So a few things we've witnessed in the past several months. Rare indeed, but only takes once to catch a nasty infection from an unsanitary site.1. This weekend, watched a person few spots down rinsing their black water hose right under the fresh water spigot, splashing water from the water hookup all over the hookup itself. Stood there in disbelief and reached for my phone to zoom in to see if I was really seeing straight. Not in time.Waited until they left and headed down there to sanitize the fresh water hookup with alcohol wipes and let the water run for a while. In hindsight, know I should have scooted over there and said something. Wasn't up for a brawl that early in the morning and wanted to be sure of what I saw. Just gross, though.2. Earlier in the year, we arrived at after dark and went about our normal routine with headlamps only to find out after 20 min or so that I'd been walking through some black water runoff in tall grass near the hookups (toilet paper gave it away). It had been raining the night before so no solids and such.. Again, just gross.We've added these to our checklist upon arrival: 1) always sanitize the water hookup because we have no idea what the people before were doing. We've always ran a little water before hooking up. But now it will get sanitized and then ran. And 2) Expand that all-important walk abound of the camp site prior to hookup. For what it's worth. Play safe out there.

All to common unfortunately. Watched a newbie guy lay down at the Oh Ridge campground dump station to hookup the hose. Wife watched and coached him on what to do. Dumped, jumped back in their rented C and off they drove. Thankfully they skipped refilling their fresh water tank.

Regrettably this is not new information. Pretty scary.

Ride S40T wrote: In hindsight, know I should have scooted over there and said something. Confronting the person would have done absolutely nothing except raise your blood pressure. They were part of the 'all about me' society and anything you said would have been ignored.Sanitize everything before you hook up when at a new site. Most people are not hogs, but......

I'm Leary of everything in a campground. Just walk into one of the bathrooms in the am, what the hell happens at night ? People are gross and most don't care to clean up after themselves.

I really dont see the problem. If you hadn't seen it you would never know either.

Campsite Sanitation - Beware | Good Sam Community

wing_zealot
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
Oh - that reminds me, I need to go buy some more latex gloves for the next time I need to wipe my butt.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Oct 16, 2019
Turn on spigot for few seconds, connect hose run for a few seconds, connect to RV.
am1958
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
I'm a firm believer in the 15 second rule for food on the floor. As long as the food is not covered in various debris it's fine. My daughter has several friends that sanitize everything inside and outside their homes - even while camping. Her friends miss so many activities they could enjoy through colds, sniffles and other miscellaneous maladies while my kid, while finding all kinds of things "disgusting", is rarely ever sick.
Ride_S40T
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
Airdaile wrote:
And yet no wide-spread breakout of cholera in the camping community. As dodge guy said, your immune system has developed to take care of this. Over-sanitizing weakens the immune system. If it didn't work, everyone using a public bathroom anywhere would die.

Lol, true! I’m just guessing there’s a stark difference in sitting on a somewhat dirty toilet seat or playing in the dirt compared to running fecal matter through our water lines. There’s a reason manufactures recommend sanitizing the system every 6 mos or so. I’m sure they didn’t even factor in poop water in the lines. Or maybe they did.

And as many said, it’s not about widespread as most folks know better. It’s about the one time it does get ya. There’s simply no down side to sanitizing the water hookup. It’s not diminishing anyone’s immune system.
lots2seeinmyrv
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
Hepatitis A is caused by a virus that infects liver cells and causes inflammation. The inflammation can affect how your liver works and cause other signs and symptoms of hepatitis A.

The virus most commonly spreads when you eat or drink something contaminated with fecal matter, even just tiny amounts. It does not spread through sneezing or coughing.
Tom_N
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
I've seen the rinse the sewer hose out under the drinking water faucet more times than I want to remember.

Clorox and most other disinfectants need a couple hours to do their job. But, a quick spray is better than nothing. I'm not a doctor, I'm a retired chemist. ;-)
Grit_dog
Navigator
Oct 16, 2019
Just watched the turd burglar outside the job trailer eating a sandwich with one hand while sucking out the chitter with the other hand....he's been here every week this year, never skipped a beat.
Guess a little chit is good for ya.
Now that thing growing on the side of his neck is another story...lol.
drsteve
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
Love these threads, there's always someone who thinks sanitation is no big deal because they haven't died yet.
magicbus
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2019
drsteve wrote:
Love these threads, there's always someone who thinks sanitation is no big deal because they haven't died yet.
What some people call sanitation others consider over-the-top. Luckily we still get exercise our own personal sense of comfort and make a few choices ourselves.

Dave
Chum_lee
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019
This reminds me of a high school biology lab we did years ago. The instructions were to go out and get bacteria transfer samples on adhesive tape from where ever you thought would be the best/worst locations. The samples would then be transferred to agar, a nutrient rich protein, then placed in an incubator for several days, and allowed to grow. The monsters that grew off common surfaces ranging from a locker room shower drain to a public drinking fountain (one girl even swabbed, . . . . ahhhhh, . . . . down there) were STUNNING when given the optimal conditions to grow.

People: We would all be long dead by now if our immune systems didn't work just by going about our daily lives. All you can do is stay as healthy as you can, take reasonable sanitary precautions, and hope for the best. When/if the super bug (google MRSA) finds you, it may already be too late.

Chum lee