Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 10:35:24 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Water tank
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTinkxO1axYMW4rc2jGj327K3o_Kjvw@mail.gmail.com>
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If you really don't trust that the water is microbiologically safe for drinking, but it is clear and colorless, treating with bleach (sodium hypochlorite, a source of chlorine) or iodine (Potable Aqua tablets sold at camping supply sources are convenient) works (unless the contaminant is _Cryptosporidium_, usually present only when human fecal contamination occurs, and which neither city water treatment nor filtering with typical camping filters is certain to eliminate, but which is exceedingly rare -- when cities do have it, they issue warnings). Boil water which may contain _Cryptosporidium_. Most cases of _Cryptosporidium_ in the U.S. come from contaminated swimming pools (NOT water drunk when camping, NOT from natural swimming areas, and NOT from city drinking water, though some do).
Two teaspoons of household bleach will treat the tank. Potable Aqua tablets require one tablet per quart, so that would be 64 tablets for 16 gallons. Tablets should be dissolved before adding to the tank. Iodine will discolor the tank, and some object to the taste of iodine or chlorine, though most municipal water supplies contain chlorine. Let the water sit for at least thirty minutes after treating, and in the case of the camper, run a half liter (about a pint) of treated water through the faucet before using.
If the water has a color, or is not clear and the turbidity cannot be filtered out with something like a coffee filter, or even a paper towel, double the chemical dose.
Personally, I find the tank water fine. I use municipal tap water or a trusted drinking water source to fill it. I find the propensity of folks in the U.S. to drink bottled water to be a really odd thing. If you look at the label of all this water which costs more than gasoline, the source of almost all of it is some city water supply. People are paying a premium to have Atlanta, or San Antonio, or New York City water shipped hundreds of miles around the country in chemically questionable bottles (PETE, which may be a carcinogen and estrogen mimic, which is the reason the bottles are labeled not to be reused), at a great expenditure of environmentally damaging fossil fuel use. If the water is reverse osmosis treated, unless minerals are added back, you are depriving yourself of essential elements like iodine, potassium, and calcium, though most folks get enough in their food.
If you are going camping, just fill the tank with good city tap water, and use it. My contribution, you may choose not to do as I do.
mcneely
---- neil n <musomuso@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> I trust the Westy container/hoses, but there are times when I fill it
> up at a gas station. Asking the clerk or attendant if the water is
> potable (or "drinkable") usually nets a shrug for a response.
>
> If I'm not certain of the source, I do my best not to consume it
> unless boiled. So as a habit, I don't drink it. (though as someone
> kindly pointed out via p-mail, even brushing your teeth with bad water
> can lead to trouble)
>
> Neil.
>
> On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 9:47 AM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > At 01:26 AM 5/18/2011, neil n wrote:
>
> >> That said, if I'm low on drinking water, tank water
> >> is boiled for coffee or tea.
> >
> > Why? The Westy water tank is a big polyethylene bottle. You buy milk in
> > the supermarket in a big polyethylene bottle (you buy little bottles of
> > water in PETE bottles that aren't nearly so chemically
> > benign, according to stuff I've heard on PBS lately). It uses food-grade
> > hoses to the faucet. It's nicely sealed up. Sanitize it occasionally, put
> > clean water in it, it will stay clean for a long time.
>
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
>
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
--
David McNeely
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