sterilising water system

[Philip_374349976]

Hi

I bought my first caravan last year and it all most time to get it back out of storage for the new season, can any one please tell me the best way to sterilise/sanitise the water system/aqua roll ect. and do you have to change the filter each year

Many Thanks

Phil

 

[cooky1]

I use a weak solution of Milton in the aquaroll. I flush all the pipes and taps and leave the solution in the system a couple of hours. I them flush everything with loads of water. I change the water filter at the start of my caravanning season - in March.

Graeme.

 

[Philip_374349976]

Graeme

When you say a weak solution I guess it is tablets for baby's bottle ect. is it half of what it advises or just a good guess because i think I have read in the past can things do things to your hot water tank degrade them for example

Phil

 

[cooky1]

Graeme

When you say a weak solution I guess it is tablets for baby's bottle ect. is it half of what it advises or just a good guess because i think I have read in the past can things do things to your hot water tank degrade them for example

Phil

I use the same strength that Milton says to sterilise baby bottles. As long as it is well flushed from the systen I don't think it causes any problems. I have been doing it this way for many years and had no problems.

Graeme.

 

[cooky1]

I use the same strength that Milton says to sterilise baby bottles. As long as it is well flushed from the systen I don't think it causes any problems. I have been doing it this way for many years and had no problems.

Graeme.

 

[Icemaker]

we have been doing the same thing as graeme for over 14 years now and have never been ill through bacteria or had any defects on the water system so i think it safe to say its a tried and trusted method.

 

[Philip_374349976]

So all I need to do is follow the instruction on the box including standing time ect.

Thanks very much for that

Phil

 

[Mike_374397708]

I'd definitely follow the instructions as I used Milton at double strength on a 2nd hand van I bought a couple years ago to make sure it was clean and the water tasted so strongly of chlorine on the first trip we had to buy bottled water. Flushing through when we got home with loads more water cured it.

Mike

 

[JTQ]

Just a word of warning, not to scare but to be advised of a potential risk of damage.

As has been touched on Milton and other products based on Sodium hypochlorite will quite aggressively attack stainless steel as used by Truma in Ultra heat boilers.

The nature of the attack is to create pin prick size "pitting corrosion" at micro weaknesses in the surface,near welds and in crevices.

Realistically I doubt if leaving it in the boiler for 2 hours would cause an issue but I would advise against leaving it for say 24 hours.

Unfortunately once initiated the corrosion within the pit can then continue even after the tank is flushed and refilled with water. The strength of the concentration has little relevance in this regard, its simply the availability of chlorine to initiate the breakdown of the protective oxide film.

 

[JulieandStuart]

Can someone tell me where the filter is on our 2004 Lunar Clubman 475 CK2 please - might be a daft question but I haven't got a clue and it's really bothering me.

Thanks

 

[Happy-Lappy]

Julie & Stuart,

I have a 2005 Lunar Quasar 615 and I too am not sure if this has a filter.

I am under the impression that you only have a filter with On-Board Water Tanks, if your water system uses a Submersible Pump then there is no need for the filter,

I now wait to be corrected and informed where the filter is located,

best regards, Martin

PS. I have never sterilised my system and the water still tastes the same, but I use my caravan constantly.

 

[DEANO3528]

A timely warning JTQ, so what is the recommended solution, as I certainly don't want issues, myself. I have a cascade though I think, as it's a 1997 County

 

[JTQ]

Deano3528.

If its a Truma Ultrastore then the recommended product is Certisil-Argento. Now if you can get this your doing better than I did when I had one of these boilers.

See, page 2 of:

http://www.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma-Katalog/pdf_verzeichnis/70_000/70000_94600.pdf
Note this warns about the unsuitability of Chlorine based products.

However just putting it on electric heating regularly looks after the water contained in it.

To sterilise without getting it into the boiler you could do as I did put in a stop **** but another method would be to start with a boiler 100% full of water then purge the rest of the system without opening a "hot" flow. Then purge with fresh water before opening a "hot" then a bit more flushing before putting the boiler onto electricity to sterilise that.

Now if you have a Carver Cascade then they are epoxy coated Aluminium and I am not qualified to advise you what to use. However knowing how easily aluminium can be attacked and not trusting coatings I personally would not put any steriliser into it, and use a technique as above to ensure not much got onto it. This is one for "Gary" I think.

 

[Dustydog]

JTQ

I shuddder to think what long term damage I did to my children. Milton boasted you could drink their solution with no harm!

I give up on all this don't do this don't do that.

Is anything safe anymore??

Cheers

Alan

 

[xtrailman]

I wasn't going to responed to this post because it has been covered so many times.

Its a pity a search often fails to get results.

We have used metabisulphate with apinch of citric acid.(S.D.P.)

Thats a table spoon to a pint of water, soak for 30mins. Then rinse. this we use to strilise our wine making equipment.

Prior to that we used Milton.

In extreme cases i have run domestos through, just flush really well after.

The inboard tank filler tube gets black inside ever year i remove it and clean it with domestos.

I used the above for 7 years on my previous van, my present 2004 from new.

If the van is unused for more than 5 week between outings i sterilise again.

We have a filter on the kitchen sink cold tap, always fill the kettle from this, and usually reboil it after every top up.

 

[xtrailman]

Also i have never changed the filter in 4 years, but i suppose it should be changed every year, so the manual says.

Funny that you pay

 

[JTQ]

JTQ

I shuddder to think what long term damage I did to my children. Milton boasted you could drink their solution with no harm!

I give up on all this don't do this don't do that.

Is anything safe anymore??

Cheers

Alan

alan ,

Unless your offspring are "bionic" and held together with Stainless steel you should have done them no harm!

Seriously so called "stainless steel" is anything but stainless if its oxide film is breached and chlorine is superb at doing just that.

Is anything safe any more; no even beer and wine seem to be off limits now but I will still flush my kidneys with them as I have for years.

Cheers John

 

[JTQ]

Ray,

IMO if your not changing your filter* regularly then your wasting your time sterilising your system.

The barrier filter is a "made in heaven" breeding ground for bacteria. Micro food particles including bacteria's parents, in-laws, grand parents corpses clinging to the fibres and depleted carbon grains you constantly flushing nice refreshing oxygen rich water to them.

If your not changing it every few weeks you would be far far better doing away with it completely, deny the little "B" a home.

I just knocked everything other than the cap off and refitted that.

* Comment is about barrier and active carbon filters not type based on a silver core. The carbon will only remove tastes not bacteria, and tastes only for a short while.

 

[Thorpedo]

We avoid using water from the caravan system to drink or to cook. I'm concerned about what kamikaze critter has crept into the aquaroll. Or potentially added by some miscreant.

For instance in the new forest horses, cows and donkeys constantly roam around the caravans and take great interest in the aquaroll orifice. No cover will keep donkeys out. I've watched them undo the zip on a tent with their sensitive lips.

A big dog off the lead could also leave an undesirable fluid around the top od the aquaroll.

We carry a couple of cleaned plastic 6 pint milk containers for drinking water and change them during the season.

I think you can get too excited about all this complicated flushing and purging and greasing and taking things to bits.

Never found the need for a colonic irrigation either, just thought you'd like to know. Oooh shudder ;0)

 

[DEANO3528]

No I don't use the taps like I do at home for a drink. After all, that's what God invented bottled water for isn't it? The missus won't even clean her teeth with the tap water although I do.

 

[robstanbury_5041463]

Hi Philip

All the advice you have been given is spot on,if its

ok for baby ,its fine for the the van,one cautionary

tale,our second van was bought from a ward sister,

old school,bleach&dettol on everything!.So we set up

our new van and sit down to a nice cuppa,must be the

tea bags,does it taste of TCP I asked!Our hot water

heater 'TCP',our Aqua roll which they had given us

'TCP'.Solution throw away the Aqua roll,flushing was no

good ,descale the water heater ,new water filter,so

dont be tempted to use anything because thats all you

have in the cupboard.PS I still have a problem with TCP!

Rob&Lynne&Woofers

 

[Thorpedo]

Rob Stanbury

You may be doing the diligent Sister a disfavour.

How old was the van and what was the make?

There was a problem with Bailey caravans a couple of years back where the water pipes caused exactly this taste from new and nothing would get rid of it. Everyone ( including me Grrrr) described it as a TCP taste.

It was apparently the liner of the pipe reacting with Floride in the water. If you used bottled water to test there was no taste but yuo'd have to flush first.

My pipes were eventually changed under warranty and all was well. ( well not being a pun :0) )

 

[Paul_5064559]

Phil,

I get amazed to read so many people drink water that has been sitting in their van pipework. Would they drink the water from a hot water bottle I wonder. I sterilise the water container and the filter gets changed each spring but thats all. Any water we drink even for the kettle comes direct from the water tap this includes our dog also. I consider water from our van tap is good only for washing in or washing-up.

 

[ValA.]

Over a period of a few years I'd noticed that I became ill after our caravanning holidays, and this illness resulted in quite major symptoms, lots of time off work, and investigations including a brain and MRI scan. Nothing was ever found, but it happened several times. Whilst on holiday our pump stopped working and Mr Val A stripped it down to find what the problem was. The pump and pipes connecting the pump to the van were full of black slime and black filaments - even though we sterilised our water system regularly. At this point we immediately stopped drinking the water through the caravan taps, and I've not had any symptoms since.

On another forum there's been a discussion about water - and I wondered what, in the caravan water supply, could possibly have cause my problems. I did a bit of 'googling' because I know that algal growth in water exposed to sunlight is a problem, and that there are such things as toxic algal blooms, which produce neurotoxins (my symptoms were all neurological). I just wonder whether algae growing in our water supply (which was in the sunniest hottest part of France, usually) could have been to blame - the neurological symptoms described in some of these reports is exactly the sort of problems I had.

I keep harping on about the need to properly test the quality of the water that comes through aquarolls, in proper settings (ie not just a caravan set up in a test lab - but out in the field, with sunshine, showers, and possibly s..t!) but as far as I can see this has not been done.

We all connect our aquarolls, sterilise if that's part of our routine, and some of us drink the water - but perhaps there are other people being affected like I was without making the connection to the caravan water? I've suggested to Practical Caravan that the water quality be tested once before, and have raised it in the thread asking for suggestions about 'What to test' - but can I be the only one who thinks it is so important that I'm surprised it's apparently never been done?

 

[Geeforjeep]

Over a period of a few years I'd noticed that I became ill after our caravanning holidays, and this illness resulted in quite major symptoms, lots of time off work, and investigations including a brain and MRI scan. Nothing was ever found, but it happened several times. Whilst on holiday our pump stopped working and Mr Val A stripped it down to find what the problem was. The pump and pipes connecting the pump to the van were full of black slime and black filaments - even though we sterilised our water system regularly. At this point we immediately stopped drinking the water through the caravan taps, and I've not had any symptoms since.

On another forum there's been a discussion about water - and I wondered what, in the caravan water supply, could possibly have cause my problems. I did a bit of 'googling' because I know that algal growth in water exposed to sunlight is a problem, and that there are such things as toxic algal blooms, which produce neurotoxins (my symptoms were all neurological). I just wonder whether algae growing in our water supply (which was in the sunniest hottest part of France, usually) could have been to blame - the neurological symptoms described in some of these reports is exactly the sort of problems I had.

I keep harping on about the need to properly test the quality of the water that comes through aquarolls, in proper settings (ie not just a caravan set up in a test lab - but out in the field, with sunshine, showers, and possibly s..t!) but as far as I can see this has not been done.

We all connect our aquarolls, sterilise if that's part of our routine, and some of us drink the water - but perhaps there are other people being affected like I was without making the connection to the caravan water? I've suggested to Practical Caravan that the water quality be tested once before, and have raised it in the thread asking for suggestions about 'What to test' - but can I be the only one who thinks it is so important that I'm surprised it's apparently never been done?

Phil

I also flush the water system as previously covered by Graeme and have never had any problems.

In addition to Val A comments, I have never trusted the local native water, it could for example be tanked water which could host all kinds of bacteria.

Good practice dictates that your in line filter should be replaced after 30 days, but I only change mine at the beginning of the season (usually Easter for us) and decant the water from the cold feed at the caravan sink to a Brita Water Filter, this water is then boiled to make coffee or tea or used in cooking, my wife and daughter drink cold bottled water, I stick to the safer alternative, Stella or red wine.

Regards

Geeforjeep