Water system sanitation

[Mainiac]

Well, the ice is finally out on Moosehead Lake here in Maine. That must mean that it is time to wake the Oliver from her winter nap. The first order of business will be to sanitize the water system. We will get unscented Clorox 5 or 6% sodium hypocloride. We will make sure we get it from a busy yet smaller grocery outlet. Some of that which we have gotten from a big blue outlet in the past had spent too much time in a distribution warehouse; and had seemed to have lost some scent and maybe potency. We use a ratio of 1/4 cup to 15 gallons of water. Seeing the Oliver has 30 usable gallons we will use 1/2 cup of Clorox. The first step is to check that we had closed the valve that drains the fresh tank. Also we make sure the waterheater is still in bypass mode. We then add the bleach to a gallon container. Lower the short outside hose (the same one we use to pump in the antifreeze) into the container and pump it into the tank. Just to be sure we fill the container again to sort of rinse it out and get all the bleach. We then fill the tank. Next we go to the kitchen sink and run the cold water, until we smell the clorine and shut it off. This should also flush any remaining antifreeze. Next to the bath faucet, toilet, and outside faucet. This we leave in the lines 3 to 4 hours minimum and up to 24 hours. Drain the tank. Refill it with fresh clean water. Run the faucets again in the sequence until you can no longer smell the clorine. That should take care of the system for 6 months or more, unless you fill the tank from a slow moving city stream.

[bugeyedriver]

I did it just like that for years until a fellow traveller told me of a simpler method. Now, I simply pour the clorox directly into the water hose prior to hooking it up to the water bib at home. I find this to be easier and it cleans some bugs out of the water hose at the same time.

[Mainiac]

For our hoses, we usually sanitize while winterizing. We make up a weak solution of Clorox and pour into the hose. We move the hose so the water covers the full length of the hose, and let it sit while we winterize. We then blow out the hose thoroughly. Then we screw the ends of the hose together so nothing can enter. We are very careful to make sure the ends of the hose touch nothing while coiling. While we normally like shortcuts that work, we like running the solution through the short hose and pump on the Oliver to be sure that that part of the system is sanitized as well. That short hose has a sandwich/freezer bag put on each end and held on with a rubber band for storage.

[Mike and Carol]

I did it just like that for years until a fellow traveller told me of a simpler method. Now, I simply pour the clorox directly into the water hose prior to hooking it up to the water bib at home. I find this to be easier and it cleans some bugs out of the water hose at the same time.

This is what I do too. Just pour some bleach in the hose, hook it up and turn on the faucet.