Water question...

[dmac]

Due to a final illness of my father-in-law we were unable to use our trailer since Memorial Day. Finally I am getting it ready for a short trip this weekend to the North Shore of Lake Superior with my new exchange student. Overnight I drained the fresh water tank. This morning I drained the water heater and it smelled nasty. The drain plug had black crud in it - looks like mold. I flushed some plain water through everything, cleaned the drain plug, added bleach to the fresh water tank, refilled with plain water, and pumped it through everything. I will let it sit all day, drain it this evening, and flush it out with some baking soda and lots of water. What else should I do?

[nickcrowhurst]

Dan, I assume your water heater tank has been the site of contamination because of the higher temperatures in the tank. In addition to what you have done, all of it admirable, I would use one of the purpose-made thin curved hose end fitments which are designed exactly to clean the tanks of RV water heaters. They feature in the RV catalogues. These allow a jet of water to scour the inside of the tank, and, in particular the bottom where debris sits. By turning the device through every angle, all the tank can be hosed. The device is placed in the drain hole. (After the drain plug is removed!). I was surprised at the amount of gunge I blew out of the tank, even though it was only 2 years old. After that, I would replace the drain plug, and run clean water through the tank via the normal water hose system for a couple of hours. After that, I would remove the tank drain plug (after turning off the water supply!), drain the tank by removing the plug (while opening the pressure release valve to allow air entry). I would then inject iodine solution into the tank, through the drain plug, close up the tank, and turn the water back on, sufficient only to clear the air out through a faucet. I would then let the iodine solution stand overnight. The next day, I would again run cold water through the system to clear out the iodine. I would also do a similar procedure with the cold water tank. I have had to deal with similar situations in sailing yacht water systems. Dosage of iodine may be on the container, but details are also at http://www.healthnetwork.com.au/trav...?bulletin_id=6
The advantages of iodine are that it kills a wider range of bugs than chlorine, and, for me , the taste is a little more acceptable. Good luck! Nick.

[Paul Mayeux]

Originally Posted by nickcrowhurst

...I would then inject iodine solution into the tank, through the drain plug, close up the tank, and turn the water back on, sufficient only to clear the air out through a faucet. I would then let the iodine solution stand overnight. The next day, I would again run cold water through the system to clear out the iodine. I would also do a similar procedure with the cold water tank. I have had to deal with similar situations in sailing yacht water systems. Dosage of iodine may be on the container, but details are also at http://www.healthnetwork.com.au/trav...?bulletin_id=6
The advantages of iodine are that it kills a wider range of bugs than chlorine, and, for me , the taste is a little more acceptable. Good luck! Nick.

This may be a dumb question, but do you use the same iodine that you get from the drug store? Thanks.

[Minnie's Mate]

I am not trying to start a debate and I am certainly a newbie to camping, but a simpler plan would be to partially drain both the fresh water tank and the hot water tank (turned off of course) before heading home at the end of each trip and add either the bleach or the iodine, whichever you feel most comfortable with, and drive home or at least part of the way home with the solution in the tanks. This would cause the solution to splash around to all surfaces inside the tank and disinfect all surfaces. You could then run this solution through the rest of the plumbing system with the pump on your unit. After arriving home, you could empty the system and let it air dry for a day or so before closing it up until the next trip. The bleach would evaporate and completely leave the system as it dried. One consideration though might be that the bleach may over dry any rubber seals and the iodine might not.

Restaurant kitchens disinfect with a mild bleach solution and my guess is that would be sufficient unless you have a compromised immune system such as after surgery or after a transplant, infection, etc. I haven't checked out the link above, but suggest that you do so before making a decision. When I have time to read it, I might lean more toward the iodine myself. It just seems more economical to go the bleach route if it doesn't damage the system.

I know we are talking very diluted here, but I just remember the skull and cross bones on the bottle of iodine when I was growing up.

[Paul Mayeux]

I tend to shy away from bleach because I've read some articles about bleach being a big health hazard with ties to breast cancer. According to the article bleach in very small concentrations can be dangerous.

[nickcrowhurst]

62overlander, yes, the iodine from the pharmacist. The above link includes:

"Iodine treatment is based on the use of ‘tincture of iodine’ (tincture of iodine is the name given to pure iodine in alcohol) which is a 2% iodine solution. Alternatives to this are iodine water purification tablets (containing tetraglycine hydroperiodide) and Betadine Antiseptic Solution (which contains 10% Povidone-Iodine, equivalent to 1% iodine), a common antiseptic in first add kits.

To purify water, first pour the water through some type of mesh or cloth to strain out any sediment or solid particles. Add 5 drops (0.5 ml) of 2% iodine to each litre of clear water. Let the treated water stand for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to drinking. If the water is cloudy, double the amount of iodine to 10 drops per litre."

I wouldn't be too concerned about a skull and crossbones on the bottle of iodine. As with bleach (chlorine), it needs to be locked securely away from children. My grandfather was gassed by enemy chlorine in the trenches in France in WW1. It's the concentration that counts. Nick.

[dmac]

Thanks for the ideas. Over lunch break I bought a wand for spraying out the inside of the water heater. Due to other commitments all my preparations must be completed tonight, so I am running out of time. The entire system (fresh water tank, water heater, and lines) has been filled with a diluted bleach solution all day today. I will drain it, spray out the water heater with the wand-thingy, flush everything, use some baking soda to neutralize the chlorine, and rinse some more.

For future inactive storage... I don't think that draining the fresh water tank and water heater actually gets all the water out. So leaving them "dry" is not possible. The idea of leaving a dilute bleach or iodine solution in there makes some sense. I'm thinking that 1 cup bleach to ~25 gallons of water would be dilute enough not to damage anything.

[searcher]

We live in our A/S all summer. Our water is pretty good but we still use bottled water for cooking and brushing and pre filter the water in the tank.