Sanitising Water system - R-pod Owners Forum

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GlueGuy

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Topic: Sanitising Water system
Posted: 12 May 2019 at 3:13pm

On a dollar-per-ounce basis, you might just pour in some rubbing alcohol. I used to get 98% pure rubbing alcohol at the local Walgreens. Don't know what it cost, but a couple bottles of that would do a bang-up job of sanitizing. And it's organic.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
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offgrid

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Posted: 12 May 2019 at 3:36pm

OK, here's a CDC document with probably everything you ever wanted to know, and then some, about disinfecting using various treatments. Alcohol is apparently not recommended at the kind of concentrations we're talking about.

https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/disinfection-methods/chemical.html

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
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StephenH

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Posted: 12 May 2019 at 9:39pm

Camco Drinking Water Freshener -- Keeps Stored Water Fresh Tasting & Odor Free

Contains: Sodium Hypochlorite solution CAS # 7681-52-9

Directions:

1.Fill tank to 1/4 total volume.

2. Pour 1 oz. Drinking Water Freshener into tank for each 20 gallons of tank capacity.

3. Complete filling of your tank.

What is not specified is the Sodium Hypochlorite concentration. However, for a 30 gallon tank, 1.5 oz. of this is used. The bottle is 16 ounces so that means there is a little over 10 tank fillings that can be done with this bottle. The French instructions give the metric measurements as 30 mL for each 75.7 L water.

I would not trust isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It isn't as toxic as methyl alcohol, but it is still toxic. I would not trust it in my water system, even if I were flushing it out.

https://difference.guru/difference-between-ethyl-alcohol-and-isopropyl-alcohol/

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

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lostagain

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Posted: 12 May 2019 at 9:41pm

How about pulling your Pod into an ionizing radiation chamber. That should take care of not only any bugs in the water system, but any bugs in the whole trailer. Wink

If it's good enough for a truck load of potatoes it's good enough for a Pod???

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
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offgrid

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Posted: 13 May 2019 at 6:30am

Originally posted by StephenH

Camco Drinking Water Freshener -- Keeps Stored Water Fresh Tasting & Odor Free

Contains: Sodium Hypochlorite solution CAS # 7681-52-9

Directions:

1.Fill tank to 1/4 total volume.

2. Pour 1 oz. Drinking Water Freshener into tank for each 20 gallons of tank capacity.

3. Complete filling of your tank.

I would not trust isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It isn't as toxic as methyl alcohol, but it is still toxic. I would not trust it in my water system, even if I were flushing it out.

https://difference.guru/difference-between-ethyl-alcohol-and-isopropyl-alcohol/

Looks like there are two different Camco water freshener products. I think mjlrpod is using the Spring Fresh material which is alcohol based. This product looks to be bleach.

One problem with disinfecting tanks where water sits for awhile is getting rid of the biofilms. Given time, bacteria grow colonies which cover themselves with a protective layer of fatty material. Once they do that they're very hard get rid of. That's usually the cause of the slimy film you feel on containers if you leave water in them for awhile.

I'm guessing that's what the surfactant is for in the Spring Fresh stuff, the alcohol probably isn't going to work well on the biofilms. Bleach does well in high enough concentrations, if you leave it long enough.

I had a wood hot tub I tried a bunch of ways to disinfect. You can't use bleach/chlorine in strong enough concentrations long enough because it damages the wood. More gentle oxidizers like hydrogen peroxide don't cut through the biofilms. The best I could ever do was to drain every couple of weeks, scrub the biofilms off with a little detergent, rinse and drain again, then refill, and use hydrogen peroxide as a maintenance oxidizer in between. The scrubbing never got rid of everything and in a couple of weeks the films were always back, but that was with 103 degree water which bacteria think is heaven. I finally got rid of it, too much work and water waste.

Just as a reminder, there is a simple solution to all this worrying about sanitizing. If you don't drink the tank water, its all good....

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

lostagain

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Posted: 13 May 2019 at 9:17am

offgrid, you should have poured a bottle of Dawn in your hot tub. Not only is it a really good surfactant, it would make an incredible bubble bath, making your hot tub the envy of the neighborhood.

Food for thought: If you leave water in the fresh water tank for any significant period of time, it will sit at the perfect bacteria growing temperature. It is impossible to truly sterilize a fresh water tank no matter what chemical concoction you put in it. You may be 100% successful of ridding all the bacteria at the point of cleaning it, but the moment you open the filler port and start filling it with your drinking water only hose, you've introduced new bacteria in it. With a near perfect growing medium, they'll be back in no time and will have established a nice thick biofilm. If you have a strong immune system and you don't introduce potentially lethal bacteria into the tank, you'll probably not get sick drinking the water but keep in mind that water borne infections are the biggest single killer of mankind in the world.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Happy Tripping View Drop Down

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Posted: 13 May 2019 at 10:18am

Originally posted by lostagainIf you have a strong immune system and you don't introduce potentially lethal bacteria into the tank, you'll probably not get sick drinking the water but keep in mind that water borne infections are the biggest single killer of mankind in the world. [/QUOTE

This is true as far as it goes but we must keep things in perspective.

Germs are all around us, and in us. 99.999% of the time or more we get along quite well, there are only a few that cause problems and its extremely

This is true as far as it goes but we must keep things in perspective.

Germs are all around us, and in us. 99.999% of the time or more we get along quite well, there are only a few that cause problems and its extremely unlikely that we would introduce those bad guys into our white tanks, assuming the water is 'potable' - and that is obviously the only water we should be introducing.

It takes quite unusual circumstances - Water just sitting in the tank for a prolonged time and consistent high temperatures (as in the summer in the desert southwest), for any bacterial sludge to form. If we avoid either one of these two extremes, we'll be ok.

The 'plastic taste' of the tank is a totally different situation, unpleasant to some but not at all hazardous.

StephenH

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Posted: 13 May 2019 at 10:47am

I use a Camco TastePURE Filter when filling my tank as well as when I am connected to city water. That makes sure something isn't coming through the hose into my tank. As mentioned above, I only put water I know to be potable in the tank and I only use a dedicated drinking-water safe hose to do so.

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
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lostagain

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Posted: 13 May 2019 at 10:01pm

The tank water drinking issue isn't going to get resolved. Those that drink tank water won't stop until they get sick from it, and maybe not even then. Those who don't like tank water aren't going to be convinced that the sanitation efforts taken by the tank water drinkers is adequate and are unlikely to change either. Thus, we are truly at an impasse.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Happy Tripping View Drop Down

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Posted: 14 May 2019 at 7:37am

Originally posted by lostagain

The tank water drinking issue isn't going to get resolved. ... Thus, we are truly at an impasse.

I come from the mid-west where hard, strong tasting water is the norm, even before chlorine and such are added. I also have years of tent camping where ANY potable water, no matter how 'awful' tasting was sometimes a blessed event. 'Sulphur Springs' in the past, with their truly awful tasting water, were felt to be medicinal for many years and drunk without any harm. It would be very unfortunate if 'newbies' came to believe that 'plasticy' tasting tank water is harmful. It isn't.

You have an expertise in the law. if we have a legal issue, we should listen carefully and respectfully to your views. Biology is not the law. If you can provide us with a reference from the scientific literature supporting your views on microbiology, please do so. I know of NO controversy about the potability of rv tank water if it turns over at a reasonable rate, in my experience in temperate areas even once a year. I have no experience in Sahara conditions, but it seems to me unlikely that, even in these very hot conditions, a minimum of even once a year would not suffice. If others have had bad experiences with their water in hot climates from bacteria or fungi growing in it, it would be very helpful to hear what they have to say.