RV Fresh Water System Sanitized Using Vinegar & Water Heater

[Camper_Jeff___K]

I'm starting a new thread on this topic. The previous thread was the suggestion of doing this. This thread is having done the vinegar and water heater cleaning sanitizing method.

Previous Thread:


I tried a new method to clean and sanitize my Truck Camper Fresh Water System. This is a safe method, no bleach. Bleach as you know is a powerful time proven method of cleaning and sanitizing. If you don't want nasty chemicals in your water system this is a good alternative. It's a little more expensive, time consuming, and requires some mechanical know how, but the result is very good. No nasty chemicals in your drinking water from bleaching. Also, Vinegar is food! It doesn't want to kill you. TC - RV People, Enjoy...

[wintersun]

The problem with bleach is that people use too much. Per FEMA to sanitize a 5 gallon tank of water it only takes 1 teaspoon of household bleach (which is alread diluted by 92%). That is only 1 ounce of bleach for a 20 gallon freshwater tank and a fraction of what most actually use.

With bacteria growing in a hot water tank I would double the concentration and use 2 teaspoons of bleach in 5 gallons of water.

I carry a small 8 ounce bottle of bleach and and add it at the 1 oz per 20 gallons of freshwater to the camper.

[Stephen111]

Sanitizing your RV tank effectively will require a bleach solution. You’ll need to add a ¼ cup of bleach for every 16 gallons of water within your freshwater RV tank. This measurement will equal one ounce of bleach per eight gallons. But please don’t add the bleach right into your freshwater tank. It needs to be diluted first with a gallon of water for each ¼ cup of bleach. The bleach will be a little too potent and render your freshwater tank unusable without it. Experts recommend sanitizing your RV’s water tank at least every six months.

[specta]

valhalla360 wrote:

specta wrote:
The east coast has the worst water in the country and Utah has some of the if not the best water. I was told that in a class I attended when I had a water license and managed a small water company.

That makes no sense as water quality is highly variable depending on source and treatment.

Also most of what people think of as water quality is taste not safety.

pre-treatment

[JimK-NY]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:


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.

Don't count on it being inhospitable. I have done a lot of trace metals lab research requiring ultrapure water. It is quite amazing how fast even ultrapure water can become contaminated and show bacterial growth. Pseudomonas is one of the most common. When the overgrowth is advanced you can feel a slime on the sides of the container and eventually you can see a pink discoloration. Fortunately pseudomonas is generally relatively harmless.

E coli contamination is also ubiquitous. One of my concerns is Legionella. Fortunately many people tolerate exposure quite well but not always. I had a friend who became very ill with it an was hospitalized for several weeks. Legionella loves heat and does quite well in RV hot water tanks:
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/criid/2013/286347/

Here is an additional study showing prevalence of bacterial growth:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5896965/

[valhalla360]

specta wrote:
The east coast has the worst water in the country and Utah has some of the if not the best water. I was told that in a class I attended when I had a water license and managed a small water company.

That makes no sense as water quality is highly variable depending on source and treatment.

Also most of what people think of as water quality is taste not safety.

[valhalla360]

jimh425 wrote:
I don’t know how much grows in one, but I can see my tank if I open the front. It always seems really clear. I do drain the tank for winter though.

When we lived on the boat, we had full access to the tanks including 6" inspection ports. There was never any visible signs of growth. The inspection ports made it easy to put the shop vac in at the end of the season and get all the water out.

[specta]

Reading through the posts I am pretty grateful that I've never experienced a tank of fowl water.

The only water that has gone into my current campers FW tank it the water from our well so its untreated water.

Even when headed for a campsite with full hookups I take my own water because I know its good.

The east coast has the worst water in the country and Utah has some of the if not the best water. I was told that in a class I attended when I had a water license and managed a small water company.

[jimh406]

I don’t know how much grows in one, but I can see my tank if I open the front. It always seems really clear. I do drain the tank for winter though.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

rlw999 wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
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.

I'd guess that airplane freshwater tanks have a similar environment - tanks are sealed and dark, are refilled frequently, and get plenty of agitation.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/study-shows-airplane-water-is-dirtier-than-you-think

But a new study shows it's not just the tray table or seat-back pocket that could be harboring germs and bacteria. The tap water on both major and regional U.S. carriers was found to be contaminated with varying levels of E. coli and coliform, according to the newly released 2019 Airline Water Study conducted by DietDetective.com and Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center.

Interesting article. This quote is pretty much what reasons I think airline water may be more contaminated.
""Because aircraft water comes from locations via temporary connections, aircraft drinking water quality depends on a number of factors (e.g., the care used to board the water, the water transfer equipment (such as water cabinets, trucks, carts, and hoses), and the operation and maintenance of the onboard water system)," the EPA said"

The care we take with our own water system is much higher during handling than a commercial airline's employees give to the aircraft.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

valhalla360 wrote:
I'm glad that I'm not paranoid.

Maybe if I was drawing water from a stagnant pond but really as long as the water is turning over fairly often, it goes thru a filter before going in the tank. I've got bigger things to worry about than building a rube goldberg vinegar still out of an RV.

If we haven't used the RV for a month or more or the taste has gone off, I might consider consider running a little bleach thru the system and then flushing it out. If you are ever on city water, you will get some chlorine flavor anyway. We usually keep a pitcher for drinking water in the fridge so the chlorine flavor mostly evaporates anyway before we drink it.

It would make me proud to know that Rube Goldberg is looking down upon me with a smile of satisfaction...

[rlw999]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
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.

I'd guess that airplane freshwater tanks have a similar environment - tanks are sealed and dark, are refilled frequently, and get plenty of agitation.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/study-shows-airplane-water-is-dirtier-than-you-think

But a new study shows it's not just the tray table or seat-back pocket that could be harboring germs and bacteria. The tap water on both major and regional U.S. carriers was found to be contaminated with varying levels of E. coli and coliform, according to the newly released 2019 Airline Water Study conducted by DietDetective.com and Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

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.

[valhalla360]

I'm glad that I'm not paranoid.

Maybe if I was drawing water from a stagnant pond but really as long as the water is turning over fairly often, it goes thru a filter before going in the tank. I've got bigger things to worry about than building a rube goldberg vinegar still out of an RV.

If we haven't used the RV for a month or more or the taste has gone off, I might consider consider running a little bleach thru the system and then flushing it out. If you are ever on city water, you will get some chlorine flavor anyway. We usually keep a pitcher for drinking water in the fridge so the chlorine flavor mostly evaporates anyway before we drink it.

[JimK-NY]

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"