Filling fresh water tank

[bvddobb]

Always drain the tank completely first before you fill it, never 'top up'. And when filling, let the water run through the hose, and preferably also through the tank for some time to rinse it first. If you do that every so many days when on a trip you will be fine. Never had an issue with fresh water in what must be over 300 nights of Cali camping.

 

[Wongo]

Could be Novovirus. Anyhow drain, flush, sterilise then flush the tank, tap and filler.

Use the Brandrup filling system and keep it for that use only.

If you get ill after all that!

 

[Rob H]

Just come back from a weekend in the lakes and we have been vomiting and had the squits for most of the day, the only thing we can put this down to is the vans water system.We currently fill up via the garden hose but having read further on this garden hoses can contain all manner of bacteria especially in warmer weather.

Am I best of drinking bottles water in future?

Probably a soil borne bug from somewhere, For your drinking water tank research some of the newer water sterilising tablets, they are tasteless and they work, (older tablets are chlorine based and leave an aftertaste). Good luck ..

 

[cbdubs]

Oh god, water!

I work in a hospital and water is a very contentious subject. Our water is treated in numerous ways to prevent infections. We can't expose patients with reduced immunity or very ill patients to waterborne bacteria. Our general rule of thumb is keep it the right temperature and keep it moving. I would never drink from a camper water tank or hotel taps etc. When I do stay on a campsite or in a hotel I always run all the taps and shower for at least 5 minutes to flush the system thoroughly before using.

If you really want to scare yourselves google and read Health Technical Manual 04-01!

 

[Mr & Mrs B]

We only drink water from the tap either at home or on a campsite. When away for a few days we occasionally put some water in the tank but use a food grade hose to fill it - generally that's only used to wash our hands and not to drink.

 

[GregW]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

However I think I would still boil it first


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[briwy]

We don't drink directly from the tank but fill up a TravelTap filter bottle from it.
These are a 1L bottle with a filter which gets rid of just about every nasty.
Been using them for about twelve years all over from S America to the Alps. Filled from rivers, lakes, duck ponds and any fresh water source. Saves a fortune over bottled water which imho is a complete ripoff.

 

[Tony Warren]

Just come back from a weekend in the lakes and we have been vomiting and had the squits for most of the day, the only thing we can put this down to is the vans water system.We currently fill up via the garden hose but having read further on this garden hoses can contain all manner of bacteria especially in warmer weather.

Am I best of drinking bottles water in future?

I've suffered the same on a recent weekend away but it was almost certainly caught from our nearly one year old granddaughter. We discovered that she had had it before we went away. These bugs a highly contagious and hygiene isn't in a one year olds world. It is very unlikely to have been from the water, our water is treated to a very high standard. If concerned though please don't use bottled water, there is roo much plastic in the world already. We bought some filtered water bottles, like bike bottles with carbon filters in the lid. We used them on a trip to India, cycling though the rural areas. Hygiene is nonexistent, we we even warned against bottled water unless still in the shrink wrapping as they refill old bottles an sell them as new! The filtered bottles are reusable for years, until the filter blocks, and can be safely refilled with any water so long as not salty or cloudy. Basically if it looks okay the filter will sort it out.
Personally in the UK tap water plus the tabs are fine.

 

[aileron346]

OK, lots of variation here. Here’s our recipie:

1. Complete empty and refill before each trip.
2. Sterilise with Milton twice a year - Spring & Autumn mainly to help prevent mildew.
3. Only ever fill via food-grade plastics, so certified blue food-grade hose or the Brandrup filler bottle.

Would def. avoid non food-grade hoses due to potential chemical leeching rather than any infection risk.

No evidence but I think we are getting really confused about bugs generally and anti-bacterial products (soaps, chopping boards, Dettol etc) are not helping our immunity.

 

[kaf2546]

Could be the water tank but I drank 5 litres from tap this last few days as had to fill our portable bottles for 2 days climbing and no issues or issues in past. I did think that a hot van might not help with bacteria but the water from the tank was surprisingly ok temp. Just like you'd do with a water bottle, rinse out regularly, don't use a garden hose, occasional use of a Milton tablet if not used for a while. I also let latter solution run through to the tap and let it lie in waste tank to swill around a couple days to avoid any odors from latter. I use collapsible bucket and hose set up to fill tank straight from a tap without hose although I have used latter sometimes to fill if doing the sterilising routine at same time.

 

[Tom Downie]

Just come back from a weekend in the lakes and we have been vomiting and had the squits for most of the day, the only thing we can put this down to is the vans water system.We currently fill up via the garden hose but having read further on this garden hoses can contain all manner of bacteria especially in warmer weather.

Am I best of drinking bottles water in future?

Beer would be the ideal thing.

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

The bacterial count in chlorinated mains water is massively lower than plastic bottled water of all makes . This has been known for many years and that is forgetting the plasticers from the cheap plastic bottles . Hot weather and time would only make this worse . We probably should have a dedicated food grade hose with an anti siphon valve for filling the tank at home .I drink from the van tank without boiling but always change it frequently ( days not weeks ) . I also run the hose for a few minutes to change all the water in the pipe before filling the tank ( this is common practice on boats refilling their water tank in marinas ) Boiling would of course be safer ( bacteria ) but wouldn’t do anything to plasticers . The tank is probably best left empty with the drain open when not in use .

I just fill a bucket with a lip to aid pouring. I’ve had no adverse effects. I do empty the tank if it’s not going to be used for a while. When I refill it I put a little steriliser in, half fill the tank and drive for a bit to slosh the mixture around and drain it before filling it completely.

 

[markheathcote]

We fill ours with prosecco... The alcohol kills any bugs and we can drink straight from tap. It doesn't make great tea though so we just bottled water for that.

 

[pluc99]

It would be interesting to have a follow up from @Annik . From the way they described it I would have though a parasite more likely than bacteria, e.g. Cyclospora or Giardia, which you would typically pick up from a stream rather than a garden hose.

 

[Trojax]

This has been a very interesting read and for what its worth will be filling my tank with a normal garden hose, however I will always run water through the hose for 2 or 3 mins to flush out any stagnant water that was sitting in the hose from its last use, I will then drop one of these tablets in the tank at every fill Clean Tabs Aqua Midi Water Purifying Tablets same as we do with our Aquarol