Do you bleach / santize your hot water tank?

[slacker_cruster]

I've always just done the cold water system. And only every few years at that since I don't drink it. I had read someone bleached the hot water tank too. What do you recommend?

[RPreeb]

My comment above does not mean that I am averse to doing some sort of treatment to an RV water supply, only that legionaire's disease is a long way down on the risk list. We had a house on the beach in the Bahamas for 2 years and our water supply was a rainwater cistern under the house. Not only did it grow a nice crop of algae, but small frogs lived in it too. Our drinking and cooking water was run through the RO system under the kitchen sink, but we used straight cistern water for all other needs, including brushing our teeth, with no issues. We lived there full time for 2½ years, and no diseases were contracted.

As mentioned above, the bacteria have to be introduced in some way, and if they are coming from the city water that is used to fill the RV tank, then having a nice clean tank is not going to do you any good unless you sanitize every tankful. We used bleach (about one cupful monthly) in our 12,000 gallon cistern. I don't know if that was enough to kill everything or not (certainly didn't seem to have any effect on the frogs), but we never got sick, and never smelled bleach in the water.

[rockhillmanor]

Bottom line its a "holding tank". With an opening for which to shove a hose into. A hose that is thrown into a bay and is often connected to a CG water spigot.......

I have numerous times and still do, sat in my MH and watched campers walking their dog and allowing them to

PEE on the water spigots at each site they walk by

.

I sanitize my RV lines as a protective measure "cause I can"! :W

[RPreeb]

From what I read in that article that was offered as "proof" of the risk, your RV is about as likely to be hit by a meteorite as you are to contract legionaire's from your RV's water system. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

[drsteve]

Boon Docker wrote:
You asked for any review and got it, so give it a rest now.

He won't...

[Boon_Docker]

fulltimedaniel wrote:

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.

You asked for any review and got it, so give it a rest now.
:R

[fulltimedaniel]

Boon Docker wrote:

fulltimedaniel wrote:


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.

Here you go FTD, read away.

You shouldn't be telling other people about things you know nothing about.

I think you need to read the article more closely

First:

Legionella pneumophila appears in 11-32% of ALL types of water supplies.

Most outbreaks by percent and number are in HOSPITALS, nursing homes etc.

The article focused on 28 RV's ALL but one from the south. this out of approximately 8.9 MILLION households that own an RV.

That means the numbers of the study cannot in any way be extropalated to the larger population of RV's

This was a study of ONE man and a SINGLE occurance.

And most importantly it centered on the FRESH water tanks not the hot water tanks.

So if Legionella pneumophila Exists in 11-32% of All water supplies then you are getting it thru the water hookups at parks also...are you going to disinfect this system.? Remember it was in the water when you last filled youor tanks for it to be in your water tank.

But wait...I was talking about the HOT water tank in my posts.

While this article was informative it should NOT be used as a way to frighten people. There is no mention of whether or not the gentleman in question in the study had a previously compromised immune system or any other attendant illnesses. And in fact the patient never did test positive for Legionella pneumophila.

and this from the WHO:

"Worldwide, waterborne Legionella pneumophila is the most common cause of cases including outbreaks. Legionella pneumophila and related species are commonly found in lakes, rivers, creeks, hot springs and other bodies of water. Other species including L. longbeachae can be found in potting mixes."

Are you also going to disinfect that lake at the RV Park?

And this about the risk factors:

"Of the reported cases 75–80% are over 50 years and 60–70% are male. Other risk factors for community-acquired and travel-associated legionellosis include: smoking, a history of heavy drinking, pulmonary-related illness, immuno-suppression, and chronic respiratory or renal illnesses."

And lastly I never in any of my posts advocated that people do one thing or another. I commented on what I saw as a needless hysteria being whipped up by this fear mongering that passes for intelligent discussion.

No this report on ONE patient and 28 out of 8.9 million RV's does not sway me. Again you contact this bug in many places as I pointed out in my post.

I think when studies like these are quoted and passed around as "Doctrine" by some it pays the reader to READ the study carefully and think critically about what is actually being put forth.

[RandACampin]

Boon Docker wrote:

fulltimedaniel wrote:


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.

Here you go FTD, read away.

You shouldn't be telling other people about things you know nothing about.

He excels at doing just that.

[drsteve]

What he said^^^^^^^^^^^

[Boon_Docker]

fulltimedaniel wrote:


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.

Here you go FTD, read away.

You shouldn't be telling other people about things you know nothing about.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Nope, never have after 40 years of RVing.

[drsteve]

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.

[fulltimedaniel]

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.

[Lynnmor]

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.

[S_Davis]

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