Sanitization revisited.

JimEngel

There has been an interesting discussion of sanitation protocols, and I have included a number of comments and suggestions into my notes. These are presented here for correction, comment and discussion:

Bacteria growth is ongoing in stagnant water, especially in warm conditions, and thus sanitary maintenance is of paramount importance in water system management. Possible consequences of excessive levels of bacteria can be as serious as Legionnaires' disease. Although at one least article in a scientific journal recommends periodic chlorine disinfection, other camping experienced people with a relevant scientific background are less extreme and endorse draining between trips and less drastic disinfection, typically using bleach.

The first line of defense in maintaining water purity and safety should be draining the water system, both the fresh water tank and the hot water tank, at the end of each trip. With an appropriate air compressor available a complete purge of the system, fully equivalent to winter storage preparation, need take only a few minutes. Many people consider this sufficient under normal circumstances with no indication of a specific problem.

The next line of defense is disinfection by the introduction of substances that kill off bacteria remaining in water drops and mist remaining after complete draining and air pressure purge. A ten percent bleach solution is a common recommendation.

The normal disinfection protocol is to fill the empty water storage tank with the ten percent bleach solution and run water through all of the lines, particularly the hot water lines, and let it stand for several hours. This is completed by a complete flush of the system with clean water.

As a cautionary note, there have been statements that bleach can potentially harm the stainless steel in the Alde system, but there is no mention of this that I can find in the Alde manual or other sources.

At an extreme periodic chlorine disinfection is recommended by some:

"To safeguard the quality of tank water and prevent the possibility of Legionella infections, RV owners should implement regular chlorine disinfection of their water tanks…"
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/criid/2013/286347/

Our T@B units are relatively small and compact, making a routine complete flush relatively easy and practical. More extreme disinfection protocols would seem to be more potentially applicable to much large systems and those with full time occupancy. If city water is the primary source it is normally chlorinated, which would seem to be adequate.

Haloo

We take drinking water with us, and only use the fresh water tank for showers, dish washing, etc...

Sharon_is_SAM

The purpose of blowing out the lines is to prevent freezing and damage.  No documentation that this prevents bacterial growth.  If that were the case, would you not be doing that regularly?

JimEngel

SAM,
Bacteria only grows in water, which is the reason for draining the tanks between trips. My point is that if your air compressor is right there ready to go, as an aid in clearing the hot water tank it would be useful to hook it up and blow out the lines, a matter of a couple of minutes.
So, yes, I am suggesting that regularly blowing out the lines, as in between trips, is something that some might want to adapt as a standard procedure.

JimEngel

We carry several half gallon bottles of water, mostly because we like too cook and prepare meals outside the trailer unless the weather is really bad. This was a habit of convenience rather than a concern about the water.
We do take hot water to make coffee in the evening when we do dishes. It is at a hard boil for thirteen minutes as it perks, so I think it is pretty bacteria free.
We put it in a thermos bottle to be ready to go first thing in the morning.