By Nanci Dixon
We had a leak at the end of our drinking water hose that no number of washers would fix. No big deal. It was so firmly attached to the motorhome hose reel that we decided to just cut the old male hose end off and replace it with a repair end.
I cut the leaking end off, glanced inside, and YUCK! The inside of the hose was coated with green goo. Algae! That is the white water hose we drink from! Algae forms with a combination of minerals, moisture, sun and heat. Our months in Arizona certainly left the hose exposed to sun and heat. The nutrients that algae thrive on are iron, phosphorus, oxygen and hydrogen. Most tap water has iron and phosphorus, and oxygen is in the air in the hose or tanks.
While we sanitize our fresh water tank at least every three or four months, in three years we had never thought to sanitize the hose. We’ll be doing that from now on!
Follow these steps to sanitize a water hose
1) Both vinegar and bleach kill algae. Vinegar is less harsh but will require more.
2) If you’re using vinegar, you can use full strength, but the results are not as sure as bleach.
3) If using bleach, dilute 1/4 cup bleach in a gallon of water. When sanitizing the whole system, the recommended amount is 1/4 cup bleach for every 15 gallons of water. Bleach is caustic to metal and can be harmful to plastic and rubber parts, so you want to use just enough to get out the algae. A 1/4-cup-to-a-gallon ratio should not be used for the entire sanitation of the water system.
4) Pour into the hose. Cap the ends.
Another method of getting the bleach into the hose is to add the 1/4 cup bleach to the hose and slowly add water to the hose until full, then cap the ends. (I gave up trying to pour the gallon of diluted bleach in and used this method.)
5) Slosh around and leave overnight.
6) Run water through until the bleach smell is gone.
After we sanitized the hose, we decided it would be good to sanitize the whole system. When I sanitize the whole system in the future I am going to add at least half of the bleach in the water hose first instead of just the tank.
Hint
Want to get rid of the bleach smell on your hands? Try rubbing your hands with lemon juice or vinegar and rinse well. Coffee grounds can also exfoliate and help remove odors.
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##RVT1193
Thanks for the tidbit about how to remove the smell from your hands! I wonder if coffee grounds could be used to get rid of the smell of diesel on my hands. Something to try.
GoJo for diesel smell.
We have a stainless steel “egg”. Rub it on your hands under water just like a bar of soap. I use it when gasoline gets on my hands.
Also removes garlic and onion odors fro your hand.
Nice take. I never thought about the hose. But I wonder, is the algae harmful, benign or maybe beneficial?
That is the $50,000 question. A quick google search indicates that drinking water from a hose with algae is not safe.
Whoa, we never thought about it.
THANK YOU.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Worx-Hydroshot-Bottle-Cap-Connector-with-Draw-Hose-WA4038/313834999 2 liter bottle cap to water hose.
I replaced the manual water fill hose on my RV, and was rather shocked to see that it had black mold inside. Fortunately I run all my drinking and cooking water through a Berkey filter
I have a old filter housing i use to sanitize my system. I pour the required amount of sanitizer in the housing and screw it together. I attach the filter housing to my faucet and hook my hoses up to the coach and fill my tank. The Sanitizing solution passes through the hose as it fills the tank. I then remove the filter housing and cap the fittings and place it in the garage for the next time. I have another set of dual filters we use when we hook up to campground water systems. As we are no longer away from home for more that two weeks, I haven’t had to use campground systems for several years.
Thank you for the information, Ed K! Safe travels!
Thank you, Nanci for the discussion and recipes! I will be applying your instructions this spring. Have a great day and safe travels! 🙂
As a retired construction inspector I can say that most (all) municipal water distribution pipe has that same green slime in it. I also bleach my on-board water tank and flush the entire system at least once a year even though I never use on-board water for cooking or drinking. If you filter the water coming in you will likely be surprised at how fast the filter element turns green.
I put a nozzle on one end of the hose and pour the bleach mix into the hose. Hold one end of the coiled hose in the air and pour the bleach mix into the hose. Turn off the nozzle and lift that end the same height. Remove the nozzle and connect the hose together for about 24 hours. Then rinse the hose.
Wear old clothes!!!
Simple solution to your problem with sanitation, use Purogene! Discovered this product maybe 20 plus years ago at an RV event.. Non toxic, doesn’t require massive water quantities for dilution. When filling our empty tank I add 1 ounce per 30 gallons to the hose. Then connect hose and fill the tank. Both hose and tank sanitized.