Fresh Water Tank cleaning |
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jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3223 |
Topic: Fresh Water Tank cleaning Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 7:19pm |
Coming from the other side of the fence and maybe not knowing better (and yes we use our tank for drinking as well) I went 5 years before cleaning/sanitizing our tank with a bit of bleach because at a pod rally we attended an individual chewed my out for not doing this on a regular basis. After doing this I had to do the lemon juice and white vinegar mix to rid the tank of the funky bleach smell/taste residue. Since then I did do it again after 2 more years, just to satisfy my curiosity before going thru the process I opened up my screens on the faucet ends but could not find anything at all like you posted, in fact I found nothing at all. Maybe we just have fine, pure well water, or maybe our systems are used to the little microscopic fellas that are unseen in our water. So to date, yes we have cleaned our 2011 pod twice since taking ownership of it in March 2011.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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Rick Nic
Newbie Joined: 04 Jan 2017 Location: Oceanside, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 10:53am |
I decided to drop a 1" chlorine tablet, rinse system, and see if the green algae in my fresh tank plug goes away after a few rounds. If it's on the plug, I can imagine some on the floor of the tank, too. (I've heard bleach can eat away at rubber and components like the pump).
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2017.5 iPod 178
Oceanside, CA |
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Happy Tripping
Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 473 |
Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 7:14am |
I don't know, not having a microscope, but probably "green algae" of the following reference: http://aqua.iwaponline.com/content/early/2016/04/13/aqua.2016.115 But not to worry, kill it with bleach and flush well until clear, and then repeat chlorine treatment periodically. I bet all of us have low concentrations of these 'bugs' in our tanks, we just don't notice them and they do no harm in this situation. "The solution to pollution is dilution". In most cities, what we drink now was sewage just a little while ago, and even clear natural spring water has lots of little things in it. |
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Guests
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Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 6:36am |
+1 on your comfort level/risk tolerance. What is in the picture could be algae but, I can't know for certain. Personally, if I were intending to consume water from the tank, I would sanitize frequently throughout the season. I think I have mentioned before that I take "bottled" water (Walmart @ $.89/gal) for my consumption. I rarely use more than 1/2 gallon per day as 99.9% of the time it is just used making coffee. The rest of my fluids are usually "store bought" beverages. Dixie (my dog) gets to drink the campground water, from a filled jug. Interestingly, there have been a couple of occasions when she refused to drink it. She is pretty smart and has a very good nose! (For what it is worth) |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1446 |
Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 1:55am |
To some extent the only answer is your comfort level. I'm old and I grew up drinking from (green) garden hoses and mountain streams. I still do occasionally, even though I understand some good reasons not to now. I don't drink a lot of water, no matter what, but I don't hesitate to drink from my Pod tank when I want. I do the bleach thing once or twice a year. I'm on a well at home, so no (germ fighting) chemicals in my water. I drink the water but I clean the tank from time to time. I don't know what that is in your drain plug. It doesn't look like algae to me. Maybe it's bleached dead algae. I wouldn't wipe it out with my finger and lick my finger, but I don't think it would stop me from drinking the water. Try filling a big jar with water from your kitchen tap at home and let it sit for a couple of days. I'll bet there will be a think film of something similar on the bottom of the jar. Safe to drink doesn't mean distilled pure water. TT |
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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Wood River Pod
Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2016 Location: Wood River, ID Online Status: Offline Posts: 153 |
Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 12:02am |
So this and other post have got me thinking. We sanitize our trailer annually with a diluted bleach mix, running through all of our faucets for some time, then draining the main tank, refill with city water, run though facets and drained again. Don't want to drink bleach water, but want the bleach to clean the tank and the lines and faucets after sitting all winter. We drink out of our water tank. We use it to boil water for coffee press/tea and mac and cheese, etc. We use it. This and the link others listed made me head out and pull my fresh water tank plug. Is this algae??? I thought it was some grit and sand or something that accumulated at the lowest point that got into the system. This is not the first time I've found this. The other time the pod had sat for some time in the summer as well. Is that the culprit? I'm completely bummed out by this. To date we have had no issues with drinking the water. Now I will admit that the pod has spent two weeks in the drive with less than 1/3 fresh tank filled. Yes we've had some hot weather. What do I do?
I'm all ears. Please post the Good, Bad and the Ugly on POD water storage. Here in the West "whiskeys for drinking and waters for fighting". We're going to use the tank. We bought the camper to use the water storage. Any insight would be most appreciated. Thank you everyone for your input and help on whats been written and what's to come. This forum rocks! Thanks Jeff |
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Posted: 11 Jun 2018 at 9:41am |
You might find this discussion interesting: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11607&KW=slimed&PID=109691&title=water#109691 |
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Rick Nic
Newbie Joined: 04 Jan 2017 Location: Oceanside, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 11 Jun 2018 at 8:42am |
Thanks David - that's what I would think. I can only imagine when that stuff gets going.
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2017.5 iPod 178
Oceanside, CA |
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Rick Nic
Newbie Joined: 04 Jan 2017 Location: Oceanside, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 11 Jun 2018 at 8:41am |
Thanks Mike, two good points. Because of the algae I may as well go ahead with bleach treatment. Like you say, either way it's no huge deal. I do use tap city treated water most of the time, Some people leave some in the tank during short inactivity to prevent growth, which seems weird.
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2017.5 iPod 178
Oceanside, CA |
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Guests
Guest Group |
Posted: 10 Jun 2018 at 4:32pm |
Working from memory, that stuff sounds like the same "ingredients" listed on a package of Twinkies that I ate a couple of hours ago....along with some other stuff & colorings. Just kidding. "The Book" says sanitize before each use. I don't know if what you have will work. However, I do know that having algae growth in the fresh tank can be a bugger to remedy. |
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