Sanatizing fresh water

Wow 1/4 cup to 15 gallons!

I have only been adding about 1/2 cup to a tankful (mostly to clean the hose). No ill effects so far. I am using water from the house to start and it's very clean.


See you can always learn something new in here.


Dave

And thus, the many people who use air to winterize the entire water system and then no need to worry about the need to sanitize.

Just use bleach as recommended by most RV manufacturers which is 1/4 cup to every 15 gallons, run through plumbing system and let sit an hour or two. Drain and rinse as needed to remove bleach smell and taste. Rubber seals will deteriorate over time anyway and using these low levels of bleach for short periods of time will rarely hasten their failure.

For whatever it is worth, I sanitize every spring, 1/4 cup bleach : 15 gallons of water.
No one I know of is drinking glasses of water out of the rv tank, but we brush our teeth with it, make ice with it... so pretty we much trust it.

Doug156 wrote:
I recently spoke with an RVer who was adamant that bleach was the worst thing in the world to sanitize the fresh water system. Said it destroyed rubber seals.

Bleach (sodium hypochloride) is corrosive to soft rubber, but I don't think there's much, if any, soft rubber in an RV plumbing system.

However, the water and holding tanks are usually ABS or polyethylene, neither of which are affected by bleach, and the plumbing itself is probably PEX and ABS, also not affected by bleach.

The only "seals" I can think of are the holding tank drain valves and the toilet seal. The drain valves are probably a plastic called Santoprene which is bleach resistant, and the toilet seal is probably Telfon-coated rubber -- also not bothered by bleach.

Doug156 wrote:

He said hydrogen peroxide was a better sanitizer, with no ill side effects. Anyone ever heard of this?

First, we're essentially talking about cleaning the tank, not water filtration. Water filtration can be done without any chemicals.

To disinfect a RV water system, the NFPA Standard on Recreational Vehicles recommends either a 50 ppm (1/4 cup bleach per 15 gal water) or 100 ppm (1/2 cup bleach per 15 gal water) solution of bleach.

Household bleach is about a 6% solution and hydrogen peroxide about 3%.

Hydrogen peroxide can disinfect as well as bleach, but you'll need a much stronger solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Ah, here we go again with the old need to sanitize vs no need to. Yes, potable water is clean enough to drink from the tap. If it sits stagnant in the tank, or if air is introduced, bacteria will start to grow. Hence the need to sanitize. But, to each their own. If you don't want to sanitize, that's great, just realize you are increasing your chances of getting sick from water that may have elevated levels of bacteria and other microorganisms. Before the don't sanitize crowd jumps all over this by saying they've never been sick from not sanitizing, I did not say it would guarantee getting sick. The process is cheap and only takes a few hours, mostly the solution just sitting in the system, so that's why I take this precaution.

Doug156 wrote:
I recently spoke with an RVer who was adamant that bleach was the worst thing in the world to sanitize the fresh water system. Said it destroyed rubber seals. He said hydrogen peroxide was a better sanitizer, with no ill side effects. Anyone ever heard of this?

Thanks

Tell your RV buddy he is full of it. MAYBE is you were constantly running "full bore...high strength" clorox thru your system it might damage a seal or more....but NOT at the dilution rates we RVers are SUPPOSE to be using PERIODICALLY.

YES..heard of using hydrogen peroxide vs bleach

Your choice...both work

Personally, I only 'sanitize' the system once......when I first get rid. After that, no need. Water source(s) are treated/tested so water is already 'sanitized'

My owners manual gives instructions on how to sanitize with bleach. I doubt they would do this unless....hey, wait a minute! I think I've uncovered an industry wide conspiracy by the toilet seal manufacturers to keep themselves in business!!!

Gator, I have always used 1/4 cup bleach for every 15 gallons. Am I off here??