Cleaning water tank?

[Ross Wade]

Does anyone know what to use to clean a brand new plastic water tank? I thought of using soap and water but am afraid of leaving a soapy taste in the water supply.

Thanks , Ross

[DLucas]

Hey Ross,
Not sure this will work for ya, but this was posted in the latest issue of Backpacker Magazine.....

"To clean and sanitize your hydration bladders, use effevescent denture cleaner. Fill with water, add tablets, and let them fizz(lids off of course). Then drain and rinse."

Hope this helps, altho I haven't tried it myself, YET!
DLucas

[Gage]

A little bleach will work just fine. But be sure to rinse.

Have a good day,
Gage

[Ross Wade]

DLucas and Gage,

The denture cleaner sounds like a great idea. I have a 20 gallon tank and that might get a little expensive, but I'll check it out.

My dad suggested using a little bleach and rinsing real good. This would certainly be the cheapest route to take.

Thanks for the ideas,

Ross

[denverd0n]

Is the tank mounted so that you can't pick it up? If it is not, I'd put about 5 gallons of water in it, along with 1/4th cup of plain, chlorine bleach. Swish it around and drain. If you can't swish it around then fill it up and add a cup of bleach. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so and drain it.

20 gallons is a big tank. Are you planning long trips? Showers? Or maybe a lot of people? When camping I normally use no more than 1/2 gallon per day, so my tear will be equipped with about a 5 gallon tank that should last a week easily.

[Ross Wade]

denverdOn,

The tank is not mounted yet, I wanted to clean it out and remove any of the mold release agent before installing it.

It is a big tank. We are planning a three month trip to Alaska next spring. Once you leave the lower 48, towns are pretty well spread out. Also I hate going to bed with bug repellent on my skin.

Thanks for the advice,

Ross

[denverd0n]

Ah! Well, for a trip to Alaska I can certainly understand the need for a large water tank.

[OurStuff4You]

Do you guys think these methods would be okay on galvanized?

[PcHistorian]

FYI: to help keep the bacteria down in your water tank, have a piece of 60% or better copper in the water.
I'm not advertising or supporting any specific product, these links are just for your knowledge and informational reference...

http://www.antimicrobialcopper.com/us/n ... ments.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrob ... _of_copper
http://www.ipmx.com/micro/micro.html
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/9991/

[pmowers]

[quote="PcHistorian"]FYI: to help keep the bacteria down in your water tank, have a piece of 60% or better copper in the water.
I'm not advertising or supporting any specific product, these links are just for your knowledge and informational reference...

I wonder about dropping in a length of copper tubing?

[CarlLaFong]

A plastic water tank is probably blow molded and will not have a release agent on the inside......or the outside, for that matter

[PcHistorian]

I don't know what bleach, copper or eferdent does to galvanized. but you could get a piece of metal, put it in some plastic buckets and try each of the chemicals, and see for yourself. Copper is more chemically active than galvanized I would surmise and so the copper would corrode before any reaction to the galvanized would occur. You might have to periodically replace your piece of copper. Or dip it in CLR after each trip and rinse it off well. Copper might even protect the galvanized from corrosion. (worth some research.)

[Lancie49]

Half fill the plastic tank with water, throw in a cup of vinegar and seal up all the inlets/outlets.

Put it in the ute tray or car boot and forget about it for a few days while you're tripping around.

Drain the tank, half fill with clean water again and chuck it back in the ute.
Do that twice to rinse it and all is good.

Lance

[BrwBier]

If you know some one who brews beer or is a dairy farmer then they will have just what you need to sanitize a tank. It only takes about 1oz per 5 gallons and most products are advertised as no rinse. Fill the tank with water, add the sanitizer and then a couple of trips around the block and you are done.
Brwbier

[pete42]

On the travel trailers that I have owned we always used 1/4 cup unsented bleach to 5 gallons of water drove around then emptied the tank and rinsed
the tank until water was clear and no smell.

I have also filled the tank almost full in order to get each nook and cranny clean 1 cup in a 35 gallon tank and of course a good bumpy drive.
I ran the water thru the water lines to clean them out as well.

to remove the smell of old tanks I've used dissolved bakeing soda again rinse after using