Sanitizing city water inlet

[zach477]

Im planning on sanitizing my water system today. In everything I have read, nothing seems to mention sanitizing the city water inlet. Fresh water tank, lines, etc are all covered but not the city water inlet.

Do people do this? Seems like a good idea to me....

[wanderingbob]

Have ya ever taken a drink from a garden hose ? Did ya sanitize it ?
I do not believe it is worthwhile to worry about ever little thing , just take reasonable precautions . As for joining the ends of the hoses together , not in the south , that will cause all kinds of things to grow in that dark , moist, warm place !

[Bumpyroad]

TechWriter wrote:

gonetothedogs1 wrote:
I keep a bottle of 50/50 bleach water and just spritz the inlet and hose ends before I connect.

If you don't clean the surface you want to sanitize with soap & water first, then all the bleach spritzing in the world will accomplish nada.

well it certainly will kill the "bugs".
bumpy

[Flapper]

And don't forget - almost none of the "nastys" can survive without water. Typically your inlet dries out pretty quickly after being used, and stays dry for a pretty long periods of time. You only really need to get the sanitizer down in the pipes, where it is still wet. Wipe the road dust/dirt off, though - that just tastes bad.

[TechWriter]

gonetothedogs1 wrote:
I keep a bottle of 50/50 bleach water and just spritz the inlet and hose ends before I connect.

If you don't clean the surface you want to sanitize with soap & water first, then all the bleach spritzing in the world will accomplish nada.

[enblethen]

Pour a little bleach into the fresh water hose, then attach to rig and turn on the water.

[Johno02]

I do make a point of letting the water tap run for a bit before attaching my hose, then let a bit more flush through the hose before attaching to inlet. Some of those water systems do build up a bunch of crud in the lines. Most city water systems have enough clorine to sterlize the lines, but flushing out the water that has been sitting for a while is a good idea. Check with the campground management when you check in is not a bad idea either.

[Dutch_12078]

Since the only way I can add bleach to sanitize the coach water system is via the city water inlet, the internal part gets a good dose at the same time. As said, a spritz with a bleach mixture or other disinfectant would take care of the exposed portion. I use a spray can of Lysol hospital grade disinfectant for that and the park water tap if I feel the need.

[Clay_L]

I used a bleach water mix to spray the inlet and the RV park hose bib.
You need to make it fresh often though because it deteriorates pretty fast even though it still smells like bleach. The following is an email from Clorox.

"How long does diluted and undiluted bleach last?
For the answer to this question, see the clorox@casupport.com email to the Director of WCMC EHS dated February 6, 2003:
Thank you for asking about the shelf life of Ultra regular CLOROX liquid bleach.

When bleach and water are mixed together to create a cleaning or disinfecting solution, the solution is only good for 24 hours. The temperature of the water does not affect the cleaning or disinfecting abilities of the solution. After the 24 hours, the solution begins to lose needed disinfecting properties. Therefore, it is recommended that for disinfecting purposes, the solution is made fresh daily.

Our bottles do not have an expiration date, however, they do have a production date. Once you understand how to read the production date, you can decipher the shelf life of the bottle. Please look below for a chart explaining our production codes.
CODE PLANT YEAR DATE
MD21002 MD2 1= 2001 002nd day of year
A90288 A9 0= 2000 288th day of year

We recommend storing our bleach at room temperatures. It can be stored for about 6 months at temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. After this time, bleach will be begin to degrade at a rate of 20% each year until totally degraded to salt and water. Storing at temperatures much higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit could cause the bleach to lose its effectiveness and degrade more rapidly. However, if you require 6% sodium hypochlorite, you should change your supply every 3 months.

I hope this information is helpful. Again, thank you for giving me this opportunity to discuss our product."

[Johno02]

If a little dirt hasn't killed me yet, I don't worry about it. My water inlet is in the same bin as the sewer stuff, but I try to keep everything separate. When not in use, I connect the ends of my fresh water hose attached together to keep bugs and stuff out.

[gonetothedogs1]

I keep a bottle of 50/50 bleach water and just spritz the inlet and hose ends before I connect.