Chlorine bleach in Water tank

[okmunky]

Some 3-4 years ago there was a thread that talked about using food grade hydrogen peroxide to sanitize the tank and the water in it. I bought a bottle and never used it. It's not cheap.

[RKins]

Originally Posted by okmunky

Some 3-4 years ago there was a thread that talked about using food grade hydrogen peroxide to sanitize the tank and the water in it. I bought a bottle and never used it. It's not cheap.

I read a post by a Chemist in one of the IRV2 threads that said Hydrogen Peroxide does not sanitize. So that was enough for me.

[RobbieH]

Originally Posted by srenovo

So what if one has softened well water that is Chlorine free? Like many, my wife and I drink bottled water on the road. Since we have well water at home which has no Chlorine we add 1 oz. of unscented bleach per 50 gals. I do the addition with a 50 ml syringe with a blunt tip needle. I got the syringe and needle at the "ag" store. If I remember my chemistry 1.0 oz. is almost 30 ml or 30 CC. So for 100 gals 50 to 60 ml should be just fine. Keep in mind there are different concentrations of bleach available - my recommendation is for standard bleach. There are lots of survival guides that have charts of standard and higher concentration bleaches. Unscented and non-sudsing are the only way to go.

You bring up a great point here. We go through this same thing on the swimming pool forum. Only use plain, unscented bleach. Do not use anything labeled "splashless", "cleaning bleach", "outdoor bleach", etc. These have additional contents that you would not want in your water tank.

Also do your math. Bleach used to be 6%. About a year ago they increased the concentration to 8.25%, which is 33% stronger. So if you are using an old formula, you'll need to adjust for that.

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by Ed_G

The standard formula to sanitize your fresh water tank is to add 1/4 cup bleach per every 15 gallons of water. Your 100 gallon tank would take almost 1 - 3/4 cup bleach. It is recommended that you dilute that bleach with a gallon or more water before adding it to your system. Let sit 24 hours....works even better if you drive a bit to slosh around in the tank. Don't forget to run your faucets and shower to get the sanitizing solution up into your plumbing too. Drain and repeat with fresh water....then drain that fresh water and refill.

Boy am I going to get flack about this;
Best way to destroy your water pump is to put bleach or chlorine in your tank; it will dry out the seals and make the water pump useless; don't ask me how I know. no amount of flushing will get the stink out of your water system, again ask me how I know. I have been half timing 6 months a year for nearly 40 years; so I'm not a newbe.
best way to make sure your water tank is clean is to flush; flush' flush ;flush.
So now let the flack begin.
so now let the flack begin;

[RKins]

Mel, I don't have much choice - I have no clue what the condition of my tanks are, except that they are empty. I need to disinfect the fresh water system. So I guess I should plan on carrying a spare pump. I haven't looked at the pump size yet, what pump does an RV use? (2.4,3.5,5.2gal/min) I think I have 3.5 and 5 gal/min on my boat for deck wash and fresh water.

[8TiresRollin]

Some of the rv chemical manufacturers sell a 2 part sanitizing kit. First part neutralizes and second is the sanitizer. Don't know what the primary chemical in part 2 is though. My point here is these kits should be ok with seals, valves pipes etc.

[RobbieH]

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Boy am I going to get flack about this;
Best way to destroy your water pump is to put bleach or chlorine in your tank; it will dry out the seals and make the water pump useless; don't ask me how I know.

You aren't supposed to put much in. If you run straight bleach, maybe that will happen, but at proper sanitizing strength it won't hurt a thing.

[srenovo]

I squirt it in the city water fill by my entrance door and then wash it in with the city water house. Finally I fill the tank by connecting the hose to the tank water fill inlet in the utility bay on the drivers side. But of course we always use a pressure regulator on that side. I "assume" (realizing the implications of that word) that all motor homes have one of those non- screw in outlet/inlets somewhere. On the three Fleetwood motorhomes we have owned it has always been on the curb side behind a small locked door and the owners manual always says to open the cap behind the door when filling the tank. Each of the owners manuals for our various MHs said one could fill the tank thru this opening BUT "ya gotta" hold the hose. I once overfilled the tank using the screw on fitting in the utility bay but I had the curb-side fill cap off as directed in the owners manual so water just poured out and no damage was done. That said no reason why you couldn't put the bleach in the hose and screw it on and fill from the utility compartment.


As for hydrogen peroxide to sanitize ones water - it would be too expensive as one would need to use H2O2 in at least a 50% ratio maybe more. That is a lot of quart bottles of 3% peroxide. You and I can not buy concentrated H2O2 easily - it is highly reactive, requires special shipping and special handling. It will blister skin in one heck of a hurry.


As for H2O2 for "neutralizing the taste of bleach I never tried it. The purpose of bleach is to keep the pathogenic microorganism population down to zero in the tank. What one does to the water after it comes out of the tank is up to the user.


I do remember that our first Southwind came with a chlorine test kit and a separate drinking water faucet with a chlorine removal filter. The owners manual recommended "super chlorination" of all fresh water (5-7 ppm of chlorine) and then filtration with the separate filter for drinking and cooking. I was younger then and much more of a chemist so it was "sorta fun." Now we just do as I have described and use bottled water for drinking. Boiling tank water drives off the chlorine so the angel hair pasta always seems to taste ok.

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by RKins

Mel, I don't have much choice - I have no clue what the condition of my tanks are, except that they are empty. I need to disinfect the fresh water system. So I guess I should plan on carrying a spare pump. I haven't looked at the pump size yet, what pump does an RV use? (2.4,3.5,5.2gal/min) I think I have 3.5 and 5 gal/min on my boat for deck wash and fresh water.

always a good idea to carry a spare water pump; I've had to replace mine twice and trying to find on is a real pain if you are miles from an RV store.
HAPPY TRAVELING

As to adding baking soda; never did that, but it's probably worth a try.

[F4Gary]

Originally Posted by RKins

I have no clue the last time my tank was filled (105gal) so you bet I'm going to sanitize it. So there has to be a better way of getting the solution in - I dug out my Owners Guide and it says: #2 I need 4.5 gals of solution and #4 tells how to get it in. (just found this - hope it's big enough to read)



I guess if you can't do it the way my guide shows, how about something like this?
Dramm Fertilizer Mixer - Fertilizer/Watering Supplies

That math doesn't add up. 105 divided by 15 = 7, not 4.5.

[RKins]

That's what I calculated also. I then thought maybe this section was a cookie cutter section in all their manuals, all figured on roughly 75 gals.
I got what I needed out of it (1/4cup to 15gal) and to use the bypass to fill the tank with the solution and also that for $50 or so I should carry a spare pump.

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by RKins

Mel, I don't have much choice - I have no clue what the condition of my tanks are, except that they are empty. I need to disinfect the fresh water system. So I guess I should plan on carrying a spare pump. I haven't looked at the pump size yet, what pump does an RV use? (2.4,3.5,5.2gal/min) I think I have 3.5 and 5 gal/min on my boat for deck wash and fresh water.

Rick, after 5+ years of fulltime use my Shurflo water pump started leaking where the seal sits. Long story short -- I replaced it with a SeaFlo pump. It is MUCH quieter, looks more substantial and was $20 cheaper than the same size Shur-not-gonna-Flo.

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by ByeTheWay

I have inline canister filters. I remove the filters and pour the chlorine into a canister. Reattach the canister and fill.

My RV has a canister filter just before the water pump. I would NOT use the above method UNLESS the bleach gets into the water tank before going thru the water pump. The seals can't take concentrated bleach.

Also, if your city water fill doesn't add water to your water tank, please don't squirt bleach into it. On my RV if I used that method I'd have concentrated bleach coming out one of the faucets.

My point here is to know the way the water system in your RV works. If you aren't sure try squirting some food coloring in first, then go inside and turn on a faucet. If you can see color coming out then the water bypasses the onboard water tank and goes directly into your water pipes. Food coloring is harmless.

I'm posting this because I remember being a newbie. I wouldn't want anyone harmed or anything damaged by someone new to RVing.

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by RKins

Mel, I don't have much choice - I have no clue what the condition of my tanks are, except that they are empty. I need to disinfect the fresh water system. So I guess I should plan on carrying a spare pump. I haven't looked at the pump size yet, what pump does an RV use? (2.4,3.5,5.2gal/min) I think I have 3.5 and 5 gal/min on my boat for deck wash and fresh water.

Bleach won't destroy a water pump. The diaphragm used in RV water pumps is probably made of an elastomer like Santoprene which is resistant to bleach and host of other chemicals. Don't worry about using bleach to disinfect your water tank. The Standards on Recreational Vehicles (NFPA 1192) has been recommending using bleach for years -- the 1/4 cup of bleach per 15 gal of water comes from this standard.

Nevertheless, it is a good idea to carry a spare water pump. I use my original, 15-year-old ShurFlo 2088 as a spare. BTW, it's seen a lot of bleach pass through it.