Gasoline in fresh water tank

[rsg33]

Is there a product or procedure to sterilize Pex water lines in a coach that has been subjected to gas in the water system? The water tank will be replaced, but replacing all the lines will be a monster job. Water heater is an Atwood with an alum tank. Pump will also be replaced.
Any tricks?

[2oldman]

JimK-NY wrote:
There are a lot of products that could be helpful but it doesn't seem worth the effort of doing any research or making any comments for someone who may not be reading the forum.

Happens a lot around here.

[JimK-NY]

My first thought was this was a topic started by a troll. Then I noticed the OP joined many years. I wonder if the OP even stopped back to read any of these suggestions. There are experts who deal with odors and clean up issues. There are a lot of products that could be helpful but it doesn't seem worth the effort of doing any research or making any comments for someone who may not be reading the forum.

[bucky]

You can buy drinking water for 50 cents a gallon.
Take a shower with the water in the contaminated fresh water tank after your cleaning process. Go outside and light a match. If you don't explode your process worked. Happy camping.

[msmith1_wa]

After flushing as previously recommended. I would find a water testing company and take them a sample.

[Bobbo]

As a retired pharmacist, I can assure you that an OLD home remedy for intestinal worms was to drink kerosene. It worked. The kerosene was not absorbed, coated the worms' bodies, and oxygen couldn't be absorbed. The worms smothered. When I retired 2 years ago, I still got some older folks coming in asking for medicinal kerosene. I had to explain that there is no kerosene certified safe for human consumption.

[myredracer]

Surely it's not about the gasoline but rather the additives and octane rating!? A little methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE anyone)? No? Then how 'bout a little methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, ethylene dibromide or 2,4-Dimethyl-6-tert-butylphenol? Mmmm... :B

PEX is a form of HDPE. HDPE is used for containers for gasoline and things we drink from like milk & juice. PEX is highly inert and gasoline will not react with it, dissolve it or adhere to it. The FW tank is most likely HDPE and same thing. Note that your piping system can have fittings that are made from another type of plastic (can't recall the type).

As for the myriad of additives, I did a quick google search and came up with nothing on flushing gasoline containing them from PEX or any potential issues. I did find tho. that some PEX can leach MTBE from it in the first month or two. And some PEX can apparently smell like gasoline.

I think you'll be just fine flushing with some soapy water as mentioned above. If still concerned, do some googling or possibly contact your local health dept.

I had a grandmother who according to my dad used to drink kerosene from time to time... :E She was from the era when kerosene lamps were common so it was readily available. And she lived to a ripe old age!

But c'mon man, we all gotta know how this happened!!

[Ralph_Cramden]

maillemaker wrote:
I've noticed that a lot of advice on this forum is extreme and/or expensive. It's like reading on reddit when someone says, "My partner snores, what should I do?" and the answer is "Leave them." Only thing I can figure is that a lot of rich people are on this forum and so the nuclear option is just natural for them right out of the gates.

Said a mouthful there.......RVnet.....complicating the uncomplicated since 1857.

Like conducting your own testing of pex for its chemical resistance to gasoline LOL. No real need to though unless wasting your time and money being a halfassed backyard chemist is what gets you off. It is highly chemically resistant to gasoline at normal temperatures as is the tank if it's Polyethylene, which most are.

[3_tons]

maillemaker wrote:
I've noticed that a lot of advice on this forum is extreme and/or expensive. It's like reading on reddit when someone says, "My partner snores, what should I do?" and the answer is "Leave them." Only thing I can figure is that a lot of rich people are on this forum and so the nuclear option is just natural for them right out of the gates.

For added clarity, won’t you be more specific??

3 tons

[maillemaker]

Hmm, I wonder if mouthfuls of leaded gasoline could have contributed to the epidemic of Alzheimer’s as lead pollution did to the crime rate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead-crime_hypothesis

Mostly it was the lead pumped into the environment and eating lead paint.

[profdant139]

Look on the bright side -- it's probably easier to get gasoline out of the water tank than to get water out of the gas tank! 😉

Hoping to hear back from the OP that all is well . . . . .

[2oldman]

..

[Harvey51]

3 tons wrote:
Before starting, buy a short length of pex and set it in gasoline for a period of time, then inspect to determine if it was irreversably affected...

Excellent idea! Also taste some water from the pipe after trying the cleaning suggestions.

It may well be worth removing the tank for cleaning but I wouldn’t buy a new one before trying to clean it and tasting the result.

Hmm, I wonder if mouthfuls of leaded gasoline could have contributed to the epidemic of Alzheimer’s as lead pollution did to the crime rate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead-crime_hypothesis

[DrewE]

maillemaker wrote:
I've noticed that a lot of advice on this forum is extreme and/or expensive. It's like reading on reddit when someone says, "My partner snores, what should I do?" and the answer is "Leave them." Only thing I can figure is that a lot of rich people are on this forum and so the nuclear option is just natural for them right out of the gates.

It's always easier to spend someone else's money for them than it is to spend your own.

Then, too, sometimes people ask for suggestions for things that don't have practical inexpensive solutions, things that I personally would deem too costly for the value they'd give me. That's not a complete answer, of course; sometimes many of the answers do strike me as rather daft, and probably sometimes my suggestions strike others as daft to (and sometimes that is probably the correct impression of them).

[maillemaker]

I've noticed that a lot of advice on this forum is extreme and/or expensive. It's like reading on reddit when someone says, "My partner snores, what should I do?" and the answer is "Leave them." Only thing I can figure is that a lot of rich people are on this forum and so the nuclear option is just natural for them right out of the gates.