Whale Watermaster Mains hose - clean or sterilise?

[BaileyNiggles]

Searched for prior answers on this and was half surprised (these forums are too quiet and poorly supported to be be fully surprised!) to have not found any earlier question or answer ...

Is there a need to do anything more than just flush the hose through prior to use, and if so what and how? It doesn't lend itself to soaking with any kind of cleaning agent.

 

[VicMallows]

I guess a lot depends on whether you intend to drink the water that has passed through it. Personally, we always use a 5l container filled directly from the tap for drinking. If the water is just for washing-up/showers/etc I would simply flush out the hose if it hadn't been used for a while.

 

[Kevin2306]

Perhaps I have a good constitution but apart from a flush through that’s about all I’ve ever done to any of my vans systems, we do use a small Britta water filter for drinking water.
We do van all rear round so perhaps the regular use helps matters.

Kev

 

[Hutch]

We just fill up the aqua roll, and use the water straight from the caravan taps, same in France, never had problems, except at Houghton mill , a NT site, when the dogs would not drink the water as over chlorinated, but
It didn't happen three weeks ago water was Ok.
Flush the van with Milton. But Aqua roll , say use Bi carb of soda to clean the barrels.

 

[Craigyoung]

We are the same as Kevin , we use the van all year round so after each trip out whilst packing up we drop 2 Milton tablets into the aqua roll & leave for about half an hour & give a good shake .

Craig .

 

[Parksy]

Click Here, scroll down and read the post from Val A
It put me right off drinking from the caravan system for ever.

 

[Craigyoung]

Cheers for that Parksy! Up late again tonight are we!!
I've never had a problem with the drinking water through the van , it's been fine , maybe if we all used it once in a blue moon but with my shifts worked out , every 4 weeks or 5 we are away on a weekend .

Craig .

 

[paws]

To try and answer Baily Niggles question, all I can say is that over 45 years of caravanning we have never done anything other than flush through our hoses and van with ordinary tap water for a minute or two once or twice a year.

We have always used the caravan taps for drinking water and more important making the tea!

Maybe its early days yet but we had no problems at all so far!

We use an ordinary polythene container for the fresh water ( dont have fancy stuff like aqua rolls and the like) and the tea tastes just fine.

Perhaps it's because we have a "nearly new caravan" (only 22 years old!) so it's probably far too early for any contaminents to build up to a level where we would notice them.

I have used the same procedure on my boats over the years, but do remember about 15 years ago when one was laid up for rather longer than usual (about a year) I did lash out on a small box of Puriclean and treated the onboard tank (18 gals + 2gals in reserve) I can't say that I noticed any difference at all when I recommissioned her, I didn't do anything with the filling hose other than its usual flush through.
Hope this helps and as always
Happy Caravanning
Regards to all
paws

 

[audiorob]

Never done anything with my whale pump except hold it up to drain any water out after use than leave it curled up in the sink ready for my next trip. Don't most vans have an inline filter anyway that is supposed to do just that? So at the start of the season I fill and run two aquarolls worth of clean water through (which also checks the drainage pipes!) and never had an issue with drinking 'straight from the tap'.

 

[otherclive]

Mine has an onboard Flojet pump and the only “filter” is a gauze strainer on the water inlet hose at its inlet that goes into the aqua roll. So that gets cleaned periodically as do the tap “filters”.
I use Puriclens if the van has been out of action for a couple of months but other than that I drain down as we leave a pitch, and pump through on setting up.

 

[BaileyNiggles]

Lots of tanks and pumps talk there, which is interesting, but what about the 7.5m of Mains hosepipe in question, if not explicit in the original subject? Just flush through again I guess for a minute or so before connecting to van?

 

[Hutch]

When I use a mains hose to connect from mains to our Aqua roll, with a float valve, I just flush with fresh water for a few minutes.

 

[otherclive]

Lots of tanks and pumps talk there, which is interesting, but what about the 7.5m of Mains hosepipe in question, if not explicit in the original subject? Just flush through again I guess for a minute or so before connecting to van?

That’s what two others have recommended so it seems a reasonable way forwards. I think that the reason your initial search may not have come up with something is the limitation of the search facility. I can recall previous threads where water hose cleanliness has been discussed and in particular whether the use of garden hose was okay in contrast to the use of food grade hose. So it’s probably there somewhere but not easy to access.
Your decision is on a par with advice from water companies after work is carried out on domestic supplies. Just flush it through.

 

[CustardAvenger]

Lots of tanks and pumps talk there, which is interesting, but what about the 7.5m of Mains hosepipe in question, if not explicit in the original subject? Just flush through again I guess for a minute or so before connecting to van?

That’s what two others have recommended so it seems a reasonable way forwards. I think that the reason your initial search may not have come up with something is the limitation of the search facility. I can recall previous threads where water hose cleanliness has been discussed and in particular whether the use of garden hose was okay in contrast to the use of food grade hose. So it’s probably there somewhere but not easy to access.
Your decision is on a par with advice from water companies after work is carried out on domestic supplies. Just flush it through.

I put my Truma Ultraflow water inlet pipe in a solution of Bicarbonate of Soda, [it had been used by the dealer to pressurise and demonstrate the system at pick-up] as that had been advice on cleaning Aquarolls, so not to taint the plastic with chemical taste. Perhaps submerging the mains hose in Bicarb for a few hours then flushing through would be adequate.

A 2nd hand AquaRoll I purchased was sealed up and had a small amount of water left inside, so we will see how effective the Bicarb is when I get round to cleaning it!

Paul.

 

[Hutch]

Paul, I have changed my mind on sterilising, so now the Aqua roll will be done with the Bi carb. Lets all have a good season, although we try, to get out all year, doesn't always happen.

 

[Dustydog]

Twice a year Milton is fished through all tanks aquarolls and pipes. If you have a filter in line or submerged in the aqua roll best remove it and replace with a temporary used one. Also don’t leave the Milton solution in the hot water tank too long, 10 minutes at most as damage can be caused to the stainless steel surfaces. As for the mains water hose , which is food grade, that just gets a good flush through before connection. All the other comments are excellent.
I have to confess for the last 40 years we drink the water direct from the caravan taps with no adverse effects

 

[Woodentop]

Lots of tanks and pumps talk there, which is interesting, but what about the 7.5m of Mains hosepipe in question, if not explicit in the original subject? Just flush through again I guess for a minute or so before connecting to van?

Starting from new so assumed clean, I flushed it through before first use. When we finished with it I put a Hozelock back-to-back adapter in the stop end so that I could empty the residual water from the pipe, coiled it up, and then joined the ends of the hose together with the same adpater. As these adapters are watertight it is unlikely anything will get into the pipe, ergo it stays clean.

SImples?

 

[Brads]

As an aside, how the hell do you get the filter to sink ? Used the van for the first time ever last weekend and was trying to keep the filter submerged all weekend.

Same set up, Whale inlet in an aquaroll. (I drink the water from the tap as well, but then germs don`t worry me too much)

 

[Hutch]

Lovely dog, a lot of people use a bit of straight 30mm tubeing over the flexy hose , or place weight around the end of the flexy hose.maybe the flexy waste hose might do the same strong enough not to let the filter float. I have the Truma system with a pump on the end so it doesn't happen.
Hutch.

 

[otherclive]

Mines an onboard pump and the inlet hose is just a plastic strainer on its end that goes in the aqua roll. Never really gave any thought to if it would float. But it doesn't, but what it will do if I just stuff it all in is to curl back on itself. Which then doesn't allow me to draw as much water as us held by the aqua roll.

 

[SteveC2]

Get a short length of 40mm or 50mm white waste pipe to suit the pump dia and cut to suit the height or dia of your water hog. Cut or file a little cutaway at one end so it doesn't seal to the bottom. Then just feed the filter/pump into the pipe and push to the bottom. It can't curl then.

As an extra drill a small hole right through at the other end and feed a loop of string or nylon fishing line through. Now just hook it over the site tap when refilling and you don't have to hold a hose pipe from trying to fly about and soaking you.