How to add bleach solution to fresh water tank

[PlanoTXBill]

Does anyone have a handy way to pour the gallons of bleach solution into the fresh water tank other than a funnel/hose combo? Seems prone to splashing the bleach places you don't want it to go. Something like a bucket with a hose fitting at the bottom. Thanks.

 

[TedS]

I pour the cup or so of bleach in the hose. Then insert the hose in the tank fill and proceed to fill the tank. Start the fill slowly.

 

[MTPockets]

I pour the cup or so of bleach in the hose. Then insert the hose in the tank fill and proceed to fill the tank. Start the fill slowly.

This is what I do as well...... I don't think you need a gallon.... that is overkill..... Even a quart is pretty stiff.... Just fill and let stand overnight; After running it thru the lines drain it out and you're good to go.

 

[Bob&Patty]

I use a flexable funnel and add a cup or so to the tank.

 

[PlanoTXBill]

Thanks for the replies. The only reason I mentioned gallons of solution is the manual suggests 1/4 cup per gallon of water and the fresh water tank holds 53 gallons according to the manual. That works out to just over 0.8 gal of bleach to get the recommended concentration. I'm hesitant to use a more diluted solution and also want to fill the tank up - just got my trailer and it was used for a few months. Thanks again.

 

[PlanoTXBill]

Oops - just re-read the manual and it only wants one gallon of solution per 15 gallon of capacity, so just over 3.5 gallons of solution or just under 1 cup of bleach.

 

[porthole]

I have a 110 gallons of water. So I mix up the required ratio with 5 gallons of water in a bucket. I Use a portable "drop in" sump pump to pump it into the tank.

Because the Cyclones use two water tanks connected with a mid level transfer hose, I add about 30 gallons of water and let it seek level before adding the solution.

I will also on occasion use the water pump to pump water from the tank back into the tank to help mix things up a bit.

 

[TandT]

I use one of these laundry detergent scoops.

I fill it with bleach/water solution and pour it into the tank from the handle side. The groove in the handle funnels the solution right into the fresh tank opening. Repeat as needed. Small light weight and handy.

I only use a couple teaspoons of bleach in the tank. Trace

 

[murry135]

Re-read you dilutions, sounds like to much and you never get rid of the bleach smell and taste. I prefer to us less and do it 2-3 times and then several complete full and drains. Un;ess you have a bad odor or signs of mold don't over do it.

 

[BarneyFife]

I use a Coke bottle. You can either pour the bleach solution straight into it or if you cut a hole in the side of the bottle, it becomes a funnel with a side opening.

 

[lwmcguir]

I don't like the bleach smell/taste so about 25 years ago we started using hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid. Works as well or better and you don't have all the other issues.

 

[Sumo]

I don't like the bleach smell/taste so about 25 years ago we started using hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid. Works as well or better and you don't have all the other issues.

How much Hydrogen Peroxide should one use for a 53 gal freshwater water tank?

 

[ChangingPlaces]

I was told to use citrus acid by a person who makes water tanks.

 

[porthole]

I was told to use citrus acid by a person who makes water tanks.

That line had me do a bit of searching .......

Bleach is the most common agent and relatively safe, hydrogen peroxide seems to be quite effective and with some side benefits, but is required in much higher concentrations with it's use, complicating matters and citrus acid works by changing the PH, which may or may not give you the desired effect, and can give you detrimental side effects. For citrus acid to work it seems the PH needs to be down around 2. If you don't adjust the PH after sanitizing you can cause other problems.

I also found a contact time to disinfect listed with bleach being fairly quick, 2-3 minutes and HP fairly long, 180 minutes.

This page has a short synopsis:
http://wqa.org/sitelogic.cfm?ID=2265#Q3vo

I found a lot of links and many of them related to RV or boating forums, so I took most of those as "home remedies" and skipped them. Keep in mind, using hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant for a cut is an old wives tale. Although it will help kill bacteria in your wound, it will also kill or damage the good healthy cells that are trying to repair your skin.

This Google search brought a lot of commercial links up
bleach, citrus acid or hydrogen peroxide to sanitize water tanks?

Having a quality water supply to begin with is key. For us, our drinking is very good.
I use the bleach method once in the spring time (remember to bypass your water heater). If at any time during th eyear I suspect teh water at teh campground 9Hatteras comes to mind) I will treat again.

And I think a key to keeping your water fresh in the trailer, especially if you drink it, is to keep it "fresh". Fill it, use it, and don't let it sit. The most I will allow the water to sit in the tank is a week. Even if we are using city water at the CG I will typically switch over the last day for showers and cleanup and waste tank flushing.

I found this quote on one site, and ignoring the I am a microbiologist" the rest of it was consistent on the various commercial links.

As a former microbiologist I can assure you that bleach is the chemical of choice for sanitizing water systems due to:
1. High kill rate at even low concentration.
2. Low cost.
3. Residual that is relatively stable over a given time at room temperature.
4. Will not create explosive gasses when combined with high organic material levels.
5. Ease of use and availability.

Hydrogen Peroxide is a good disinfectant but is unstable and creates a lot of gas in the presence of organic matter. It is also more expensive at the effective dosing levels required to sanitize water systems. It leave virtually no residual so once it reacts with organic material is is gone.

For cost vs effectiveness you can't beat bleach.

If using an RO system you should use that manufacturers recommendation for disinfectant so you don't damage the membrane.

 

[lwmcguir]

That line had me do a bit of searching .......

Bleach is the most common agent and relatively safe, hydrogen peroxide seems to be quite effective and with some side benefits, but is required in much higher concentrations with it's use, complicating matters and citrus acid works by changing the PH, which may or may not give you the desired effect, and can give you detrimental side effects. For citrus acid to work it seems the PH needs to be down around 2. If you don't adjust the PH after sanitizing you can cause other problems.

I also found a contact time to disinfect listed with bleach being fairly quick, 2-3 minutes and HP fairly long, 180 minutes.

This page has a short synopsis:
http://wqa.org/sitelogic.cfm?ID=2265#Q3vo

I found a lot of links and many of them related to RV or boating forums, so I took most of those as "home remedies" and skipped them. Keep in mind, using hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant for a cut is an old wives tale. Although it will help kill bacteria in your wound, it will also kill or damage the good healthy cells that are trying to repair your skin.

This Google search brought a lot of commercial links up
bleach, citrus acid or hydrogen peroxide to sanitize water tanks?

Having a quality water supply to begin with is key. For us, our drinking is very good.
I use the bleach method once in the spring time (remember to bypass your water heater). If at any time during th eyear I suspect teh water at teh campground 9Hatteras comes to mind) I will treat again.

And I think a key to keeping your water fresh in the trailer, especially if you drink it, is to keep it "fresh". Fill it, use it, and don't let it sit. The most I will allow the water to sit in the tank is a week. Even if we are using city water at the CG I will typically switch over the last day for showers and cleanup and waste tank flushing.

I found this quote on one site, and ignoring the I am a microbiologist" the rest of it was consistent on the various commercial links.

As a former microbiologist I can assure you that bleach is the chemical of choice for sanitizing water systems due to:
1. High kill rate at even low concentration.
2. Low cost.
3. Residual that is relatively stable over a given time at room temperature.
4. Will not create explosive gasses when combined with high organic material levels.
5. Ease of use and availability.

Hydrogen Peroxide is a good disinfectant but is unstable and creates a lot of gas in the presence of organic matter. It is also more expensive at the effective dosing levels required to sanitize water systems. It leave virtually no residual so once it reacts with organic material is is gone.

For cost vs effectiveness you can't beat bleach.

If using an RO system you should use that manufacturers recommendation for disinfectant so you don't damage the membrane.

Good overview and I will add a couple of items. Chlorine will destroy a lot of things including your RO if the contact time is high as well as the concentration. Chlorine also attacks a lot of plastic/PVC/glue and so on in higher concentrations. Chlorine kills MB layer by layer whether in a water supply or in your tank. It works best at neutral or lower pH. We use one 16 ounce bottle of hydrogen peroxide and have for the past 25 or so years. Household peroxide is only 3% active so there are really no dangers at all. Commercial peroxide is around 30% so you do have to handle it with care. One final note it is easier to test chlorine due to all the pool kits and so on. Peroxide requires Chemmets or a fancier test procedure. Most all Potable RO systems use Peracetic acid or hydrogen peroxide for sanitization to keep from destroying the membranes. Citric acid is just that, acid that lower pH and dissolves minerals. Doesn't sanitize anything. MB can grow at low pH very well. High pH kills a lot more microbes. A lot of bleach will raise the pH and scale up things.

 

[lwmcguir]

In the industry many have moved to Bromide in order to lower the effective Chlorine levels required for sanitization. This was driven due to the corrosive nature of chlorine to many products including copper or any red metal. Chlorine also causes imbrittlement in many plastics leading to line failures. It is especially hard on PVC. Kynar is about the only type plastic that will hold up to bleach very long. In sanitizing your water tank you can use bleach safely, just don't over do it and don't let a high level sit in the system for a long time. We just happen to prefer not having the smell and the other issues.

 

[porthole]

We switched to the bromide for our hot tub, but we are talking way different reasons for disinfecting, and eventually we switched to the mineral sticks. and per use shock.
Chlorine use (bleach) for our potable water is very minimal, and even if you don't flush it out completely it will eventually dissipate.

 

[lwmcguir]

We switched to the bromide for our hot tub, but we are talking way different reasons for disinfecting, and eventually we switched to the mineral sticks. and per use shock.

Charline use (bleach) for our potable water is very minimal,and even if yo don't flush it out completely it will eventually dissipate.

I actually think we are on the same page. As in most things stay In the middle of the road and use moderation. The reason Chlorine is used widely in water systems is the ease of testing. Otherwise UV would have displaced it along with a lot more ozone machines. The big advantage of Halogen donors is the effectiveness at pH units that are above neutral. Chloramine which is what you get with bleach isn't all the biocidal unless you use quite a bit. Again nothing wrong with something that works for you. Gaseous chlorine is on the way out due to safety issues. You will see less liquid bleach used down the road as well. Anyone that has a question about this can email me at larry.mcguire@ge.com or PM at heartland.

 

[PlanoTXBill]

I spoke with Heartland customer service and was advised to use pool chlorine tablets. I found granular chlorine that will be much easier to use in the small amount necessary to sanitize the tank. I haven't calculated what's needed yet. For use to swim in, the chlorine package directions recommend about 1 oz per 10,000 gal. I was thinking something like double that concentration, but for the 50 gal tank size I have.

 

[lwmcguir]

How much Hydrogen Peroxide should one use for a 53 gal freshwater water tank?

We use a full small bottle about 450 mls. If you had 100 gallons of water that would give you about 3.5 ppm. You could safely use a larger amount but shouldn't be necessary. I would use about 1/2 that much bleach (5.25%) if I was sure the tanks contained 100 gallons or about.