PREP A Question on Water Storage

[AlaskaSue]

I used ¼ cup of bleach in 55 gallons. From what I’d read, that was the generally recommended amount. (City water)

For 55 gal that sounds about right.

 

[db cooper]

[QUOTE="Samuel Adams, post: 8346835, member: 8835"
If the result is positive, back off the dose until you find out how little peroxide you may need to accomplish the same goal ?
[/QUOTE]
There in lies the problem I mentioned earlier. There is no way to determine how effective it is. With chlorine there are test kits to measure the residual chlorine left after it has done its disinfecting job. If there is a residual, the water is safe.

With peroxide there is no way to measure its effectiveness. Granted, the same dose of hydrogen peroxide might be too much, but there is no way to tell when just the right amount is at hand when backing off the dose.

It's been years since I did water treatment for a living, but I do recall a thing called chlorine demand. Let's take two types of water, one fresh from a deep well where chances of biological contamination are next to none, and another from a stagnant surface pond that is loaded with life. The chlorine demand for the surface pond will be several times greater than the deep water well. Once the chlorine has done its disinfecting job, there should be a residual amount showing in the water test. This residual is the indicator that the water is then safe.

I appreciate your advice, as I'm certain it serves many very well. But considering the propensity of our hot water going septic, which represents a severe health risk, I think I will stick with a remedy that I personally know works and can be verified with testing.

 

[db cooper]

Look into chemical feed pumps for your well/water system.

I think you can tie it to the pump and send a little chlorine down the casing, into the well.or into the line before a pressure tank.

It might take a little tweaking to get it right.

A feeder pump is the answer. We will be redoing our water well system this summer. It's all enclosed in an underground building, the pressure tank, water softener and controls. It's underground so it does not have to be heated in the winter.

We used feeder pumps where I used to work, and after a little tweeking, like you said, they usually work great.

My memory is rusty, but sending the chlorine down the casing is not the right way to go as our water has a very high iron content. The bleach oxidizes it, causing the dissolved iron to reform into solid iron particles that plug the screen and pea gravel packing around it. This means the pump will eventually suck air. The remedy is to acid the well once its plugged.

The injection point should be before the pressure tank.

 

[ellsworth848]

The rule at our house is: if the plastic container doesn't say BPH free we don't use it. Other wise, keep it in the dark (so algae doesn't grow) until you use it and it is ok to drink. Our well is 400' deep so the water source for the plastic containers is pure enough for us.

 

[rbt]

Same here, I worked water treatment for about 20 years, where chlorine was primarily used. This work was for water consumed by the public, and we had to use the most economical treatment authorized by the EPA, which was chlorine. Much of chlorine's bad name is from over dosing, which creates an odor, noticeable taste and is hard on sensitive skin, which is why for home use I use a test kit.

We never used to treat our own water, which is from a well, until we recently replaced our water heater. The hot water started smelling rotten egg, then turned gray it was so septic. I super chlorinated it, then it was fine for a month, and every 30 days or so the rotten egg smell comes back, and is re-chlorinated. We think there is a dead critter inside the new water heater, probably a mouse.

Thanks for your reply.

The rotten egg smell happens with RV’s quit often I think it’s the aluminum hot water tanks chlorine seems to fix it temporarily, there is a lot of information on the internet about rv’s having this problem.

 

[Millwright]

The rotten egg smell happens with RV’s quit often I think it’s the aluminum hot water tanks chlorine seems to fix it temporarily, there is a lot of information on the internet about rv’s having this problem.

It's from the water just sitting.

Some churches are another good place for it.

Their water heaters don't get used that much.

 

[db cooper]

The rotten egg smell happens with RV’s quit often I think it’s the aluminum hot water tanks chlorine seems to fix it temporarily, there is a lot of information on the internet about rv’s having this problem.

You might already be aware of this:

Pure Water From Your Boat, Home Tap & RV with Ultraviolet Purification

Avoid bottled water and upset stomachs. UV-C purification gives fast, safe, and economical water disinfection for your Boat, Home Tap & RV.

ultraviolet.com

But our RV dealer tried to sell us a UV disinfection unit, and I have done some reading on it. It's supposed to kill everything, and like hydrogen peroxide, I believe it. But also there is no way to measure it's long term effectiveness for home use.

Another way to put it, the little biological goodies killed by chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, or UV lamps are still there, only in a deceased form. That dead biological matter can and will reform into another type of living critter if the temperature, sunlight and other factors allow it. When water becomes stagnant, as with sitting in an RV, the little devils will regroup. Which is why a chlorine residual is important.

For RV use, I think it's OK as the water supply is replenished with each use and the UV unit generally is a on demand type thing that works as the pump is pumping the water to the user, or so I think.

 

[db cooper]

The rotten egg smell happens with RV’s quit often I think it’s the aluminum hot water tanks chlorine seems to fix it temporarily, there is a lot of information on the internet about rv’s having this problem.

One thing I'd like to add, is an RV's water storage tank is open to the atmosphere by way of it's vent tube. Over a period of time this alone will cause critters to appear and feed off of the dead bio matter previously killed by disinfection.

Our own RV has a storage compartment by the water pump, which has clear water lines going to it. I've noticed things growing inside these lines, which is why I chlorinate before each use.

Reverse osmosis water is some of the best water there is in terms of purity, but only if properly stored. Case in point was a hospital that had a huuuuge RO unit for drinking and lab use. They complained about poor taste. The water went from the RO unit to a 1,000 gallon storage tank that was open to the atmosphere. I pulled the lid back and there was some stringy looking crap floating on the surface that was growing quite well in those conditions. They shut down the entire RO operation permanently once this was discovered.

Liberal lurkers reading this stuff will likely be so afraid of water now that they will quit using it all together, to include taking a bath.

 

[Millwright]

Algae wants sunlight.

Paint you white plastic cisterns black or buy black ones to help retard its growth.

 

[Publius]

I have done this and still have a fair number of such jugs in storage and intended for our camp toilet and general cleaning.
Try going to Walmart and look in the camping section for water storage cans they come in 5 gallon and a few hold seven gallons, 20 gallons is not a lot of water but can allow you to get by for a week or two for cooking and drinking water.
We store water in these cans and we have well water and it also filtered, so water that has been stored for 5 years or more is just as good as the day I put in the cans.
I hope this put a few on the right track.

 

[Profit of Doom]

We never used to treat our own water, which is from a well, until we recently replaced our water heater. The hot water started smelling rotten egg, then turned gray it was so septic. I super chlorinated it, then it was fine for a month, and every 30 days or so the rotten egg smell comes back, and is re-chlorinated. We think there is a dead critter inside the new water heater, probably a mouse.

I would suspect the anode material. No details right now.

 

[db cooper]

I would suspect the anode material. No details right now.

I wondered about that. This anode material creates a whitish substance that settles at the bottom of the tank, when we flush the tank from the bottom it comes out in white chunks. This is our third water heater since the place was new in 2008, past failures were due to leaking tanks. Newer tanks are not repairable as the tank and outer sheet metal shell are bonded together with foam insulation that makes it impossible to detect where a leak is coming from.

However the past two tanks never had the issue I describe and were of identical construction, to include the white chunks coming out when flushed.

 

[Snettrecker]

A feeder pump is the answer. We will be redoing our water well system this summer. It's all enclosed in an underground building, the pressure tank, water softener and controls. It's underground so it does not have to be heated in the winter.

We used feeder pumps where I used to work, and after a little tweeking, like you said, they usually work great.

My memory is rusty, but sending the chlorine down the casing is not the right way to go as our water has a very high iron content. The bleach oxidizes it, causing the dissolved iron to reform into solid iron particles that plug the screen and pea gravel packing around it. This means the pump will eventually suck air. The remedy is to acid the well once its plugged.

The injection point should be before the pressure tank.

How do you filter your iron? We've got very high iron and can't seem to get rid of it. We are looking into the backflushing filters, but I was wondering what method you use. Thanks

 

[db cooper]

How do you filter your iron? We've got very high iron and can't seem to get rid of it. We are looking into the backflushing filters, but I was wondering what method you use. Thanks

We do not filter it out with an conventional iron filter. We use a sediment filter just after the well. Much of the iron precipitates out here by being aerated by having a poor well. Our well when drilled tested out for a 5 gpm pump. Soon after it started sucking sand. To stop the sand sucking I put a 2 GPM restrictor in the line with a bypass valve that sent the other 3 gpm back down the well casing, which gives it plenty of air contact, which gets the iron to precipitate out into a solid and caught by the filter.

This way the 5 gpm pump gets to pump its 5 gpm without excessive pressure build up. The excess 3 gpm is just recycled. The side benefit is it gets aerated.

We then use a salt for the water softener that is intended for high iron water. The end result is a fairly clean water that leaves no rust lines on toilets. Clothes have no yellowish tint. The water still has a very high mineral content which does leave a white ring build up on the toilet.

Considering the current political climate, I would not trade a water well for a rural water connection if they paid me. If we lose power, a generator works the well for us. Being self sufficient in water, sewer, heat (wood) and electricity makes one feel just a little bit better off than city dudes.

 

[Milkweed Host]

I would suspect the anode material

That's what I was thinking also. I try to removed mine for replacement, but can't budge it.
Three foot of pipe on the breaker bar along with wood on the bottom to keep it from moving.
40 gallon tank with the water still in it for weight. i'm afraid of breaking something using that
about of force. I've been spraying the threads for a couple of weeks and will try it again.
i also have a spare water heater on hand, just in case i destroy this one...

But yes, a defective anode or the lack of one can cause the rotten egg smell.

peroxide poured into a water filter ahead of the water heater will get rid of the smell.

 

[db cooper]

But yes, a defective anode or the lack of one can cause the rotten egg smell.

But if you read my previous posts, the water actually turned gray, as it was so septic, as in sewage water. I do not think a poor anode rod would do this. And like I said before, the previous two heater did not do this and they were of the same design. With the water turning gray, it scared me as I knew the water was not safe at all.