Keeping fresh water tank clean Forums

Gewitty

I just installed a General Ecology Nature-Pure water purifier in my RV. This does wonders for the taste and safety of the drinking water, but I read in the manual that they recommend putting a small amount of bleach into the main tank, in order to restrict the growth of bacteria and algae. However, I recently read in another post that bleach can have a detrimental effect on parts of the water heating system.

Does anyone have any further thoughts or ideas on this subject?

johnsandywhite

Hi Gewitty. This might help you make your mind up:-

Gewitty

Thanks for the link John, it's a useful site. Since I posted my earlier query, I have spoken to the dealer that supplied my RV. He was dead against using bleach in the freshwater tanks, since he believes that this could damage components in the water heater. His suggestion was to buy sterilisation tablets from a caravan shop. He says that these will do the job of stopping any bugs or algae developing in the tank.

There is quite a good discussion of the various 'dangers' and options at

rowley

Has anyone used Chempro, I notice that CAK sell it. It is supposed to sanitize the tank and not leave a taste. They say that it is used by the wine makers.

johnsandywhite

Hi Gewitty. We actually used ordinary household bleach 2 years ago in our old Coachmen. Provided you flush out there shouldn't be a problem. We did only use it for washing for the first season after that, but the next year we found no after taste at all. The Chempro idea seems sound. We used to use Baby Milton for flushing out bottles for our home brewed wine years ago. Rolling Eyes

spykal · Moderator

Hi

Bleach and other cleaners may damage your water heater but it is easy to clean the Fresh water tank without letting the water heater fill with any of the cleaning fluid. All you need to do is make sure the water heater is full of clean water before you add any cleaning agent to the fresh water tank. Then you can add the cleaner to the tank and let it soak. Then pump through the cold side of the system to waste ... at this stage I do let some through the heater and hot system too in the belief that a moments contact with the cleaner will not do any damage but will disinfect that side too. A couple of fresh water fills pumped through the system will complete the job.

I do this once or twice a year and have used "beer pipe cleaner" or Milton.

Link to Milton web site advice:

Paulway

Hi Rowley,
We use SDP Chempro all the time for sanitizing the fresh water, we started using it as it was the only cleaner recommended and accepted by Carver for use with the Cascade water heater (due to the aluminium heat exchanger that Milton, bleach or other sterilizing tablets were found to perforate) we have stuck with it ever since. Can honestly say that both our children were caravaners / motorhomers from 3 and 4 months respectively and none of us have ever had bad or upset stomachs or had any taste problem.

Gewitty

Just looked for a supplier of Chempro and found that it is no longer produced. Apparently, another steriliser called VWP is a suitable replacement.

RobMD

A similar cleaner is Puriclean, it leaves no aftertaste and is generally available at caravan accessory shops. It dissolves easily and is meant for use on domestic systems. We use it a few times each year and have no problems.

A small amount of bleach shouln't do any harm to the components in the van domestic system, as it is alkaline, and the concentration of Sodium Hypochlorite is generally very low in domestic bleach. Just make sure the bleaching agent is Sodium Hypochlorite and it doesn't contain other cleaners or perfumes.
Cheap thin bleach is often OK,

Paulway

Oh heck,
When did that stop then, it does last ages and is very effective, still have half a pack left! Is WWP the same then, do you know. We will be lost without our SDP, used to get it from the home brew shop.