake valve is located about 10" from the sewage outlet. Is this the original design or has my trailer had some modification? This just doesn't strike me as being very sanitary. I have seen accidents at the dump stations and wouldn't want my water intake anywhere near the discharge. I think I'll carry a gallon of bleach just in case.

Sanitation - I want to play nice... but sometimes satan talks to me and I listen. Here's a central truth, most of us don't wear rubber gloves when we wipe our behinds. I DO wash my hands afterwards. Studies show that lot's of people don't do that.

Your concern about germs - especially at a dump station where it can be someone else's cooties - may have some merit, but your own usual good habits will probably provide plenty of protection. If you DO want to carry bleach, may I recommend you get a small spray bottle and dilute it by at least half? Then a quick spritz of your water inlet will do the trick. There is another more important area to worry about sanitizing. Consider people walking their dogs and the dogs cocking their legs against upright objects.... like your WATER SPIGOT! The spigot needs more bleach than The hose hookup!

Straight bleach is pretty caustic to skin and definitely to your clothing. I'm a firm believer that bleach can tell when you're wearing new clothing and will always spill on that in preference to a 3 year old pair of Levis.

Happy trails

Paula

[masseyfarm]

I agree it is a poor design on the OEM's to have the fresh inlet located adjacent to the sewer. Many of the MH's also have it this way. I believe, the cluster of plumbing makes it easy to heat in severe weather.

However I prefer Airstreams design on the limited run Clipper MH that has the fresh water inlet located about 10' away and to the rear of the axle in a separate utility compartment. Yes this is a problem trying to heat, but a simple heat tape does the trick in cold weather. You just wrap the tape around the lower part of real and hose and let nature work.

Dave

[Minno]

If you use bleach, you only need a 10% solution to sanitize, and it will kill 99.99% of germs. However, you should make up fresh solution every 24 hours, or every time you use it. It's one of our sanitation things that I learned as a nurse. Bleach solution weakens after 24 hours and won't give you good sanitation after that time. A better solution might be sanitation wipes that you can buy for your cleaning. They come 50 or 100 to a container, and will give you the same cleaning power as bleach without the hassle of making up bleach solution and getting it on your clothes, etc.

Kay

[DougZ]

Thanks for all the input. I was remembering two events when I mentioned the mess. One was a very elderly gentleman who didn't get the hose fastened tight. When he opened the black tank, it blew the hose off and shot all over the place. The other was when a hose broke from old age. Both events would have spred "cooties" on the water input. I bought a new discharge hose and new plug for the input. I have the rubber boots and rubber gloves from my previous TT so I guess I'm pretty well set.

[sharbours]

Yeah, we thought the fresh water inlet next to the black water dump was a little sketchy also. So, when our water pressure regulator, vintage 1975, sprung a leak, we took the opportunity to upgrade. We installed a wall mount combination water inlet/pressure regulator. It's plastic, but it has a fairly heavy chrome plating to dress it up, and seems to be a quality piece so far.

Before and after:

[donh1]

I to have moved my fresh water inlet, as the previous post. Works much better.