Message Forums

Hi all, we have just bought a 5 year old Swift Coastline 590SE. It has been very well looked after and we are thrilled with our purchase. We've always camped under canvas but are excited about switching to comfort

Anyway our 'van has been sat unused for the best part of a year until we bought it last weekend. We have scrubbed and cleaned all the dusty surfaces and given the outside a spruce up too. I am wondering what maintenance we should do on the water pipes, water hog, etc? I was going to fill the hog, connect it and run the whole lot through all the pipes but not sure if anything more should be done?

Also (spot the novice ) do most folk treat the water they put in to their water containers when on site? I'm thinking drinking water.

Many thanks

Jo

As well as giving it a good "rinse through",I believe there are "proper" additives for cleaning/sterilising caravan water systems..(..worth a "google"..)

Some folk use Milton..but I think you need to be careful not to leave it too long,because it can damage any stainless steel in the systems(usually the boiler)...

We don't bother adding anything "extra" to the water system,when we're using it... 

I just use Milton to clean through the water pipes in my van.

No need to add anything to the drinking water container when on site.

Great, thanks all, I shall get some Milton and wash through tonight as we are off on our first trip tomorrow. I might get a cheap plastic water filter to live in the 'van as OH is rather sensitive about how his tea tastes!

The advice is not to use Milton because it contains a harsh chemical that will damage internal steel components in the hot water tank. Milton is okay for daily use such as babies equipment as it is not standing for long periods and all baby equipment is plastic anyway. Milton doesn't actually destroy the bio-film which is a slimy bacteria that over a period will cling to the walls of internal plastic water pipes and storage vessels such as water barrels. Puriclean is the best product as it not harmful to water tanks and also destroys bio-film as well. Click on the the link and see exactly what the product is designed to do.

http://www.cleantabs.co.uk/puriclean.htm

Bump!...

Jo!..did you notice Tango's advice above?

Thanks, no I didn't see it, no notification came.

We did use Milton but timed very carefully and I don't think we filled the hot water tank (couldn't see the point) So that got flushed through with plain water.

I will order some Puriclean and redo - it was a really quick job anyway. We did get a water filter, £8 bargain from Tescos, and tea & coffee tasted great.

Thanks for the advice folks.

Quote: Originally posted by Gary Kirk on 02/5/2012

---

The only place I do get problems is the toilet flush, lots of algae for the first day or so from the pipes and then stops. 

---