Sanitising home water system
Peter Franklin
shower, I finally got around to checking the tanks in the loft. Sure enough,
I found the answer - and also the answer to what had happened to the kid's
hamster that had gone missing!
Anyway, having fished the putrefying remains from the tank, (I hope you're
not eating right now) I'm now wondering how I can sanitise the system.
I have considered bleach or pool sanitisation chemicals, but I'm not sure
what effect it will have on the pipes.
Can anyone advise what chemicals / products to use?
(Thank God it wasn't the cold water tank!)
Peter
wanderer
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How about some Milton sterilizing liquid, the stuff used for babies'
bottles. I should think if you pour a bottle full in to the tank, let it sit
for a while then flush the whole lot through. Oh, and I bet it don't smell
half as bad as a hedgehog wot's been under the cover of the swimming pool
unbeknown for a few weeks! :((
Mike Taylor
from your cold tank? or are you talking about the expansion tank to the
central heating/boiler?
If it is the expansion tank then just tie up the ball valve and open a drain
of tap somewhere on the heating to let more than the tank of water out then
refill. As this water should be sealed in your boiler system and goes
nowhere near your taps then not really a problem.
If it is in the cold tank in attic then drain the hot and cold down and
refill a couple of times. Add some Milton fluid between a drain down then
eventually fill with fresh water
JohnFlax
"Peter Franklin" <retep.f...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
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Almost 30 years ago I had a similar problem with what looked like a bird: it
fell apart as I lifted it out of the tank in the loft.
I drained down and cleaned the cold water tank. I then refilled the system
quite a few times to dilute the fouled water in the hot water tank. The hot
water tank had no drain cock so it remained full of water even when the header
tank in the loft was empty. Fortunately there was a stop-cock in the airing
cupboard so it was not necessary to go into the loft each time.
Finally I put a whole bottle of domestic bleach (1 litre or more) into the
tank and flushed that out several times.
Tiny bones had to be removed from the shower head, taps etc.
Even today I am careful only to use water from the rising main for cooking,
cleaning my teeth etc.
Martin McGowan
boiler.
1) take garden hose and start it siphoning, run the hose end across bottom
of tank and "hoover up all the debris. when clean.
2) take 1 bottle of bleach, tie up ball valve and mix the bleach well in the
tank.
3) go to the farthest hot tap and run water until you can smell bleach.Turn
off tap, repeat this step with every tank fed tap and shower head in the
house.
4) take another bottle of bleach and pour into cold water tank allow the
cold tank to fill with water.
5) settle down with a mug of coffee, read the paper and cogitate on the
whichness of the why.
6) after a minimum of 30 minutes and preferably an hour run all the taps
until you can no longer smell bleach.
7) restart the boiler.
8) fit a tank lid to the water tank.
I used to have to do this every year to two 1000gallon tanks at the hostel I
was maintenance engineer at. we had 30 bathrooms, about 90 wash basins, 12
showers and 22 kitchen sinks. Martin
"Peter Franklin" <retep.f...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
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> After a few weeks of wondering why my hot water smelt rancid when I had a
> shower, I finally got around to checking the tanks in the loft. Sure
enough,
> I found the answer - and also the answer to what had happened to the kid's
> hamster that had gone missing!
>
snip
rabbit
used by caravaneers to clean their water pipes
"Peter Franklin" <retep.f...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
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Peter Franklin
I've used a combination of them to clean out the system. Just to clarify the
set up in my house, the contaminated tank is the expansion tank for the
secondary hot water system that feeds the taps & shower. The primary hot
water circuit is off an Aga, which has its own expansion tank. The central
heating is off a separate boiler, and that has its own expansion tank.
PS to Wanderer - I know exactly what you mean about the hedgehogs in the
pool, as I had this happen twice in my pool whilst we've been on holiday.
Eeeuchh.
Thanks again, and here's to more pleasant postings.
Peter
"Peter Franklin" <retep.f...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
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Martin McGowan
"Dudley" <use4...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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> > Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.
> >
> > I've used a combination of them to clean out the system. Just to clarify
> the
> This thread totally explains why we should never use water from a cold
water
> tank for drinking, even it's boiled! I did try to explain to my better
half
> when we had our kitchen out of action for a few days and she made tea from
> the cold water supply in the bathroom which is fed from the cold water
tank
> in the loft. We all had upset tummy for 24 hours (she didn't tell me
until
> after we'd drank the tea!).
>
It also explains why the water regulations were changed to enforce the
fitting of "sealed" lids to new/replacement work on water tanks. So that
foreign bodies could not enter the tanks.Martin
AWM
"Peter Franklin" <retep.f...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
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Clean an scrub out the cold tank then disinfect using using a chlorine based
disinfectant (odium hypochloride) ie;the cheapest thin domestic bleach you
can find depending on the size of tank add 1 to 2 bottles. Open the cold tap
fed from the tank (usually just) the bathroom taps until a chlorine smell
can be smelt in the water then close taps. Run hot water for about 30
seconds (just enough to disinfect the feed pipe). Close all taps and leave
for at least 1 hour before draining.
Others have told you to use Miltons fluid, while this works just fine it is
an expensive method as the active ingredient is just sodium hypochorlide
exactly the same as a 25p bottle of bleach form Tesco/Adsa/Safeway/Lidel
Hot system by pasteurisation
While waiting turn thermosat on hot water system up fully turn water heating
on and leave for 2 hours run hot water out periodically running through
pipes for ten minutes at each outlet in turn..to pasteurise the system..
IMPORTANT
Showers disinfect shower heads and hoses by soaking chlorine base bleach,
then run water through for shower 10 minutes at the highest possible
temperature
ARWadsworth
> pool, as I had this happen twice in my pool whilst we've been on holiday.
> Eeeuchh.
Hedgehogs are good swimmers and they will swim for hours until they are
exhausted before drowning when trapped in a pond. After this happened in my
pond I used a length of canvas (about 6 inches wide) that overhangs into the
pond and is secured with a large stone.They can use this to climb out and
thankfully no more have died here since.
Adam