Water debris

[Andrea_374395685]

Hello,
We have just returned from a lovely break in Pembrokeshire. We noticed that sometimes when we put tap water into the kettle we got small brown flaky 'bits' in with it. I managed to fish them out and the water tasted fine. We were not sure if it was the water quality or if it was something to do with the vans pipework? we did give the system a good flush thorough before we went away and all seemed fine then. one other thing that did cross my mind, was that we sterilised the aqua roll with milton fluid and wondered if maybe the milton has reacted with the plastic?? not sure??
Any advice greatly recieved

Thanks
Andrea

 

[Sproket]

There should not be a problem with your aqua roll, they use Milton to sterilise a lot of things,it just probably some sediment in the water..
We use one of these water filter jugs..
http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&q=water+filter+jugs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i8pdTPSMCYqI0wSlvMTGBw&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQrQQwAA
They are sometimes on offer at supermarkets...

 

[Parksy]

Hello,
We have just returned from a lovely break in Pembrokeshire. We noticed that sometimes when we put tap water into the kettle we got small brown flaky 'bits' in with it....

Thanks
Andrea

When you mentioned that you filled the kettle from the tap I'm assuming that you meant the caravan tap Andrea.
The brown flaky bits could be calcium deposits, similar to those which can form inside kettles and they may have become dislodged from your water heater or pipes during the sterilisation process.
If you could see the sorts of deposits that can form inside the water pipes of tourers it's doubtful whether you would want to use the caravan water system for drinks to be honest.
I know that many caravanners use their water from the caravan to make drinks with and they suffer no ill effects but you could be playing Russian Roulette with your health. This is because there is no effective method of draining every drop of stagnant water from your caravan water system. Harmful bacteria can muliply in this stagnant water even though you use Milton to sterilise the pipes. The bacteria forms a sort of sludge or slime inside the pipes and sterilising doesn't kill all of these germs.
Have you considered using the caravan system just for washing, doing the dishes etc and using clean plastic bottles to fetch fresh water from the site tap?
We keep a couple of bottles filled so that there's always enough for that early morning cuppa.

 

[ValA.]

I'd agree about the quality of the water, too, and we never drink water which comes through the caravan system - in fact we hardly use it at all these days. Some years ago I was often ill when we returned from caravan trips. This wasn't the Delhi Belly type of illness, but some dizziness, headaches, and other very odd symptoms of loss of feeling and slight problems with muscle control which always happened after coming back from holiday. I was referred to a Neurologist, and had various investigations, including an MRI scan. No really obvious problems were noted -though my blood tests were odd, as were my reflexes and co-ordination - and no diagnosis was given.
During our next holiday our pump stopped working and OH stripped it down. We were both horrified with what we found inside the pump - a greenish-black, slimey, foul smelly sludge inside the pump. He then cut down the two blue pipes and found the same slime inside those. We immediately bought a new pump and stopped drinking any water from the Aquaroll - and I never had any more problems or symptoms when returning from holiday, or at any other time. I can't say that the symptoms were caused by the stuff in the pump - but black 'mould' is known as a neuro-toxin (damages the nerves) as well as causing breathing and skin problems. In America it is taken very seriously indeed, and the school our friend's son goes to was closed because of it.
Our water system was always cleaned and sterilised thoroughly, the pump left in a clean dry place when not in use, and we were careful about being as 'clean' as possible when filling or emptying the Aquaroll. We do mainly holiday in Europe - and the Aquaroll was often in the sun during the day and then cooled down considerably at night.
I've said on here and other forums that I'm really surprised that caravan manufacturers and/or caravan magazines don't run some tests on the quality of the water which comes through the system.

 

[Icemaker]

in over 14 years of using our caravans we have never had one single issue with the quality of the water in the van. we use it for everything as we would at home and have suffered no ill effects at all.
we do sterilise the van every time we use it leaving the solution in the pipes and aqau rolls for around 2 hours then thoroughly rinsing out all the system with clean cold water, ive just looked at one of our pumps and its perfectly clean, no sludge at all even in the impeller which is where you expect anything to collect.
one thing i have always done is completely drained the water system every time we finish using the van, i leave both the drain taps and all the taps within the van open whenever the van is not in use so air can flow freely through the pipe work to stop any water from air-locking within the pipes.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Andrea
Do you get these flaky bits from both hot and cold?

I suspect it could be corroded bits from the hot water heater. It is possible the electric element has begun to corrode. I'm careful not to leave the milton solution in the hot water tank for more than one hour and then always give it a thorough flush.
Whilst I fully take on board Val's points I have to confess we do drink from the caravan taps. I have checked the pump and the blue pipe from the aquaroll and in nearly three years no build up of muck.
However if in doubt, better safe than sorry, use fresh bottled water.