(T5) - Tried all the Water Tank cleankng techniqies - is it tiome to replace tank?

[Spencer]

Hi All,

I cleaned out the fresh water tank several times last year (previous owner had the van sat unsued for years) - using lots of tips and products suggested on the forum, but the water still just tastes of plastic, I can't shift it.

1) does your water taste of plastic?
2) anyone replaced the tank with a new one? how hard is it?

Thanks for any tips / thoughst
Spencer

 

[ThomasHJ]

Our water does not taste of plastic. But, to be honest, we almost never drink from the tank. We bring bottled water (stored in the driverside door). But (and perhaps you've tried this already) what always works well for us to clean the tank thoroughly is this:

- Fill up 2/3 of the tank with water
- Add an entire tube of dental cleaning tablets (like in the photo below)
- Leave it for a while (half a day or a day, whatever suits your schedule)
- Drive around in it for a while so the water moves and splashes around in the tank a bit
- Leave it a while longer, so that in total the water and tablets stay in the tank for at least 24h

We do this once every year at the beginning of our camping season. It's a trick suggested by the Dutch Camper Club.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi All,

I cleaned out the fresh water tank several times last year (previous owner had the van sat unsued for years) - using lots of tips and products suggested on the forum, but the water still just tastes of plastic, I can't shift it.

1) does your water taste of plastic?
2) anyone replaced the tank with a new one? how hard is it?

Thanks for any tips / thoughst
Spencer

1. We drink the water - no taste. We don't actually clean the tank just use Katodyne, a water steriliser, each time we fill up.
2. The wardrobe etc: would have to be removed, gas line from gas locker removed etc: to replace and there is nothing to say you won't be tasting " plastic " with the new tank and you would be many, many hundreds of pounds poorer in the process.

You say you've cleaned the tank, but what about the tubing to the tap and the tap itself.

Before you go any further I would suggest doing what @ThomasHJ suggested. BUT draw some of the cleaning solution through the pipework by operating the tap and leave to dwell there for 24 hrs. Flush out the tank, fill with clean water , NOT from your garden hose or watering can, run through the pipework at least 1/2 tank and test.

Fill the tank using a 2 or 5l Litre water bottle filled from the kitchen tap.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

The plastic taste sounds to me like residue of the cleaning stuff. In other words it’s the cleaning that’s the problem!
Definitely let the cleaning stuff get through the pipes and tap as Welshgas says but then thoroughly run through with 2 whole tankfulls of clean water.
I also don’t drink cold water form the tank that often. Make coffee and cook with it lots. Brush teeth. Tend to have a Decathlon bottle of water filled daily from campsite tap for drinking. This is mainly because we go away for 2 weeks and don’t want to run out of water in the van.

 

[Wesel]

Replacing the tank seems too complicated and very expensive, as explained above.
You could visually inspect the inside of the tank by opening its lid. Lots of explanation here about it, you find them via the search function "opening water tank"

 

[Spencer]

Our water does not taste of plastic. But, to be honest, we almost never drink from the tank. We bring bottled water (stored in the driverside door). But (and perhaps you've tried this already) what always works well for us to clean the tank thoroughly is this:

- Fill up 2/3 of the tank with water
- Add an entire tube of dental cleaning tablets (like in the photo below)
- Leave it for a while (half a day or a day, whatever suits your schedule)
- Drive around in it for a while so the water moves and splashes around in the tank a bit
- Leave it a while longer, so that in total the water and tablets stay in the tank for at least 24h

We do this once every year at the beginning of our camping season. It's a trick suggested by the Dutch Camper Club.

Many thanks Thomas... will give it a go!

 

[ThomasHJ]

Many thanks Thomas... will give it a go!

Np. And don't forget to finish with what @WelshGas suggests: to run the water through the tap to also rinse the pipes. I do this too, but forgot to mention it in my post above. Make sure you keep an eye on the tap while you run the water through, or at least don't run the water too fast, or you'll end up splashing your interior with dentaltablet-water ;-)

 

[Resfeber]

1. We drink the water - no taste. We don't actually clean the tank just use Katodyne, a water steriliser, each time we fill up.
2. The wardrobe etc: would have to be removed, gas line from gas locker removed etc: to replace and there is nothing to say you won't be tasting " plastic " with the new tank and you would be many, many hundreds of pounds poorer in the process.

You say you've cleaned the tank, but what about the tubing to the tap and the tap itself.

Before you go any further I would suggest doing what @ThomasHJ suggested. BUT draw some of the cleaning solution through the pipework by operating the tap and leave to dwell there for 24 hrs. Flush out the tank, fill with clean water , NOT from your garden hose or watering can, run through the pipework at least 1/2 tank and test.

Fill the tank using a 2 or 5l Litre water bottle filled from the kitchen tap.

Can only second WG advice.
Had the plastic taste regularly after buying a 7month old Ocean.
Used various disinfectants (Puriclean, Milton) which helped for a short time but the plastic taste would return.
Moved on to Katadyn treatment with annual disinfectant flush ( worth while pumping the disinfectant loaded water out of the drinking water tank via the tap, using it to reduce bacterial load in the waste tank).

Also helps treat the pipework from tank to tap.

Never been bothered with plastic taste since.

 

[The Merle]

Hi All,

I cleaned out the fresh water tank several times last year (previous owner had the van sat unsued for years) - using lots of tips and products suggested on the forum, but the water still just tastes of plastic, I can't shift it.

1) does your water taste of plastic?
2) anyone replaced the tank with a new one? how hard is it?

Thanks for any tips / thoughst
Spencer

You’re not adding enough coffee

 

[The Tall Luthier]

If I don’t clean out my Camelbak after a good hike then a couple of weeks later the inside of the water pipe goes black inside. The technical term for this mould is ‘bad!’ It’s no longer something that is safe to use. With pipe cleaners, bleach and rinsing it becomes safe again.
Try the tricks above, I have no experience of this at all. But…. Would it really be that bad an idea to replace the tank and associated hoses for the peace of mind?

 

[WelshGas]

If I don’t clean out my Camelbak after a good hike then a couple of weeks later the inside of the water pipe goes black inside. The technical term for this mould is ‘bad!’ It’s no longer something that is safe to use. With pipe cleaners, bleach and rinsing it becomes safe again.
Try the tricks above, I have no experience of this at all. But…. Would it really be that bad an idea to replace the tank and associated hoses for the peace of mind?

Not at all, if you have a few thousand to play with or are good at DIY.
Algae and mould grow in light. The California water system is protected from light and the possibility this is the cause of the problem is minuscule.
I think if you used Katodyne in your Camelbak you wouldn’t have this problem.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Not at all, if you have a few thousand to play with or are good at DIY.
Algae and mould grow in light. The California water system is protected from light and the possibility this is the cause of the problem is minuscule.
I think if you used Katodyne in your Camelbak you wouldn’t have this problem.

I think you’ve nailed it, I build acoustic guitars for a living so DIY is fairly straightforward. Interesting about the mould/light fact. I was not aware of that, thank you.

 

[Michael&Louise]

Ours used to taste plastic it turned out it was our colapsable kettle that we brewed up in that was causing it

 

[Jim2007]

Ours used to taste plastic it turned out it was our colapsable kettle that we brewed up in that was causing it

Ditto. Especially the first boil after it has sat unused for a while.

 

[Steve1]

Ditto. Especially the first boil after it has sat unused for a while.

I found that the bit of water in the pipes to the tap gets quite hot during the day. If you don't run the tap a little to get rid of the bit in the pipe that sometimes tastes a bit plasticy. We don't use any sterilisers in the water just empty out the system each time after our holiday and flush the tank with fresh water quite often and if you run that first bit of water off I can't taste it anymore.

 

[calibusje]

Hi All,

I cleaned out the fresh water tank several times last year (previous owner had the van sat unsued for years) - using lots of tips and products suggested on the forum, but the water still just tastes of plastic, I can't shift it.

1) does your water taste of plastic?
2) anyone replaced the tank with a new one? how hard is it?

Thanks for any tips / thoughst
Spencer

So you tried ‘all the water tank cleaning techniques’ but not the steradent trick? I guess I think this is the most known and cheapest trick (by the way, use a cheaper brand than 'steradent', tip from me). Well, good luck with it. Keep your current tank where it is

 

[Spencer]

So you tried ‘all the water tank cleaning techniques’ but not the steradent trick? I guess I think this is the most known and cheapest trick (by the way, use a cheaper brand than 'steradent', tip from me). Well, good luck with it. Keep your current tank where it is

I tried the steriliser tablets but left them in for a few hours… didn’t work,,, so I shall be trusting the 24 hour version!

 

[Herman]

This thread is really worrying me for a number of reasons.
An uncontaminated water container made from potable grade plastic should not taste plasticky. If it does then it has been contaminated by something; probably a cleaning agent. If you don’t know what this was, then you shouldn’t be drinking the water.
All plastic water containers will eventually develop a biofilm which may or may not be harmful to health, this film may make the water taste yukky but not plasticky. If you try to remove this biofilm with things like Steradent or Milton, you will be unlikely to be successful.
It is not sensible to drink water from a container which you cannot see or physically clean, especially when you don’t know it’s history.
Many people do drink water from their water tanks and do not suffer ill effects but I personally would not take the risk when it is so easy to carry a separate drinking water container. They come free with drinking water in them and can be refilled from a kitchen tap.
I hope that this is helpful.

 

[ThomasHJ]

Yup, that explains the unusual high number of camper van owners just dying off like fruitflies over the last 100 years. ;-)

 

[Herman]

Yup, that explains the unusual high number of camper van owners just dying off like fruitflies over the last 100 years. ;-)

Ho ho.
As I said, most people have no problems. Some people may have had an upset stomach, some don't like the taste of the water.
My dog drinks water from puddles without any apparent problems.
Only saying….

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Yup, that explains the unusual high number of camper van owners just dying off like fruitflies over the last 100 years. ;-)

You're the one who doesn't drink from it! Remember??

 

[Steve1]

This thread is really worrying me for a number of reasons.
An uncontaminated water container made from potable grade plastic should not taste plasticky. If it does then it has been contaminated by something; probably a cleaning agent. If you don’t know what this was, then you shouldn’t be drinking the water.
All plastic water containers will eventually develop a biofilm which may or may not be harmful to health, this film may make the water taste yukky but not plasticky. If you try to remove this biofilm with things like Steradent or Milton, you will be unlikely to be successful.
It is not sensible to drink water from a container which you cannot see or physically clean, especially when you don’t know it’s history.
Many people do drink water from their water tanks and do not suffer ill effects but I personally would not take the risk when it is so easy to carry a separate drinking water container. They come free with drinking water in them and can be refilled from a kitchen tap.
I hope that this is helpful.

Most water tanks can be cleaned, I believe there is a hatch in the Cali one if needed. Then you can give it a good clean out if worried.
I have never bothered, I am happy with a good flush through with water.
What does surprise me is how long water can last in a proper dark container, my old Autosleeper Trooper manual said the water was drinkable for 6 months before needing to drain and refill !!!
I do empty my one after each trip but looked into this at the time and six months is a recommended storage time if no light can get in to the container. Tap water does contain a little chlorine to keep it clean in the domestic pipe system too. Imagine what the inside of the underground pipe work looks like.

 

[calibusje]

I tried the steriliser tablets but left them in for a few hours… didn’t work,,, so I shall be trusting the 24 hour version!

well, I would drive it around and certainly wait longer than a few hours. If you still taste plastic and if you think you’ll never get it ‘clean’ again and be easily scared off I'd only use the water in the tank for washing up; replacing the tank will cost you a lot of money. Better to carry extra water with you to drink from. We have a 31 year old T4 westfalia and the water tastes nice and fresh; we drink it but also carry bottles with us, although this is as a backup would we end up with an empty water tank. The ‘steriliser tablet’ method we do at least once a year.
Anyway, never leave water standing still in it, always empty after a holiday and we have a rather large water tank (45 litres and not the small one like in the versions after the T4) but never take more than 25-30 litres to start and fill it up to that volume to keep it fresh.

 

[Perfectos]

If your tank is clean (I.e had been sterilised) you could try Baking soda to remove the residual smell / taste, from the tank / pipes.

Baking soda won’t sterilise but it will remove residual smells / taste etc.

NB. Baking soda will potentially expand so the tank should not be full DYOR.

 

[ThomasHJ]

You're the one who doesn't drink from it! Remember??

I was afraid someone would mention this.