Fresh Water tank

Hi,  I would appreciate some guidance on how to clean/sterilise the fresh water tank on my 2013 Broadway EKLT.  I'm not having any problems and drain regularly but I've read that the tank should be 'deep cleaned' periodically to stop build up of unwanted sludge, mould etc.  I've got no idea how to access or undertake this cleaning.

Thanks

M

I just purchased a 1litter bottle of sterilising fluid from a local shop followed the instructions on the bottle ran it through the taps (cold only) the just let it sit for a few hours. Then opened all cold taps ran it though in to the waste tank let it in there for a few hours. Filled it with fresh water ran that through the cold taps and emptied everything. Including boiler. That seems to have done the trick water tastes fresher now

We use Elsan Fresh Water tank cleaner, which works well. There are also  some other products available, one of which would be Puriclean.

Suggest you do a search on here. There are loads of posts - and opinions!! 

Caraman wrote:On my 2019 Nuevo its not possible to pump water from the fresh water tank without it filling or at least partially filling the Truma Combi's hot water tank.

That is partially true.  If you close off the auto drain valve and turn the taps to cold then when you pump very little water will go into the hot tank.  But you are quite right that Chlorine spells death to stainless steel.  I have used Tescos baby bottle sterilising tablets in the past without noticing any leaks - yet.  However what I do then is to fill the tank without having switched on the water pump so no water at all will go into hot tank.  I then let that stand overnight.  Next step is to pump some water through the cold taps making sure that I don't turn on the lever towards hot.  That needs conscious effort as i leave the taps open midway between hot and cold over winter.  Once the water has spluttered out of the cold tap I close the taps, switch off the pump and then drain the fresh water tank. While that is draining I turn the taps to hot and open them and the auto drain valve.  That drains any water purifying water that may have managed to get into the hot tank.  Let the residual sterilising solution remain in the cold pipes overnight and then refill and drain the tank through the taps - cold and then hot to get the taste out of the system.  Sounds complicated but I think that it is logical and it is not as difficult as it sounds.  Van is 8 years old in May.

That's what i do to drain.  On my Humer I used to get mould forming on the wide inlet pipe to the tank.

Anyone remember Zappy's Tablets?

Zappy (Graham) was a water scientist of some kind I believe, and he supplied sodium hypochlorite tablets for tank cleaning. That's "bleach" by another name of course.

He also provided a dilution chart and detailed instructions on how to perform the cleaning process, which never caused any problems as far as I'm aware.

Sadly, due to ill health his website no longer exists, but someone will have a copy of his instructions and may be willing to post it. As I recall it specified the strength of his tablets and precise details of dilution rates, so it would be easy to adapt it to tablets from another source.

I use 500g at a time but I bought the 5Kg tub from Amazon.  I do it once a year.
Sadly, I can't just pour it in. I have to pump it in using the Whale system.  That means dissolving about 100g at a time in a 10 litre jerry using warm water and alternating the warm with cold to stop th eexternal pump from overheating.  First time I did not alternate and on the third jerry I heard the tone of the pump change slightly. Quick stop, dunk in cold water, wait for a few minutes and all was well again with lesson learned.

Another option is to fit an in line water filter .

fit a filter molly3 no .clean the tank yes

Just use Elsan ‘Fresh Water Tank Clean’ once or twice a year & add some ‘Elsil’ when you fill up each time with water, job done simply. 

Info link: https://www.elsan.co.uk/drinking-water-management.aspx

But we drink our fresh water!

inspiredron wrote:But we drink our fresh water!

So do we… 

Elsan ‘Elsil’ is just an additive to purify water & keep it fresh so it’s safe to drink, we use a small dose each time we fill up & use the Elsan ’Tank Clean’ which is left overnight before being rinsed out for cleaning of the system after any period of being laid up.

glyne lock wrote:fit a filter molly3 no .clean the tank yes

OK

There's a photo on this forum somewhere of the inside of my fresh water tank, showing it sqeaky clean.

If you only fill up with fresh mains water (not rain water) then I really don't see that there should be a problem.  It's dark in there, so I can't see mould being an issue; and if you only use fresh water, where would the sludge come from?

We keep separate small containers for drinking water, which we refill frequently.  This is really just because the fresh water in the tank might stay in there for a while and get stale-tasting.

Nick.

I have clear plastic hose that I use to fill the tank from a tap, guess what it is spotted black on the inside, so what is the tank like?
We do not drink the water, but do use it to clean our teeth and wash hands as well as washing up.

Got me thinking now.
---------
Richard

I always use the insert to run water through before filling the tank. I also generally run the site tap before connecting my hose to it.
Clear hose + dampness + time = mould.
Hoses that are opaque don't generally get mouldy and neither does the inside of the tank.