Dirty Water in tank

[jez1954]

I emptied the drinking water tank (plastic collapsible one in the bow) from last year and noticed that the water has gone brown. I presume this means that there is gunk/mould/algea in the tank and it needs cleaning.

What's the best way to clean it - fill it with a solution of bicarb of soda and leave for a couple of days?

Or do I need to get a specialist sterilising fluid?

 

Jez

[Taslim]

Milton (other types available) used as per instructions but find out where the contamination came from.

 

taslim.

[David Schweizer]

Another vote for Milton, or the Wilkinsons equivalent at half the price.

 

We had some brown gunk in our water a few years ago, a fill and flush with Milton cleared it and it has not returned yet.

[Arthur Brown]

A cup full of thin bleach may help. May not help with tinted hair, will boil away if making tea.

[Chertsey]

Milton is only a very dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite, which is the same stuff as thin bleach. So just use thin bleach but at about ten times the dilution. Leave to soak and then flush out.

[jez1954]

Many thanks for the advice - I'll pop to the chemists tomorrow and get a bottle of Milton.

 

Jez

[Hairy-Neil]

A cup full of thin bleach may help. May not help with tinted hair, will boil away if making tea.

Milton is only a very dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite, which is the same stuff as thin bleach. So just use thin bleach but at about ten times the dilution. Leave to soak and then flush out.

Many thanks for the advice - I'll pop to the chemists tomorrow and get a bottle of Milton.

 

Jez

 

Horse/water/drink....

[a.p.now]

is the milton edable then? it says on there websie theres no need to wash it off. but what if you wanted to use it in your tank and then use the warter inside it? or dose it have to be flushed first.

[Machpoint005]

This might answer your questions - it answered mine!

from another forum

Time for a trip to Tesco, I think. Presumably other supermarkets' cheapo household bleach is the same stuff.

[jez1954]

Horse/water/drink....

 

I was going to air on the side of caution as if I recall from baby bottle days Milton has no smell/taste wheras bleach is very smelly and I don't want to end up with water that tastes/smells of bleach. It's not as if Milton is particularly expensive - £2-3 quid even if I end up using a whole bottle.

 

Jez

[Rebotco]

Milton is only a very dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite, which is the same stuff as thin bleach. So just use thin bleach but at about ten times the dilution. Leave to soak and then flush out.

 

Do you know if this is OK for integral steel water tanks coated with "bitumen"?

[ditchcrawler]

I was going to air on the side of caution as if I recall from baby bottle days Milton has no smell/taste wheras bleach is very smelly and I don't want to end up with water that tastes/smells of bleach. It's not as if Milton is particularly expensive - £2-3 quid even if I end up using a whole bottle.

 

Jez

At least if it tastes and smell you know when you have got rid of it.

[Naughty Cal]

We flush ours through with a Milton solution at the start of each spring just for our own peace of mind. Other than that we dont tend to bother with any other treatment. Although at the moment we have been using sterilising tablets for the last couple of top ups as we managed to leave the filler cap off after one of our fill ups and it wasnt noticed for a week or so. Dont like the tast of the water with these tablets in but at least we know it is killing off any nasties that might have got in there