Caravan Water Concerns
I am a newbie to touring and took delivery of my 2015 Lunar Quasar in August. I have managed two weekends away so far, and both times have suffered from a bad stomach. One instance is still ongoing 2 weeks after the last trip away. I am keen to rule out
the caravan water supply as a possible cause. I have flushed the system twice with Milton and clean water. I am concerned though because whenever I put water from the tap into a pan or sink, there is always a residue which feels like undissolved grains of
salt. Has anyone else experienced this or know what it might be?
Comments
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I have no idea what your "grains of salt" might be; its contamination from somewhere.
We don't drink unboiled water from a caravan system as they are simply not designed to safe. There are free surfaces and surfaces that can be left damp for days on end between use. Not that the risks are high, but are there nevertheless. We simply keep cold
drinking water in a reused water bottle in the fridge.Most caravan filters, those without an active biocide present their own risks. Left stagnant charged with water between trips is something I find unacceptable in what is thought of as a potable water system.
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I am a newbie to touring and took delivery of my 2015 Lunar Quasar in August. I have managed two weekends away so far, and both times have suffered from a bad stomach. One instance is still ongoing 2 weeks after the last trip away. I am keen to rule out
the caravan water supply as a possible cause. I have flushed the system twice with Milton and clean water. I am concerned though because whenever I put water from the tap into a pan or sink, there is always a residue which feels like undissolved grains of
salt. Has anyone else experienced this or know what it might be?Are these “grains” coming from both the hot and cold supplies? I’m surprised a good flush doesn’t get rid of any particles. I’ve always used water from the caravan system for drinking, teeth brushing etc. and never had any problems. I sterilise the aquarolls
and full system with either Milton tablets or Puriclean at the beginning of the season and after any breaks in use longer than a couple of months.0 -
We drink from the caravan tap and have never come to any harm. I would be carefull using Miltons simply because it can attack stainless steel. Caravan filters will add to the bug count in a water supply if you have one I would advocate removing it.
Regarding the grains of salt don't really know. To possibilities firstly a filter is ruptured in that case the salt would be black. Alternatively do you live in a soft water area. If so and you have had this problem in a hardwater area then it might just
be the calcium carbonate forming and dropping out of solution and probably nothing worry about0 -
I have no idea what your "grains of salt" might be; its contamination from somewhere.
We don't drink unboiled water from a caravan system as they are simply not designed to safe. There are free surfaces and surfaces that can be left damp for days on end between use. Not that the risks are high, but are there nevertheless. We simply keep cold drinking water in a reused water bottle in the fridge.
Most caravan filters, those without an active biocide present their own risks. Left stagnant charged with water between trips is something I find unacceptable in what is thought of as a potable water system.
From a microbiological point of view this is correct. It does not take long for a biofilm to form in the pipes then it's darned difficult to completely get rid of this with freely available products for the general public.
Milton etc is just diluted bleach and whilst effective (to a degree) must not be left in contact with stainless steel for more than about 20 minutes. So if you do use this, bleach, VWP or any other chlorine based chemical, rinse it out very well several times.
Personally we use VWP twice a year, rinse well but use a 5 lit container inside the caravan for drinking water. This in turn goes into a fridge Brita filter jug that has an charcoal filter that takes out any residual tastes. This is changed every couple of weeks or at the start of every trip
Many people drink straight from the tap with no ill effects but from a microbiolgical point of view it's pushing your luck.
The residue that looks like undissolved salt may well be charcoal particles from a cracked filter or if you are really unlucky residue from some chemical the previous owners have used.
Good luck
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I am a newbie to touring and took delivery of my 2015 Lunar Quasar in August. I have managed two weekends away so far, and both times have suffered from a bad stomach. One instance is still ongoing 2 weeks after the last trip away. I am keen to rule out the caravan water supply as a possible cause. I have flushed the system twice with Milton and clean water. I am concerned though because whenever I put water from the tap into a pan or sink, there is always a residue which feels like undissolved grains of salt. Has anyone else experienced this or know what it might be?
Are these “grains” coming from both the hot and cold supplies? I’m surprised a good flush doesn’t get rid of any particles. I’ve always used water from the caravan system for drinking, teeth brushing etc. and never had any problems. I sterilise the aquarolls and full system with either Milton tablets or Puriclean at the beginning of the season and after any breaks in use longer than a couple of months.
Same here - and never had any ill effects. But by the same token we've never had anything like 'undisolved grains of salt' and that needs to be resolved ...
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no idea what the residue could be but it certainly sounds too much of a coincidence not to be the cause of feeling unwell. For the record I have had caravans motorhoms or boats for nearly thirty years I have never flushed any system and have always drank
water from whatever holding tank is fitted and have never had any ill effects.0 -
I don't know what your current 'grains of salt' might be - but here's another reason why we don't drink the caravan water supply, but keep a jug or bottle in the fridge, and use that for everything we drink and sometimes we just fill the kettle directly from the site taps.
As you can see, from the linked to post I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about it, I still don't understand why the caravan industry/water container manufacturers don't have to run proper tests to make sure the water is actually fit to drink in 'on-site' conditions. Perhaps because the results would show something they wouldn't like!
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You could get a sample checked by a private lab or your local environment agency at little cost.
I too gave up drinking from my main m/home tank after several and uncharacteristic spells of the trots whilst on tour. I have seen folk rinsing their toilet cassettes with the drinking water tap and hose, and at La Source site recently for three mornings
on the trot (ho-hum) a (French) chap emptied his toilet cassette correctly each morning then took it to the the sinks for washing up dishes to rinse it out, making cross contamination very likely. I mentioned this to him but he was completely dismissive of
his irresponsibilty.I never drink from my main tank and keep a 5 litre fresh supply for that in a separate container but even then it's usually for hot beverages, cooking veg etc. so is boiled first. Contradictorily I do use the main tank water sterilised with one Puritab per
5 litres for teeth brushing.............I find it curious that the domestic main water supply is generally potable even though the water utility's reservoirs and supply pipes are never sterilised or flushed through. Only once in 45 years as a householder has the supply company made a spontaneous,
apparently routine, check on the water quality at my domestic taps.0 -
I don't know what your current 'grains of salt' might be - but here's another reason why we don't drink the caravan water supply, but keep a jug or bottle in the fridge, and use that for everything we drink and sometimes we just fill the kettle directly from the site taps.
As you can see, from the linked to post I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about it, I still don't understand why the caravan industry/water container manufacturers don't have to run proper tests to make sure the water is actually fit to drink in 'on-site' conditions. Perhaps because the results would show something they wouldn't like!
You know what I used to do for a living ValDa and because of that and the courses I have been on I don't drink from the caravan taps.
Nice photo of a biofilm by the way.
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The pipes and tanks carrying the public water supplies are almost always full of water and there is little opportunity for harm to arise. If the water is turned off, as when there is a leak to repair or a new connection to be made, the only noticable effect
is often a brown colouration for a while due to disturbed sediment.The pipes and tanks carrying caravan water supplies are often empty and nature colonises the inside in any way it can. All the cleaning chemicals seem to do is leave their own different funny taste. Your grains of salt are most probably just exactly that
- but of which mineral is anyone's guess.Good advice above, but to first eliminate the water system as a cause have a trip where
you do not consume caravan stored water in any way - teeth cleaning, boiling vegetables, making tea/coffe, washing dishes even. You do not mention other members of your party being affected so perhaps they can continue as usual as a control
sample.0 -
Slightly off topic (sorry), but I wonder if all the sites and CL type sites (not just CC sites) have a regime for drawing water from all the taps when not in regular use, such as through the winter shutdown. If not I wouldn’t want to be one of the first
few people to use the taps after such a break.0 -
Slightly off topic (sorry), but I wonder if all the sites and CL type sites (not just CC sites) have a regime for drawing water from all the taps when not in regular use, such as through the winter shutdown. If not I wouldn’t want to be one of the first few people to use the taps after such a break.
Seasonal .CC sites,water supplies are as far as posible drained at the end of season and "flushed" before sites open,and all toilet blocks are tested and treated
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I'm with those who don't really worry too much! We do change our system filter regularly, - roughly twice in a season. The first outing of the year especially, and on arrival at each new site we do not drink directly from tap water, but use bottled for
the first aquarole full, then after that we abandon the bottled water and use the tap in the normal way. Have never suffered from any gypy tummy etc.I am from the old school of thought that says that we are laying ourselves open to all sorts of trouble in the future by being too clinically clean. That removal of all naturally existing threats means that the body becomes too vulnerable to every minor
infection and loses the ability to defend itself. I don't mean that we are deliberatly dirty, that would be stupid, I just mean that being clinically clean may bring its own threats!TF
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I'm with those who don't really worry too much! We do change our system filter regularly, - roughly twice in a season. The first outing of the year especially, and on arrival at each new site we do not drink directly from tap water, but use bottled for the first aquarole full, then after that we abandon the bottled water and use the tap in the normal way. Have never suffered from any gypy tummy etc.
I am from the old school of thought that says that we are laying ourselves open to all sorts of trouble in the future by being too clinically clean. That removal of all naturally existing threats means that the body becomes too vulnerable to every minor infection and loses the ability to defend itself. I don't mean that we are deliberatly dirty, that would be stupid, I just mean that being clinically clean may bring its own threats!
TF
That's a perfectly reasonable point TF.
The human immune system needs stimulating and living in an aseptic bubble is neither needed or desirable.
There is a but coming though.
Microbaterial infections are spread very easily in water and for some people it can mean nothing (depending on the micro organism) others a gippy tummy, to some (especially immunosuppressed people) it can literally kill them.
Not trying to scare anyone but the water system in a caravan that is not in contrant use might not be as innocuous as caravanners would hope it might be.
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If you really feel that contaminated water from your unit has affected you in some way, then obviously take steps to avoid it. I have drank water direct out of the taps in various vans for over 20 years without so much of a jittery tummy, maybe I'm lucky, maybe I have a strong constitution, I don't know. But while its good I will carry on with the way I do it, must add though that I regularly change the filter and flush twice a year adding tablets, also I run off the tap for a few litres before filling aquaroll.
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The "grains of salt" sound like limescale to me, so check the tap spouts for any signs of this. As for drinking from the caravan water system, we've done it for years with no adverse effects & I'm certain mrs Bunny ( medical microbiologist ) would have
told me if our bi-annual cleansing of the system wasn't cutting it ( or is she trying to kill me off......)
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Stick wtih drinking wine. It is much safer.
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I am careful to sterilise my water, if not boiled, with scotch.
On a serious note on a 12 month old caravan 9 years ago we had a chemical off-taste and used
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h64ahe, here are some conclusions I have come to over 30 years of caravanning. Some of the smaller sites, eg farms, get their water from a well and not from the mains. Unfamiliar water can affect you, so we have four old plastic milk bottles which we fill with home water and take with us in the car, so for the first couple of days we are drinking our own home water, which is soft, not hard water. When they are empty we refill from the tap and don't drink via the caravan pipes. Some members like myself have found the inner lining of the blue pipe between barrel and caravan is coated with a black slime, I cut one open, no doubt with lots of bacteria so I bought a new blue pipe and submersible pump, The slime is caused by the sun and heat shinning on the water in the pipe that could be stationary for hours. You can overcome possible risks easily.
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We have a 2014 Quasar and have not had any problems like you describe nor have we come accross it in the 33 years we have had caravans. I can only think it is probably calcium as it is in both taps but could not rule out something left in the pipes during
construction. I would have it checked out to be on the safe side if you can find someone willing to do this for a reasonable price.0 -
Like Tigerfish I virtually never worry about water. Having drunk from Garden hoses, ponds etc, when young, and visited Spain when Spanish Tummy was rife, I believe I have now built an inner resistance. One of my 3 children is an avid bottled water user and
she has more stomach upsets than the other two that drink from a tap.We do have a filter in the caravan which we have changed once a year at the annual service. Not sure whether it does it's job throughout the whole year or not.0 -
Fear not, she won't use the caravan water system to claim on the insurance
On the other hand
I see you are from Yorkshire. Don't mention the Hospital but ask her if her big boss is called Mark
Not quite Yorkshire Fysh, but apparently where I live used to be before boundary changes. Now Stockton on Tees Unitary authority ( catchy it aint ), so no her big boss was not called Mark
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