Bleach Vs Peroxide

[codgerbill]

I am about to take the coach out and get it ready for our first "campout". A friend of mine suggested that I use peroxide to sanitize the fresh water tank rather than bleach. The reason being is that you don't have the "bleach" odor when all is said and done. I am wondering if anyone has done this before or if you might share your thoughts on the idea?

[TonyDi]

The accepted way of sanitizing a holding tank is with bleach. I'm not sure how effective the peroxide will be once you get it diluted, and remember you have to get the tank plus the water lines filled. This can be a large volume of water. I would suppose you could add enough peroxide but I'm sure it would be expensive. A further advantage of using bleach is that once you have successfully flushed out the tank the lack of bleach odor will tell you that the job has been done correctly. Good luck with the first outing.

[EDALLSAILS]

Bleach purchased in retail stores claim to be 5% chlorine. By the time it gets to your favorite store it may be 4 or 4%. Peroxide in drug stores is 3%. Peroxide will work but it will take a lot more. We use peroxide to wipe stuff down and it will kill ugly bacteria and it doesn't leave any lingering odor. Many medical facilities use peroxide as a disinfectant. in our 100 gal fresh water tank I use 2 cups of bleach when we prep for a trip. At 1st stop for fuel or rest I open the valve and drain the tank. Then refill the tank and drain again. now tank is fresh and doesn't stink like it has too much chlorine. The bleach can cause seals and o rings to swell and or break. safe travels ed

[Ray,IN]

If you use the 3% standard off-the-shelf solution, you'll need to mix 1/8 cup into 1 gallon of water to sanitize drinking water. It could get expensive. There is an alternate to household bleach, as discussed in this thread. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/fres...ide-90329.html Sodium Dichlor has the same chlorine sanitizing but without the after-taste of household bleach.

[WiliWali]

Something you may want to try is to do your disinfection the standard way with bleach, then, as usual flush liberally with water. After than, give it one more flush with about a quart of drug store hydrogen peroxide in 3 or 4 gallons of water. The hydrogen peroxide is pretty good at removing the residual chlorine taste, and you don't have the expense of buying enough peroxide to do the whole job ......

[Tomtall]

Use bleach and let sit in system for 24hrs..Flush with water. Follow up with white vinegar, flush with water. No odor. Done.

[brucemcdou]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

. There is an alternate to household bleach, as discussed in this thread. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/fres...ide-90329.html Sodium Dichlor has the same chlorine sanitizing but without the after-taste of household bleach.

This. We use sodium dichlor regularly. Designed for swimming pools and spas - there is a "chlorine" odor if you use too much but it fades quickly just as it does in a pool, and we use a filter for drinking water anyway. We also only fill from "municipal" water supplies which should already be sanitary, whether from bleach, peroxide, or UV.

[phranc]

Bleach works well and is the commonly accepted disinfectant. Used in hospitals , food processing plants and bathrooms around the world . It is readily available and is inexpensive .The dilution tables for disinfecting are readily available too. Cost about $ 2.50 a gal . Peroxide may, or may not, work as well, but at a cost disadvantage.
( about $ 2.98 Qt ).. If you try it let us know how you make out .

[Bfmorgan]

We used to own a restaurant. We used quaternary ammonia as the disinfectant. In a restaurant items are washed, rinsed, then disinfected. Thetford makes a Aqua Sure Fresh Water Holding Tank Sanitizer. It consists of a detergent, then a sanitizer that is very similar to the disinfectant we used in the restaurant. It takes several rinses to get the detergent out of the lines (a lot of foam). It takes a short period of time to disinfect. This product requires less time in the water lines than bleach for an effective disinfection. I always seem to get bleach on my clothing, this disinfectant does not have a bleaching effect on clothes. I think that I have purchased this product for $10-$12 on sale.

[phranc]

BFmorgan.. Thanks for the update .. Is the quanternary ammonia the same as
dimethyl benyl ammomium cloride ? I find that chemical in several of our household cleaners .. Very true , a slight spillage on clothing sure does create spots .

[PushedAround]

Are you filling your water tank completely or just enough to treat the residual amount that can't be drained and enough to flush the lines?

[phranc]

I put about 20 gal of fresh ( municipal) water in tank with the proper amount of bleach. Put water heater bypass valve to normal.pump water through coach piping till you smell bleach at each faucet. Drive to first campground, drain treated water and refill with fresh. Flush pipes . Done for the season.

[Mike Thomas]

Hydrogen peroxide is not a disinfectant. It is an oxidizer, or it burns up waste. Remember all those "Oxy Clean" commercials, and how the stains disappear? It oxidizes, or "burns up the waste". It might "burn up the germs, but nothing about it is ever considered a sanitizer, or something that kills germs. You pour hydrogen peroxide in a cut, to create an oxygen rich environment to kill some germs that can't survive an oxygen rich environment. Hydrogen peroxide is a water molecule with an extra oxygen atom attached to it. When you pour it out of the bottle, you will see it bubble up, kind of like the carbon dioxide bubbles in a soft drink when you pour it in a glass. Like a soft drink that goes "flat", no carbonation, fizz, hydrogen peroxide goes flat, and become just water.

Pure chlorine is odorless, you can't smell it. Once chlorine combines with something, germs, dirt or other debris, it becomes a "chloromine", a fancy word that means chlorine combined with something, and it stinks, or smells like the chlorine smell we are all familiar with. If you go to your friends pool or hot tub, or even worse, that pool at the motel, and you can smell chlorine, they have not used enough chlorine. You are smelling combined chlorine, the kind that has already combined with something and no longer able to kill germs. This kind of chlorine is the one that will cause your eyes to burn, and skin to itch.

Chlorine does two things. It is a sanitizer and an oxidizer. It can kill germs, and burn up waste, ( bleach things clean). If you smell chlorine in a pool or hot tub, you "shock it" or add additional chlorine to get the chlorine level high enough to oxidize all the combined chlorine, (the one that smells like chlorine), back to pure chlorine that can kill germs.

Bottom line, don't use hydrogen peroxide thinking you are killing germs, you are not. You might be oxidizing them, but it is converted to water so quickly that there is no residual component to kill anything. Do use chlorine, like bleach, or pool chlorine, (dissolve it completely in a bucket first), so that it will kill germs, bacteria, viruses, and remain in the water for several days to kill anything that comes along in the mean time.

If you still smell chlorine when you are done, guess what, you didn't use enough, do it again.

The good news! If your tank is fairly clean, and you use it on a regular basis, and you use a municipal water source that uses chlorine already in it, your probably don't need to sanitize your tank with anything. Maybe just fill it up and drain it once or twice, and you should be good to go.

[Arch Hoagland]

Have had our coach about 10 years now and have never found a need to sanitize it.

Is there some particular reason you think it has to be sanitized?