A Crappy Situation

[Runaway4002]

We are staying at Sam's Town KOA in Las Vegas. They park the RV's facing different directions next to each other. As such, you share a common hookup pedestal with the RV next to you. We have been here nearly a week and a new RV pulled in this afternoon. About 15 minutes after their arrival I got a knock on my door. Our new neighbor introduced himself and then apologized for the sewer mishap he created while he was hooking up. Sadly we are very slightly downhill from his RV and well, it does flow down hill and splashed rather violently. It is hard to tell how much spilled but I am guessing several gallons of black tank yuck. All our hookups were splashed or soaked in it. This includes or electrical, cable TV, brown sewer slinky and our fresh water hose hooked up to the city water. Fortunately the hose hookup is about 18 inches off the ground so not directly impacted. The park maintenance staff came by and spread a powdered disinfectant, worked the soil, cleaned up as best they could, etc. My question is when we unhook in the morning, what do we need to do to properly clean and disinfect all our hookup stuff. What, if any, recourse do I have against the RV Park or RV owner. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance for you input.

[SDSam]

You mean the neighbor at fault didnt clean your utilities and rv side? Guessing all should be wiped with bleach/409 or washed where possible? Maybe paid you for a rv wash?

[F4Gary]

I'd lay it all out on clean ground and hose it off.

[okmunky]

Have you a hazmat suit? At the very least wear your oldest or most hated clothes and shoes and 2 pairs of rubber gloves. Then strip down and put on clean clothes as soon as you get inside sealing the crappy clothes and shoes in a bag until you either toss them or can wash them in hot water. I'd wear a mask also. Who knows what's in that powdered disinfectant. If it kills germs it can't be good for you.

[Isaac-1]

It sounds to me like time for a bit of bleach water and some sunlight . People these days take sewage way too seriously, as recently as 40 years ago many cities along the Mississippi river dumped raw sewage into the river and the next city down the river would then get its drinking water from the river. Simply put nature can take care of processing sewage all on its own given enough dilution, is it ideal no, but it is not really the end of the world either.

[82ndCowboy]

First off don't touch anything. Hose it down with bleach. And don't use it sparingly. Then hose everything down and when you think your done, hose it down some more.
Least the guy manned up and admitted his mishap. So kudos to him. A lot of people now a days would deny they did it and say it was like that when they got there.
AS they say... [Mod Edit] happens. Pun intended.

[tizzyfit]

Talk about the "gift that keeps giving". You'll be recalling this incident every time you pull your power cord, water hose and turd herder out of the storage bay. There are some smells that just don't go away.

[Kiawah]

Just spray the outside of your hoses with some bleach and hose them off with water. They'll be safer than your own sewer hose which you do nothing but flush the inside with gray water before placing in your wet bay.

I built a separate storage area for my drain hose, but it still only gets a hose flush out with water after every use.

[Russtj60]

With respect to bleach, 1 tablespoon per gallon is the recommended dilution. As you probably know, but just in case, be careful when using with other cleaners especially stay away from ammonia based cleaners. FYI-

http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/26437.pdf

[CWJK55]

When my mother in-law had a sewer backup in her basement I was told by a friend who works for the sewer department that we should use a 10% bleach solution to clean everything.
I'd use 1/2 gallon of bleach in a 5 gallon bucket with a scrub brush to clean everything and then hose it down.

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

It sounds to me like time for a bit of bleach water and some sunlight . People these days take sewage way too seriously, as recently as 40 years ago many cities along the Mississippi river dumped raw sewage into the river and the next city down the river would then get its drinking water from the river. Simply put nature can take care of processing sewage all on its own given enough dilution, is it ideal no, but it is not really the end of the world either.

In my past life, as many a manhole that I have been in, or large sewer pipes I have had to walk through watching the sinkers and floaters whiz past and white paper hanging onto my boots, you would think I would be dead by now the way some people talk about sewage. Shoot, I worked on one project where we found a recycled sewer water pipe (cool looking purple color) that was supposed to be used for irrigation only was inadvertently tapped and used for a house drinking water supply for over a year! Try hot tapping into a sewer forced main. Most of the time it goes well, but occasionally......That's when you start to yell "#2 #2 #2, everyone out of the trench fast!"

[FireEater]

Originally Posted by Runaway4002

My question is when we unhook in the morning, what do we need to do to properly clean and disinfect all our hookup stuff. What, if any, recourse do I have against the RV Park or RV owner. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance for you input.

As mentioned, a lot of bleach and water, then do it again.

As for recourse against the park or owner....accidents happen. Park reps did a course of action. It will not cost you anything more then a gallon of bleach and some old dirty clothes and rubber gloves, plus time to rectify the experience...plus as said, you will have a story to tell at your next park...

[Runaway4002]

Thanks to all who posted. As always there is a lot of good stuff from my fellow RV'ers. You pretty much reaffirmed what I figured was my course of action.

[wa8yxm]

There is an RV cleaning service that uses a truck mounted pressure sprayer. I think your neighbor should invite them to hose off your hoses.. But baring that A hand sprayer (The kind they sell for a dollar in the dollar store, like used for household cleaning
About 1 OZ of Chlorine bleach, then fill with water, and spray down the hoses, Then hose 'em off with fresh water.