sterilising water system

[robstanbury_5041463]

HI Thorpedo, Nice idea the pipes,but our van is 97 ABI ,and we

could smell it in our Aqua roll,I dont know why people have such

a problem with water in vans ,if you take the basic hygiene maintenance with the vans water system,you should have no problems.

Have you been up in the attic to look in the cold water tank?

There is only one tap in most houses that has fresh water

and thats the kitchen sink,so when you clean your teeth in

the bathroom that water has been sat in your spotless, clean

tank and pipe work in the attic,as far as our dogs go,I have

tried the highland spring water, but I lose out to that

muddy puddle or stream,every time.And we are all still here.

Rob Lynne&Woofers

 

[xtrailman]

rob

The cold water tanks in the loft only supply a head for your hot water system. The cold tap is fed direct from mains ground.

Our cold mains water smells of chemicals, we only drink it after its gone through a filter jug.

 

[robstanbury_5041463]

Hi Ray. I know you are technically right, but my point is, it

is easier to keep 3/4 mts of pipework in the van up

together, than a house old/new,We live in a chalk area

and some times in looks like milk,so when we go away with

the van do we start thinking about the water quality of

the site,we need to lighten up.

Rob&Lynne&Woofers

 

[catherine2]

Hi Ray

The water to the taps in many houses, including ours, are fed from the cold water tank in the loft, via the hot water cylinder in the case of the hot taps, with the exception of the cold water tap in the kitchen, which is supplied direct from the mains, which is a legal requirement. Although I personally drink water from the cold tap in the bathroom because I rather like the taste of dead mouse / bat / fly, I would not recommend this to others! However, I am loathe to drink from the taps in our caravan as I (possibly mistakenly) feel that because the pipes are not constantly being flushed through with fresh water they might harbour more germs, quite apart from the fact the water doesn't taste very pleasant.

 

[xtrailman]

catherine

I stand corrected.

My last house where i lived for 24 years, had all the cold water taps mains fed. The hot water was via the loft water tank and hot water boiler.

This system makes sense to me, but feeding cold water taps via a open topped tank sounds unhygenic?.

 

[Ianofwilts]

JTQ, it seems you are the guru. Am I doing anything wrong. If the van has been stood for a period of time I bring it home and fill both the aqua roll and onboard tank from my hot water supply keep it running in the house with the taps in the van open. My thermastat on my emersion tank is set at 70 degrees and i understand thats hot enough to deal with the average bug. It is a waste of water in some eyes but it does avoid some of the issues raised.

Ian

 

[catherine2]

catherine

I stand corrected.

My last house where i lived for 24 years, had all the cold water taps mains fed. The hot water was via the loft water tank and hot water boiler.

This system makes sense to me, but feeding cold water taps via a open topped tank sounds unhygenic?.

Hi Ray

It's not really unhygenic in practice as most people don't drink cold water from the bathroom tap and most of us are built to withstand the odd few bugs we might pick up when cleaning our teeth etc. As my dear old granny used to say, "You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die" (and she lived to 92)

 

[JTQ]

Ian

Not a guru but have been responsible for many ship's water storage/distribution systems so been involved in similar issues.

Well Ian to be honest I don't think what your doing is a good thing, but in part it depends on your domestic water system.

The water from your domestic hot system could well be from a loft header tank. If so this has a free surface and so the protective chlorine in the supply quickly leaches away and it's open to bacteriological etc contamination. If you have a pressurised water system this would not be the case.

Your 'stat might well be set at 70 but the water lower in your hot water cylinder is far from 70, only the top initial take off water will be. Added to this heating the water is driving out just about any residual chlorine.

So at the best your filling the system with 70 deg C un-chlorinated water; with the take off volumes I doubt it is anywhere near 70.

Anyway as the van system and Aquaroll cool they are left with water with no protection whatsoever. Not a good starting point, fresh cold would be better; flush with it and dry out much better.

I just try and leave both my water carrier and vans inboard tank as empty as possible, the bugs need water so don't provide it. I would certainly not have a filter as you cant dry it. If the van maker curses you with a filter, then remove the element if possible. With the Carver I just broke the element from the sealing cap.

Then you have to be better not drinking the system water, no need to get paranoid about it but be smart and avoid unnecessary exposure.

 

[Guest]

Interesting topic, good post val) the wife will only drink bottled water in the van, I have sometimes used the van water supply for the kettle but tend to fill it from the site tap.

 

[vernon]

Last April at the Blackshaw Moor upper toilet block, I saw a guy remove the flexible pipe from the 'Waste' tap, which had been used inside waste containers to rinse them out, and attach it to the 'Drinking Water' tap and put into his Aquaroll as he didn't have a pipe of his own. Afterwards he just walked off and left it attached for the next person to use.

As soon as possible I put it back on the 'Waste' tap, but next day it was back on the 'Drinking' tap!

In France a couple of years ago I saw a Frenchman rinse out the waste tank of his toilet cassette under the drinking water tap, and tip it down the drain.

I can't understand some people's thinking, perhaps they should be 'Sterilized' instead of their water containers!

 

[Guest]

Look on the positive side. Walking across to the tap to fill kettle, or bottle is good exercise. You may also meet a like minded soul and have a chat. Far better than sitting morosely in the van watching Neighbours etc.

 

[vernon]

Look on the positive side. Walking across to the tap to fill kettle, or bottle is good exercise. You may also meet a like minded soul and have a chat. Far better than sitting morosely in the van watching Neighbours etc.

You shouldn't assume I was sat in my caravan? I was walking around the site.

 

[Guest]

You shouldn't assume I was sat in my caravan? I was walking around the site.

Vernon,

Your Post was not on the page when I made my comment, which was a general one aimed at those who fill the kettle from the van water system. The system obviously updated at cross purposes.

 

[vernon]

Vernon,

Your Post was not on the page when I made my comment, which was a general one aimed at those who fill the kettle from the van water system. The system obviously updated at cross purposes.

Sorry!

 

[Guest]

Sorry!

No probs. I notice the time was the same for both Posts

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi all

it can be suprising how many varied and complicated answers you get to such a simple questions, use a filter don't use a filter change it every year or dont bother. use milton for sterilising, dont use milton it damages the heater tank, don't drink the van water, do drink the van water, it is no wonder that newbies get confused, and the same questions get asked time and time again.

I believe that there is no definitive answer on caravan water questions it is purely a matter of choice, personal beliefs and

individual routines.

for instance if you never drink the water from the van taps why sterillise it all as the hot water will do that all on it's own if it is hot enough, why bother with a bio filter when site water taps are mains fed.

my own view on this and it is a very personal one is we dont't drink the water from the van taps prefering to use bottled water so I do not bother to sterilise the van system at all. I do though use a weak soluion of milton to clean the water hog and inlet pipe, before the vans first outing.

like JTQ I do not use the replacable carver filtre either just the cap that acts as a blanking plate but I do cover the immersible pump with one of those sponge filters like the ones used in fish pond pumps. I never leave water in the system when the van is stood unoccupied for more than a few days just drain it all down and leave the taps open, the waste hog and toilet casette are cleaned out with bleach as soon as we get home after every trip.

and thats it really nothing difficult or complicated never had any problems with the vans water at all, some will disagree no doubt but in then it is all down personal choice and preferences.

colin

 

[Ianofwilts]

JTQ, see said you were the guru. As i leave the water system empty, from what you say and reading other comments, I think its probably better to flush the system as soon as I arrive on site if tap water is the best. Anyway when I pitch the last thing I go for is a glass of water well maybe a drop in me whiskey.

thanks

Ian

 

[ChrisUK]

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.

where do you get Certisil-Argento ? I've been using milton for the last year using a drop in every aqua roll fill (ruins the Earl grey) but I can see that this is a problem with stainless steel. I did a search in my Elldis manual (2008) and could find no warning.