JimK-NY wrote:
Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
.......
The "Dufas" is happy with the results. No smell, no taste, just good clean drinkable water coming out of the TC water system. ....
The concern is that the water treatment does not give "good clean drinkable water". Not with a strong possibility of bacteria and mold still remaining in the system.
If you are determined to avoid household chlorine bleach, then Purogene is a good alternative. It is still chlorine based and just as effective. You also need to rinse it out of the system as you would with household bleach. The MSDS reads pretty much like you will find for bleach:
"Corrosive
Harmful if swallowed
Avoid Breathing vapor or spray mist
Causes moderate eye irritation
Remove contaminated clothing and wash clothing before reuse
Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling
Handlers applying chlorine dioxide must wear gloves
This pesticide is toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates"
Does anybody really know how much "Stuff" actually grows in an RV fresh water tank? Typically, it's full of or has water in it and is somewhat sealed from the outside. It's always dark in it's compartment which to algae means no light to produce food and grow. There are trace amounts of nutrients for stuff to grow from. The RV fresh water tank is really an inhospitable place for life. Obviously some stuff does manage to scrape out a living but how much is that? Is it just stagnant water with a plasticy smell and taste or is it water riddled with all sorts of nasty stuff? Many of our fellow TCers simply rinse out the fresh tank with water and rarely or never chemically or otherwise clean their fresh tank and water system. Usually, I rinse out monthly if not going anywhere and when traveling, there is new water introduced regularly and agitation/aeration from the road motion. The water in the tank is 3 days old now, still tastes and smells fine as of this AM. The method I used isn't perfect but it's also not without merit. Water at 125 degrees does kill bacteria, it just takes longer like a couple hours and I'm sure I met that mark. The vinegar, though diluted still introduces acidity which is unfriendly to the stuff that may be in the tank. The two, heat and acidity do work together, along with duration of time to create a hostile to deadly environment to stuff in the tank. In that time, I'm sure one or two or more of the stuff were killed. Not perfect, but not without merit. Nobody is going to deny that bleaching kills best but this is a viable alternative for those who want one. Having actually done this and currently experiencing the results, I can say that the real world results of this experiment, worked to my satisfaction. That is a real world determination from personally experienced results. There will always be hardliners who will insist on stay the course of RV tank cleaning with bleach doctrine, never realizing or admitting, there are several paths leading to the same destination.
