smelly water tank

simon_sluggett

simon_sluggett

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my plastimo flexible water tank has gone smelly , with some horrible algea sludge coming out when I removed the bag and flushed with water. What can I use to kill the algea that wont leave a chemical taste after - also can you add water sterlisation tablets when you fill the tank to stop the water from stagnating in the first place. I used to use a white powder when I used to brew my own beer at home (My student days were all just a haze !!!) cant remember what it is called but may not be strong enough. I did not leave any taste though.
 
Chempro SDP is probably the stuff you remember from home brew days. It should clean the tank out fine and won't leave a taste. Just be sure to thoroughly flush it out.
 
Miltons ....... in fact any generic water sterilisation fluid / tablets sold in Chemists .....

Fill up - add ..... let it slosh around when sailing etc. (you can survive with a few jugs for a day ??) Drain off - flush out and bobs your proverbial.

Many people don't realise - but the fumes from this also sterilise .... the top / cap etc.

When draining off - pump it through the system - so that all system gets a clean out ... taps, pipes etc. - even the sink and U bend !!
 
Milton is my prefered choice. For treating drinking water you use it at the rate of 2.5ml per 5 litres and allow it to stand for 30mins before use (according to the label) but since the inner tank is removed I would wash it out with a much stronger solution to clean the tank, rinse that out after a short soak and dose the water when refilled at the 2.5ml/5l rate. The taste of chlorine will quickly disappear.

BUT I belive Plastimo do not reccommend the use of chlorine based cleaning agents. I cannot think of a reason why, possibily just ass hole covering.
Other proprietary tank cleaners may be prefered however to be on the safe side.

The sterilising agent commonly used by home wine makers and brewers is sodium metabisulphite. That is a source of sulphur dioxide. Usually they add a few crystals of citric acid as well as it needs to be very slightly acidified to release the SO2.

SO2 may be a bit less toxic than chlorine but it is also not quite so powerful as a sterilising agent. In my opinion the taste, if any remains, is worse!

I may be wrong but I think a few weeks ago someone posted that Plastimo suggest white (distilled) vinegar. It won't be as effective in a badly contaminated tank as either Milton or metabisulphite and I dislike the taste and smell of vinegar anyway. It may be possible to confirm this with a search.
 
Completely agree with Milton Sterilising Liquid. Used to use fancy tablets and then realised Milton does the job for 1/2 the price. First tank put a load in, wait overnight and flush all through. Second tank add prescribed amount, wait 24hrs and flush out. Third tank is always nice and clean. I then add a little every 1 month to the tank just to keep it fresh!

Cheers

Paul
 
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I then add a little every 1 month to the tank just to keep it fresh

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Do you then drink the water with the milton in ?

Thanks for the advise guys - off to the chemist before it shuts....I'll get some milton while Im there too!!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
....I'll get some milton while Im there too!!!!

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Most supermarkets and chemists do their own proprietry brand which is the same but cheaper - look where they do the baby stuff for sterilising bottles.
 
You could use

sodium hypochlorite in its many forms but tasteless it will never be.

Tho' I haven't seen it here in UK, it's readily available in France, Italy and Croatia.

I believe its called Aquaclean, the active ingredient is a chelated silver halide, works wonderfully well and is completely tasteless and utterly safe.
 
Re: You could use

Sodium hypochlorite is bleach; available everywhere for next to nothing! Milton is the same stuff repackaged at an exorbitant price.
 
Re: You could use

actually in the UK it's not. Just look at the ingredients on a bleach bottle, and you'll find it's a mixture of Sodium Hypochlorite, Sodium Hydroxide, disinfectants, surfactants and a host of other chemicals. Govt advice is not to use it to disinfect water sources except in an emergency

Things are different in eg USA where household bleach tends to be just Sodium Hypochlorite
 
Re: You could use

[ QUOTE ]
Sodium hypochlorite is bleach; available everywhere for next to nothing! Milton is the same stuff repackaged at an exorbitant price.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bleach contains sodium hypochlorite but as Brendan has said in the UK bleach contains a load of other chemicals including sodium hydroxide. Now that is caustic soda, hardly the sort of thing you sould be recommending for treating drinking water. The grade of hypochloite used in it can also contain sodium chlorate, as in weed killer, equally unacceptable in drinking water.

Milton is VERY DEFINITELY NOT household bleach repackaged and sold at an exhorbitant price. It's principle constituents are sodium hypochorite and sodium chloride (common salt).

It is sold for nursery use, sterilising babies' bottles. You would not I hope be suggesting that the nations mothers use household bleach, which is sold for bleaching laundry and cleaning drains etc, for that purpose.

There may well, as already suggested, be other products similar to Milton in the "baby" sections of supermarkets but Milton has almost become the generic name.

You post is highly irresponsible and demonstrates a total lack of knowledge of the subject!

Btw both Brendan and I have have studied a bit of Chemistry in our time and we can both remember some of it!
 
From my experience milton etc are good at keeping the tank clean, but when it has already got the bug, we have always taken the liner out, put in a couple of gallons of warm water with fairy liquid and given it a good rub around, repeating until absolutley clean, otherwise you end up with sterile sludge, which is still nasty... have fun..
 
[ QUOTE ]
In small quantities we drink it

[/ QUOTE ] As I have already said you use Milton at the rate of 2.5ml per 5 litres of water wait 30 minutes before using the it. Presumably other simlar products will be the same but it won't be critical
 
Re: You could use

and the very reason Milton contains a small amount of Sodium Chloride (salt) is specifically to prevent Sodium Chlorate (weed killer) being formed in the Sodium Hypochlorite solution.

Better to stick to chemicals actually designed for purpose, than pour a mess of chemcicals called 'Bleach' in the UK, into tanks you might ever drink out of. You only have to pour the gloop out, that is thick and designed to stick to toilet bowls, to understand that bleach in the UK has very little semblance to Sodium Hypochlorite. Even the cheap thin stuff is not a pure solution like Milton or other baby products. As I said, different in some countries, where bleach is Sodium Hypocholorite, but even then doesnt' contain the salt to prevent Sodium Chlorate forming.

A bit of a bug bear of mine, so excuse the rant and chemistry lesson

And you are correct. anyone using commercial bleach of any sort to disinfect babies bottles and teats needs re-education rather rapidly.
 
Not necessarily...

Whilst it's true to say that some bleaches sold in the UK contain lots of other ingredients, the cheapest household bleaches rarely contain any additives - I'm talking about the products which cost just a few pence for a 2 litre bottle, such as Tesco Value Bleach, Sainsbury's Basics Thin Bleach, etc. Using these to clean a water tank, followed of course by thorough flushing, poses absolutely no danger to human life. Ordinary household bleach is recommended by authorities worldwide for emergency water sterilsation.

Ordinary household bleach is usually about 5% sodium hypochlorite. Cleaning a contaminated tank requires 50 ppm of chlorine, which is 100ml bleach to 100 litres water. Allow it to stand for at least an hour, then flush a couple of times.
 
Re: Not necessarily...

Things may have changed, but after one of the big debates on the subject a couple of years back, I went round most of the major supermarkets for a look, and couldn't find any bleaches at all, even the cheap all brand ones, that didn't contain additives.

I posted here somewhile back a definitive document by a UK health care professional with some sort of fancy govt title, which said UK bleach should not be used for drinking water treatment except in emergencies. You can go search for it if you like, but this topic comes up so often I no longer have the drive to keep repeating basic information
 
Re: Not necessarily...

I don't need to search for it, especially if it was written by someone with "some sort of fancy govt title"! I know that using ordinary household bleach to clean a water tank, followed of course by thorough flushing, poses absolutely no danger to human life.
 
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