Newbie single mum - clean water tank?

[Caledapho]

Hello everyone. Great site with great advice. thank you

I'm a single mum of 3 boys 6-12yrs trying to do the right thing and get them out amongst it. So I recently bought my first ever caravan, a 2006 expanda. I'm a little bit handy, and trying to be independent, but have a few dumb questions, lol!

I bought my Panda from some lovely folks who hadn't used it for some time. I was also advised to leave the water tank empty (cold for sink only) when not in use!? Which I did for about 3 months. Now I've found out that's bad We haven't used it for drinking or cooking yet as I'm a bit worried if its safe.
Ive bought some "RV Tank Cleaner" (granules). Can anyone tell me how use it and how to get it into the tank??
Also, how necessary is tank cleaning? Is it only when you do something silly (like leaving it empty) or should it be a regular maintenance thing?
Cheers fellow vanners

 

[Brad]

Welcome caledapho. There is a thread on this site that discusses water tanks and if it is best to keep them filled or not. From memory general consensus was to keep them full.
I never have used the granules before. Hopefully someone else has more info on that.

 

[fishinglizard]

I read somewhere that you put 2 ltrs of no name red cordial in it, fill it up and leave it over night. The. Empty and refill and jobs done. Never actually done it!

 

[Brad]

I read somewhere that you put 2 ltrs of no name red cordial in it, fill it up and leave it over night. The. Empty and refill and jobs done. Never actually done it!

Question is would you do it?
Not for me with that one.

 

[fishinglizard]

Yeah, I would give it a go. Supposed to get rid of the plastic taste better than anything else, and apparently not taste like cordial.

 

[chartrock]

Welcome Caledapho :welcome:. I'm not sure I would go with the cordial trick either but my solution was to fit a filter system to my sink with its own tap. Now we drink filtered water and all other water we aren't worried about taste, washing up, shower etc,

 

[cancan]

I also have a filtered drinking tap.... It was purchased from masters although bunnings also have them

 

[leesy]

does filtering it take it from tasting like crap to ok? some of the water i have experienced whilst traveling has tasted so bad its only good use would be for putting out fires!
We always have a 10lt of supermarket spring water to drink, cook and do teeth ect with, tank for the dishers or external shower.
where did you put the filter cancan?
Leesy

 

[cancan]

My van it's mostly setup permanently in Roma where the water is crap.....I have an inline filter into the van plus filtered drink water and the water is still just drinkable straight but it does take out the odor which is also bad

 

[Bank of Dad]

Caledapho.

Hi, welcome and good on you!

One thing I do to "rinse the tanks" is to open the "bungs" on the tanks and then start filling them up. This flushes water into the tank and straight back out giving it a good rinse. If the van has sat still with water in the tanks for a while then do it after you have had a drive with it. This stirs up the tank ensuring that you get as much sediment out as you can.

When you are on site too, all the sediment, if any, sinks to the bottom. The tank doesn't pick up directly from the bottom so it shouldn't get into the lines.

Good luck!

 

[POD]

Ok, welcome here firstly.

I took my brothers older jayco away a while ago, before I had my own van. It had a serious "taste" in the tank. I don't remember who told me to do it but this is what I did:

Go to supermarket and buy denture cleaner (steradent I think is its brand name) approx 1 tablet per 10 litres into the tank. Three quarters (approx) fill the tank and then drive around a bit, like about half a days drive. Also, put it through any taps you have, manual and electrical pumps. Then empty your tanks out.

Refill to three quarters, do the half days drive again, put a lot through your taps, empty the rest, PRESTO.

It works a treat, my brother was very grateful. He keeps his tanks full now and has not had to use the other tablets that were left for his use.

I know it sounds weird but it seriously works.

 

[Bushman]

I read somewhere that you put 2 ltrs of no name red cordial in it, fill it up and leave it over night. The. Empty and refill and jobs done. Never actually done it!

Here You go, but it's more about the plastic taste rather than cleaning tanks

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/2077-fix-for-plastic-taste-from-tank


Oh Welcome aboard Caledapho :thumb:

There's no dumb questions here, Yep best to keep tanks full when not in use, you can use "Milton" the stuff from the supermarket they use for cleaning baby bottles though at around $8 for a 1 litre bottle it isn't cheap

 

[fishinglizard]

that where I read it, but linked from another van forum I think.

 

[bully66672]

Best way to clean your tank/s is to put a bottle of cheap Coles vinegar in each tank then fill them up with water and let them sit for a week. Empty tanks, flush with clean water while the drain plug is off and refill.
I always keep my tanks full and if the van is not being used for a few months i drain and refill with fresh water before tripping off.


Cheers

 

[Caledapho]

Thank you all for your very helpful and welcoming comments.

Thanks Brad I did spend about an hour scouring these "How to's" but couldn't find any links on fresh water tank cleaning, only bathroom related tanks...must have been looking in the wrong forum type?!

Fishinglizard I totally understand the red cordial concept, we took it like medicine, day and night, when we went to Bali with my 3 kids, for preventing Bali-Belly...which we never got

Cancan and Chatrock, we live in the south west of WA and mostly Panda around this area too. We have nice drinking water in most places, except when they treat it once per year If we do go further with the van I will definitely consider the filter, thank you.

I think I like the sound of the vinegar trick, thanks Bully66672. Followed by the "Rinsing", thanks Bank Of Dad. No strong chemicals, cheap, and not too much hard work If that fails, Ill try PODs false teeth

Cheers guys:thumb: