T4 Cali Drinking Water

[slyfb]

I've been drinking water from the in-built water tank, filled up with clean drinking water from my home. I've sterilised and flushed out the tank to make sure it's clean. It has a strong plastic taste especially if it's been in the tank a few days though.

What's your thoughts on this?

Is it safe to drink water stored in our 25 year old plastic water tanks? Surely they're not BPA free? How long would you keep the water in there and still use it? If not for drinking what do you use it for? Just washing dishes or boiling the kettle as well?

I've read using bicarbonate soda gets rid of the plastic taste. And if water is kept in a dark container it should be fine for months. I also looked at new replacement water tanks but didn't find much. I have a new plastic 10L jerry can that I may use for drinking water instead for now...

 

[bxl_lad]

To be honest, I wouldn't drink the water from the tank, maybe if boiled, but not otherwise. When I had some work done on the van recently, the tank filler was removed, the neck of the pipe going into the tank wasn't pretty.
We only use the tap for washing hands etc, but have a 5 litre canister for drinking water that sits snugly behind the drivers seat.
That's our take anyway

 

[Borris]

If I were you I'd play it safe and buy drinking water in those cheap 5litre bottles from the supermarket. Keep the tank water for washing and washing up. Whilst not essential I would still ensure it's thoroughly and regularly sterilised. Changing the water regularly is also important IMO. Make sure you drain the tanks and pipe work before the first signs of frost.

I'm sure most owners carry out the essential regular maintenance/tank cleansing and that some do drink the tank water with no issues at all. However, we had a brand new T5 SE for a couple of years and never filled the tanks. We didn't want to drink the water from the tank and found the sink to be too small for anything that useful so that was never used either. I know that there are other owners that take the same view. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just pointing out that there are two different opinions on this topic.

 

[Padraic]

I've opened the tank and physically cleaned the inside of it, then sterilised it with Milton sterilising fluid the rinsed it out a few times.
I usually do this at the start of the season and before long trips. I also drain the tank when not in use.
I use a dedicated 10L can or food grade hose for filling up.
We use the water from the tank for making tea/coffee, washing dishes and brushing teeth. We usually drink bottled water from the fridge. All seems okay so far.
Sometimes if the tank hasn't been sterilised for a while, we just use bottled water for everything except washing dishes, but then its boiled water from the tank.
To be honest, I find that the biggest concern regarding drinking water, is to be sure the water you get when filling up at campsites/ public tap is clean drinking water.
From one of the last posts regarding the pipe between the filler cap and tank, a large pipe cleaner/brush would be good to scrub it.

 

[slyfb]

Cheers guys good advice. I'll keep the van water for dishes etc and just use my own new 10L container for drinking water.

If it was a brand new T6 I would be fine drinking from that. Might look into replacing the T4 water container with a new one that will be safer to drink from. It's a shame to have 57L there that you can only use for dishes.

I take it you can use your water tank when camping over the winter but you just drain it out when it's not in use?