Freshwater Tank Sterilising?

VicTheVLine
VicTheVLine Forum Participant Posts: 8

Hi - I'm assuming you should sterilise freshwater tanks from time to time, albeit it can't be easy to fully flush the sterlising product out. I'd be grateful for any thoughts on this, if it should be done then how often is that, and any recommendations on product.

Thanks - Paul

Comments

  • JillwithaJay
    JillwithaJay Club Member Posts: 2,484 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited March 2021 #2

    We do ours twice a year - around March and October and use Puriclean.


  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,383
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    edited March 2021 #3

    I don't bother but we never drink the water straight from the onboard tanks but keep a separate container in the fridge for drinking water.

    peedee

  • Unknown
    Unknown Forum Participant
    edited March 2021 #4
    The user and all related content has been Deleted User
  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,030 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2021 #5

    Couple of times a year. We do drink occasionally from tap, and clean teeth. Water never sits in ours more than a couple of days. Most of course is boiled prior to drinking, for tea, coffee. But good idea to rinse tanks every so often we find.

  • AngusPiloteCamper
    AngusPiloteCamper Forum Participant Posts: 29
    edited March 2021 #6

    I use Puriclean before 1st outing of the year and also prior to laying up for winter. It may seem a hassle but will mean you minimise the risk of catching any nasty bugs/legionella etc. throughout the year. 

    Fill water tank with the measured dose, open taps to allow the water to fill all system pipes etc. Soak overnight then drain off next day. Refill tank with fresh water and run through taps etc to flush through. Drain off and repeat. Tank and all pipework including hotwater /boiler side of system are clear of biofilm. You will find that the water will taste sweet with no nasty tastes ( if its good quality water to start with that is !) 

    Throughout the season, I tend to use Elsil, (a silver solution) which keeps water sweet. The Romans new about this, hence silver coins in their fountains !

    A word of caution regarding sterilising fluids ! Any hypochlorite based fluid (like Miltons etc) can be quite aggressive to stainless steel parts of water system, e.g boiler, depending on the chromium content of the stainless steel, resulting in expensive repair/replacement if pitting then perforation occurs.

    Hope this helps.

  • eribaMotters
    eribaMotters Club Member Posts: 1,193 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited March 2021 #7

    Tesco sterilising tablets for babies bottles dissolved in warm water in our onboard tank at start of every season.

     

    Colin

  • LLM
    LLM Forum Participant Posts: 1,555 ✭✭
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    edited March 2021 #8

    We always use Katadyn Micropur products which are safe for you and your water and heating system.  This is a good starter pack:

    Katadyn Micropur  

    The ongoing use of Micropur Forte, which is Silver Ions, keeps your water fresh for up to six months and is ideal for use in countries where the supply of safe fresh water is questionable.  

    Do beware of using products that contain Chlorine as they can damage some parts of your vans system.   

  • ABM
    ABM Forum Participant Posts: 14,578
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    edited March 2021 #9

    I'm with JillwJ on this one !!  Puriclean in a full tank for a few days before the first trip out in the Dukky,  then pump all through taps, shower head, toilet etc. then drain & FLUSH CLEAR before re-filling with fresh water.  There are other, similar, tank cleaning systems like AQUA SOL / PURISOL and pretty much all of them are available from your local caravan / motorhome supply store  { wink }

    [ I used it in the water containers when I was still camping and followed on in my campers, just to prove it did work 'cos I knew you would ask  innocentlaughing ]

  • LLM
    LLM Forum Participant Posts: 1,555 ✭✭
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    edited March 2021 #10

    A useful tip re the Elsil, thanks. It looks to be much the same as the Micropur silver ion product.

  • bill
    bill Forum Participant Posts: 388
    edited March 2021 #11

    I only drink water from a Brita type filter and never the caravan system.  To clean freshwater tanks I always use PURISOL.  It's made by Puriclean but in a more convenient liquid form.

  • VicTheVLine
    VicTheVLine Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited March 2021 #12

    Thanks all for your replies, much appreciated

  • hitchglitch
    hitchglitch Forum Participant Posts: 3,007
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    edited March 2021 #13

    I also use Puriclean  but it’s more difficult on our motorhome which holds 100 litres of freshwater!

  • caravanerkarl
    caravanerkarl Forum Participant Posts: 29
    edited March 2021 #14

    I also use Puriclean twice a year, its easy to do, and we also drink from our taps (that is what they are there for) and never have an issue.

    Just make sure you follow the instructions clearly and flush it very well before use.

  • DSB
    DSB Club Member Posts: 5,666 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2021 #15

    We use Puriclean as it is made specifically for caravan/ motorhome systems and will not harm the hot/water systems.  It is not that expensive so, in my opinion, is not really worth the risk of using products which could be more harmful to the system.

    David