Tip prior to connecting city water

[redcolorado]

Been doing that since day 1. Thanks for the reminder.

[Wundertaker]

Originally Posted by rarebear.nm

I carry a spray bottle of a strong bleach solution in the wet bay I can spray on anything. Great for the city water stuff, but also use it if I experience an unexpected leakage of waste water. Besides nitrile gloves I carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in the wet bay for my hands.

TIMES 2 on the Bleach Solution in spray bottle...HOWEVER...make sure to use 1 part Bleach to 10 parts Water! Using more bleach makes your solution Weaker and Less Effective!

[V3600]

I've never had a problem with bad water.

[NealC]

You may be disinfecting the tip of the spigot and makes you feel better but I have a feeling the germs/hazard go far deeper than your make me feel good spray

[LETMGROW]

I have always run water through my hose before connecting it to my camper. Not so much to flush the campground's water system but to remove air trapped in the hose. This keeps that annoying splash from air being purged from the line at a minimum when you turn a faucet on for the first time.
I store my hose(s) rolled up and dry with the ends screwed together to keep anything from getting into the hose.
We don't drink water other than what we bring with us. Either from home or bottled. When I see the first dog tall enough to pee on a pedestal faucet I will start spraying the faucet. Until then I will rely on the campground to have it's health department tests up to date.
Lynn

[VSPA]

Originally Posted by NealC

...Run the water at the spigot prior to connecting your water hose. It is amazing the crap that comes out of the water spigot whether it's rust, dirt, who knows.

Thanks Neal for the post. Old dogs do learn new tricks. First off, it reminds me I need to change out my inline filter on the a pigtail for the water line that has a shut off valve and a filter and quick disconnect so I can set up quickly. I've been RVing for years and never really thought about purging the spigot I'll be adding that to my mental check list for set up for the future.

[Tetonchief]

Absolutely correct on bleach solution (90% water/10% bleach) only good for 24 hours. Go to Health Dept sites and look up cleaning procedures for the Noro virus or other diseases.
I turned on a faucet at a campground this May that hadn't been used in some time. A plug of green slime about 3 inches long was pushed out by the water. Could just imagine that going into the house filter.

[rarebear.nm]

Clorox as shipped is still about 94% water and 6% sodium hypochlorite. The product in its original packaging is normally good for 9 to 12 months in typical households. When stored above 50 - 70F it breaks down into salts at a faster rate. Light degrades the effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite. When exposed to open air as in a bucket or pan it will degrade very quickly as the chlorine evaporates into the air <24hrs as cited above. This is where the health recommendations come into play. Simply diluting the product and storing it in a similar container as it was sold in will not degrade the product any more than would happen with a higher concentration at the same temperature and age. The issue is not so much diluting the concentration, but how it is stored or used that determines how long it remains effective. If you have it in an open pan and have been wiping surfaces or rising objects it will tend to become contaminanted and degrade even faster, more so if the water is hot. If the water you use to mix the solution is heavy in minerals then things can be very different. Use distilled water if you want to store the mixture.

In a more chemical tech detail. 200 gpl available chlorine sodium hypochlorite will decompose 4 times faster than 100 gpl product when stored at the same temperature. With the normal amount of salt produced during the reaction, (Cl2 + 2NaOH = NaOCl + NaCl + H2O), the decomposition rate is a factor of 5 greater for the 200 gpl product versus the 100 gpl product at the same temperature.

gpl = grams per liter

A more concentrated solution will have a higher rate of decomposition than a solution at a lower concentration.

The following is lifted from another web site regarding the expiration date code on bleach, much like tire date codes.

"On the Clorox® Regular-Bleach1 bottle shoulder there is a 2 line ink-jet code. The top line has a letter followed by a 7 digit code. The letter and first number are producing plant identification; the next 4 digits are a Julian production code and the final 2 digits are a shift identification. The second line is the EPA registration number (5813) followed by a state identification code. Thus, a code A8809507 would be Clorox® Regular-Bleach1 made in plant A8 on 8095 (8 for 2008 and 095 for the 95th day or April 4th).
Read more at https://www.clorox.com/dr-laundry/bleach-expiration-dates/#Otzl1hz5kkk89dHf.99"

[Arch Hoagland]

I always run it for a few seconds. Tells me the water is working too.

One tip to add to this....stand BEHIND the faucet outlet. Some of them really blast or spray sideways...ask me how I know.

[BeHappy]

During a stay this fall, we saw a local 'rotor rooter ' type mobile unit arrive in the area of our row of campsites. First stopping 1-2 sites away (in the assumed sewer line flow direction going away, as we were 2 sites from end of row). 2 person crew on mobile roto never went to RV owner door on that site, but did remove, look, and reattach the 3" waste hose (the site occupant evidently kept sewer connected over length of their stay).

Next, mobile crew is approached by Cg owner/mgr, after which mobile crew moved to our sewer receptacle pvc at our site (*nothing connected from our rv as we only connect when we dump waste tanks). DH stepped outside to ask the purpose of the mobile crew?

Longer story shortened, mobile crew said cg has a "blockage" down (maybe 3-4 sites down-line) from our site, the crew will put a roto-mechanical snake to clear the lines. Okay. BUT..after removing the 'snake' , crew disconnected our water line, connected their short hose to the spigot, and flushed water into the sewer receptacle pvc pipe. DH was present and told mobile crew, "You will use chlorox to disinfect our spigot and our hose when you finish?"

Mobile crew 'didn't have any chlorox on truck, but did call Cg owner/mgr who brought chlorox, DH used clean hands to apply chlorox on everything and reattach our water hose with DH's CLEAN hands.

Before leaving, mobile crew told us they come to this cg frequently as the sewer line pattern in-ground was a known blockage prone (too many right-angled taps to line?) layout.

Sharing story as it was a "who would know?" ...if we had not been at our RV ...filthy hands DID remove our water hose, and filthy hands would have reattached our water connections, as no one ever came to the RV door to ask /announce the issue or the intended resolution.

Safe Travels To All

[Bob_C]

And to think I've lived 75 years....and drank from a garden hose....a green one at that.....hum...

[Campasaurus]

Have seen brass screen @ inlet for ciity water hook up. Never thought of larger or unseeable things in water. Thanks for heads up.

[Mike and Cha]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

And to think I've lived 75 years....and drank from a garden hose....a green one at that.....hum...

X2.....I don't how we all survived, that was pretty common back then whether you were working in the yard or playing you just grabbed the garden hose and took a drink. We used to stand and watch the planes when they dropped fertilizer and pesticides on the strawberry fields. So far all of us survived, had successful careers and are all still living....go figure. I think the internet scares people half to death when they read up on stuff like this. If you believe all that you read on-line you won't go outside unless you wear a plastic suit.

I do keep the water hose rolled up and ends connected when not in use, and hook up the hose and run a little water thru before hooking up to the MH. I don't clean off the spigot unless I see something obvious. Even if a spider was holed up in it, it would come out when I flush the hose, or get caught in the whole house filter.

[OverDo]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

And to think I've lived 75 years....and drank from a garden hose....a green one at that.....hum...

DW and I were just talking about that today. When I was a kid if you wanted a drink of water you stopped at any gas station and they all had a water hose out in front that they filled radiators, washed cars and washed the driveway off with. You got a drink out of the hose and filled up an old pop bottle if you wanted to take some water with you. There also used to be pitcher pumps at all of the roadside turnouts in this area where you could hand pump water for drinking. Most of them are capped off now for unknown reasons. Nobody would believe you if you told them you paid for drinking water. I guess the population density must be the reason we all seem to think we need to drink "pure" filtered water now.