Do you bleach / santize your hot water tank?

No danger? LOL! Yes, bacteria are everywhere, and many are not harmful, but many others are harmful, and some can kill you. Not sanitizing your RV water system is just asking for trouble.

Bacteria...hysteria. Bacteria is all around us all of the time. Our bodies need a whole host of it to keep healthy and balanced. Bacteria lives in all of our systems.

Some are wielding the word bacteria as if it were EBOLA. This is what is irresponsible. Scare tactics where no danger exists.

"There is a chance..." then name you malady. Yes but the chances are so so incredibly remote that it boggles the mind.

Pray tell where are the doctors offices and hospitals filled with patients sickened by their RV Hot water heaters? Where is the research being done into this new threat?

Lets give those making this claim the benefit of the doubt. Find and post any peer reviewed MEDICAL article on the dangers of ANY disease found in RV hot water systems.

Yes Bacteria is there. It is everywhere. Most of it is not dangerous to us.

Is this the best thing we can worry about? Good Grief.

One thing you should keep in mind is that a home system is sealed with no vent. An RV has a vent that in many cases lets in surface water and whatever else.

fulltimedaniel wrote:
What kind of insane madness has struck this planet? What is this need to Sanitize everything?

Sanitizing your water heater is redundant on several levels.

Not true.

1. The water is replaced very quickly...usually one shower or two dish washing cycles.

If there is bacteria growing in the tank and the water system simply flushing it will not remove all the bacteria.


2 The water is HOT

The water temp (120 degrees) in a standard water heater is not hot enough to kill the bacteria, you need at least 130-140 degrees.


3 The water in most cases is taken out of city water systems which are heavily chlorinated enough to kill almost anything. (you can easily smell it and taste it)

? When do you ever "Sanitize" your home water heater??

This is totally different, in an RV people are getting water from a lot of different sources that are unknown as far as sanitation is concerned. How often do you turn off your home water heater and let it cool to ambient temperature? How often does the water get stagnant allowing bacteria growth? These bacteria grow best at warm temps below 120 degrees in stagnant water, this is one reason most plumbing codes specify you can't cap a water line and leave more than 6" of pipe not being used.

The more we continue to over-sanitize everything the less resistance our bodies system will have to fight off the normal everyday bugs that man has survived for millions of years.

This must be some kind of new disease....RV Foolishness Syndrome... (RVFS) Now we just need to figure out how to sanitize for that...

If you want to follow your own advice that is your right, I guess we could call that lack of knowledge syndrome(LOKS) or survival of the smartest(SOTS). But don't give advice to others that could possibly be harmful.

I am not just pulling this out of thin air there is a lot of info on this, I have 30+ years in the HVAC and plumbing trades and have been to quite a few seminars and training courses on bacterial and water contamination issues.

The chances are not high that someone will have these bacteria growing in their water systems, but why take the chance? We had two people in the next town over go to Las Vegas for their 60th anniversary they got Legionella from the water system at the hotel they stayed at, the wife was dead a week after coming home. They had stayed in a group of rooms that had not been rented for a while and Legionella had grown in the plumbing, they showered in the water and that was all it took.

So be informed and make your own choice.

https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/causes-transmission.html

Some of our systems can sit for a month at a time. If you want to drink water from a system that has sat for a month in 90deg weather go ahead.

Legionella bacteria and anaerobic bacteria can thrive in water that is below 140 degrees. Most water heaters are not set to reach that temp.
So unless you always use "city" chlorinated water it is a good idea to sanitize the water heater.

What kind of insane madness has struck this planet? What is this need to Sanitize everything?

Sanitizing your water heater is redundant on several levels.

1. The water is replaced very quickly...usually one shower or two dish washing cycles.

2 The water is HOT

3 The water in most cases is taken out of city water systems which are heavily chlorinated enough to kill almost anything. (you can easily smell it and taste it)

? When do you ever "Sanitize" your home water heater??

The more we continue to over-sanitize everything the less resistance our bodies system will have to fight off the normal everyday bugs that man has survived for millions of years.

This must be some kind of new disease....RV Foolishness Syndrome... (RVFS) Now we just need to figure out how to sanitize for that...

rockhillmanor wrote:

Captain_Happy wrote:
If your using city water, why are you worried about sanitizing your water system? It's already in the water your using.DAH

You home is a constant free flowing system. Bleach is added at the water treatment plant to bring all microbes within standard. By the time it reaches your house all you have is the smell of bleach. Not a level of bleach high enough to kill bacteria when used to fill a holding tank or to kill bacteria from CG well water.
.

Sorry but this isn't really true. It's probably what the water companies or local governments want you to think. If you can smell bleach it's enough to still have an effect. Anyone with sensitive lungs or skin can attest that public water with Chlorine or Chloramine can still have negative effects on your body. You guys can sanitize all you want, but anything that kills anything will have affect on you as you are a "thing" too. Bleach is pretty caustic. As far as washing or drying dishes, water borne bacteria won't survive when the dishes are dry. Hydrogen Peroxide is always a better choice as a disinfectant as it still kills most harmful bacteria but is less harmful to people. I don't sanitize. No negative effects. I used to use bleach for cleaning until I developed a lung disease. Could actually have been exacerbated by bleach. I am still puzzled that people would rather use very harmful chemicals that have negative affects on the body to make you more healthy. Defies logic. I guess governments and conglomerates have done a great job instilling fear to promote their products.

I never said the chances are great that you could get it period, but the chance is there. It grows in stagnant warm water and can grow in a water heater then you shower and get mist into your lungs. As for the air conditioner it does not have standing stagnant water and no atomization of water to transmit it into your lungs, so I respectfully disagree with your opinion.

S Davis wrote:
If you don't you should, especially if you shower with the water.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease

I had Legionnaire's in March 2006. After the fact, Dr's told me I was within 4 hours of death. It took them several days to figure out what I had. At one point they had 4 different antibiotics feeding me intravenous. Only after they did a biopsy on my lung did they finally identify what it was. Once on the right treatment, it started clearing up. I was quarantined for days, felt like a pin-cushion from all the needles and had tubs and wires running everwhere from me.

The CDC had to be notified, and through the entire ordeal, my wife back tracked our steps for the previous 3 weeks, and everywhere we'd been had to be notified, and every place had to inspected for the disease. We still think it originated form a motel in Elkhart, Indiana when we used the Hot Tub. I vividly remember the water in the tub was extremely merky, there was vapor in the air, and there was a very stale odor. We were there for a tour of the Dutchmen RV factory. It was March, snow on the ground about a foot deep. No one camping them.

The CDC checked water towers, air conditioners, and evaporation units. The building I work for is very large (4000 people have worked in that building in the past). Every inch of that building was inspected. And yes, they have evaporation towers and foggy mist coming from it all the time.

Ever since, I've been keenly atuned to my lungs. I've lost (and still have lost) about 1/4 capacity from both lungs because of this. I'm tried various breathing exercises over the years to expand my lungs, and so far, well, there's just part of my lungs that don't work. Under normal conditions, I never think about it. But when I get active and begin exerting myself, I feel like I'm suffocating again. I can't get enough air fast enough. I've never felt light headed or dizzy or anything, but sometimes it takes all I can to catch my breath.

I still split fire wood with an axe, climb ladders, and roof houses (I was on my roof today replacing shingles from a recent wind storm). I shovel snow, dirt, and gravel. I play with my grandkids, but when the activity requires more oxygen than I can give it, I just have to stop.

I play the harmonica, and after the Legionnaire's hit me, in 2006, it wasn't until about 2 years ago I finally had enough expansion in my lungs I could begin playing it again. But even with that, I still get winded.

I'm saying all this for one simple reason ... you don't get Legionnaires from RV water systems.

Edit:
The air conditioner in your camper has more of a chance to give you Legionnaire than your water system because of all the dampness and evaporation that goes on.