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We never drink directly from the caravan water system! If we have tea or coffee we take the kettle to the water point. The trouble with caravan water systems is that I expect its almost impossible to completely clean the system but if you still have the taste of bleach in the water it has not been flushed sufficiently.

David

We use Puriclean which you can get from your local caravan shop. I think it is much the same as milton but we make sure we flush through 2 auqarolls after use and this seems to help. We don't tend to drink direct from the taps but do use it for tea and coffee (i.e boiling) and I can't see I have noticed any taste..........but having a new water filter may have helped as we change this after 30 days use. I guess like at home with our brita filter the water filter probably changes the taste of the water slightly.

PS; I take it that if you have a filter in the van that you are removing it before using the Milton or putting a clean one in after flushing through?

Idpdmp

There is a major difference between household water supplies and those in a caravan as household ones are always full of water content whereas caravan systems are often left empty, or partially empty, often for quite long period which encourages the growth algae on the inside of the pipes. I am happy that you have never had a bad experience but I have read elsewhwere of someone becoming quite ill through drinking water from the caravan system. It is of course up to the individual but my advice would be always to collect fresh supplies for drinking.

David

Quote: Originally posted by David Klyne on 20/4/2012

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Idpdmp

There is a major difference between household water supplies and those in a caravan as household ones are always full of water content whereas caravan systems are often left empty, or partially empty, often for quite long period which encourages the growth algae on the inside of the pipes. I am happy that you have never had a bad experience but I have read elsewhwere of someone becoming quite ill through drinking water from the caravan system. It is of course up to the individual but my advice would be always to collect fresh supplies for drinking.

David

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There will always be exceptions to any given situation.  Individuals will clean their systems in a variety of ways, some no doubt better than others.  It does seem odd that we get more involved with caravan systems than with household supplies.  After the water companies have repaired pipes they warn us to run our taps for a period of time to flush what looks like very well polluted water out of the system.  Yet we make little real fuss over this and readily return to accepting the water as 'pure'.  Equally we make little fuss accepting water from a Victorian network in many cases which leak, thus by definition from a network open to the ingress of foreign matter.  It would seem to be a bit like cups in restaurants and cups at home and cups in the work environment.  We expect a clean cup in a restaurant but do I standards change elsewhere? 

I accept your advice as being sound but, as a Biologist, I think we need to be aware of health but equally to be balanced about this.  Nothing is ever 100% microbe free - even the rims of volcanoes, geysers and ice.