Sanitize Fresh Tank & Bleach

Yeah, I hear yah...again, my personal preference....
I also acknowledge I may be a little to cautious...

samhain7 wrote:
I don't call anything environmentally friendly that turns into a toxic gas when mixed with certain things like urine....
So don't drop any in you black tank....

Yeah, there are so many reports of RVers getting hurt from this.:R

I don't call anything environmentally friendly that turns into a toxic gas when mixed with certain things like urine....
So don't drop any in you black tank....

You (I) learn something new everyday! Here's a quote directly from the Clorox website:

Q: What is bleach?

A: The active ingredient in household bleach is sodium hypochlorite, which is derived from salt. In fact, Clorox is headquartered in Oakland, California because we started making bleach here by running electricity through salt water from San Francisco Bay! So household bleach begins and ends as salt and water. During the laundering process, about 95 to 98 percent of household bleach quickly breaks down into oxidized salt and biodegradables, which is the primary reaction that makes it environmentally friendly.

BillyW wrote:
Just remember, regular tap water has chlorine in it too.

Yeah, it has chlorine...not bleach. I still maintain I don't want to put bleach in water that is going in my mouth. Even if you flush the tanks...
But that is just me!

paullac wrote:

BillyW wrote:
Make an effort to get that mix into the water heater too! All kinds of stinky stuff grows in there.

I'm not so sure about that. My owners manual says specifically to open up the water heater bypass valve after the sanitizing is done. I think bleach can eat away at the water heater tank. We just got a new dishwasher at home & the owners manual for that says to not use bleach for anything as it can damage the inside metal walls of the dishwasher.

My water heater is aluminum, as I believe most are. I've never had any issues with the bleach in it in over 10 years. However, I HAVE had issues with some stinky, sulphur smelling growth in it if I don't sanitize it. You will find that issue brought up often here. I know there are solutions using vinegar too. Just remember, regular tap water has chlorine in it too.

Thanks, so all the anguish about the bleach here is just prattle.

pconroy328 wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
What happens if we use too much bleach?

pragmatically?
nothing.

will (probably) take longer to flush it out.

bleach is a strong oxidizer and can have adverse effects on some compounds. The average Joe would have to work really hard to get enough into their system at a high enough concentration to do damage quickly, IMHO.

As for "kills immediately on contact" I worked in a P2 facility for a short time. We had gobs of bleach for what were we experimenting with. All I would say is that the correct answer is "it depends..." :)

samhain7 wrote:
I got this off the net....this is what I do... It's pool chlorine I got it from my local pool store...

Chlorinating Concentrate (Sodium Dichloro-s-Triazinetricone or Sodium Dichlor for short). Sodium Dichlor contains 62% available chlorine. Compare that to household bleach which has something close to 3%. One pound of Sodium Dichlor is equal to 8 gallons of bleach! Also, household bleach contains other stuff, including a lot of salt, and that salt and other stuff is what causes the bad taste and why you have to flush the fresh water tank so well.

It takes only 1 teaspoon of the concentrate per 100 gallons of water to initially sanitize the system. Remember to run water through all the faucets. It's okay to use the full teaspoon even on smaller tanks because you will be flushing the tank before adding the water you intend to drink but it seems wasteful.

This is exactly what I do. Use a teaspoon of pool chlorine. Have it in the shed for the pool anyway and DW doesn't use bleach for laundry so use what I have at home.

TechWriter wrote:

Wishbone51 wrote:

TechWriter wrote:
AWWA C651 is a set of recommendations for disinfecting water mains (or large pipes). To me, it hardly seems applicable to RV water systems which consist of small pipes and a water box.

What's the difference? It seems to me that it's still 100PPM touching a surface. Why does it matter how much surface? It's all being exposed simultaneously.

The difference is that AWWA C651 is a standard for city water systems and NFPA 1192 is for RVs.

I don't think that's what he's asking. I think he's still asking questions that relate to the time the solution is in contact with the bacteria/virus/spore/paramecium/euglena etc.

I think it's a good question.
It makes me wonder if the generally accepted thought is that 100ppm NaClO solution would lyse a cell membrane quickly, why would you recommend 2 hours or 4 hours?

Where did that time number come from?

This is a good question.
Rhetorical, from my point of view, as I left the bleach solution in overnight to make sure the final concentration was uniformly dispersed.

The generally accepted concentration of 0.25 cups (54ml) 5.25% bleach to 15 gal water equates to about 50ppm. The use of 8.25% bleach would require about 35ml of bleach to the same 15 gal water. Contact hours 4 hr minimum. The difference is really of no consequence. I do allow this sanitizing solution into the water heater tank and have never had a problem.