As above, how do people clean their waste and water pipes. I normally clean the short grey waste with puriclean, not sure about whole waste pipe though as it’s quite long.
It sounds as though you are using a rigid pipe. If you have a flexible one I just wash it off the pitch tap and straight down the drain. Rigid poses a problem.
------------- 2023 Swift Archway Woodford, MK3 Kuga ST Line X 190 ps AWD Auto
Now 52 years Caravanning completed.
you could get a pair of rubber gloves and put one on each end, putting the second one on after putting water in the tube and a couple of cable ties to hold in place while you slosh the water about
If it is a 'solid' pipe, simply put a cap (available from plumb merchants or DIY stores) on one end and fill with water and your preferred cleaning agent, such as tank clean or puriclean. To empty, just put the open end over a drain and tip up the other end of the pipe. TBH in 30 years of using 'solid' pipe I only clean it about once a year as the waste water flows easily through it.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
I've had my freshwater and waste pipes for about 8 years, I use them a few times each year as most times we are not on a serviced pitch. I've not cleaned either.
------------- We camped for years. In 2019 we bought an Elddis Avante 454. We like it as it is short (6.9m) and fits in our driveway and has a fixed bed.
We had 127 nights away in the caravan in 2023.
Quote: Originally posted by gailbonney on 05/5/2024
Thanks for the advice. What do you do about the blue fresh water pipe? clean before next use?
We clean the blue fresh water hose about twice a year. We make up a solution of Puriclean in a jug and then one of us slowly pours it into one end of the hose while the other one of us holds the other end up. Once we see the solution coming out both ends, we know the hose is full and we find a way to keep both ends up for about an hour while the Puriclean does it’s job and then flush through with fresh water.
Quote: Originally posted by gailbonney on 05/5/2024
Thanks for the advice. What do you do about the blue fresh water pipe? clean before next use?
had ours for the last 10 years and its never been touched, i dont see the need to, as long as all the water is removed from it before packing away so there is no standing water in it, it will be fine. you dont drain down your house do you when you go away for 2 weeks and your still alive and kicking
Have never cleaned Blue pipe or caravan water system as we use for up to 10 months of the year. We never drink any water from the caravan, only used for washing. Water for drinking comes straight from tap and through a filter jug. I fit a splitter valve on the site tap to enable me to fill jug
------------- 2023 Swift Archway Woodford, MK3 Kuga ST Line X 190 ps AWD Auto
Now 52 years Caravanning completed.
Quote: Originally posted by gailbonney on 05/5/2024
Thanks for the advice. What do you do about the blue fresh water pipe? clean before next use?
had ours for the last 10 years and its never been touched, i dont see the need to, as long as all the water is removed from it before packing away so there is no standing water in it, it will be fine. you dont drain down your house do you when you go away for 2 weeks and your still alive and kicking
This is what we used to do but a few years ago, we had some Puriclean left over in a jug so decided to just put it in the hose rather than waste it. When we flushed the hose through a couple of hours later, I was absolutely horrified by what came out. The water was really really green and after doing a bit of searching online, I discovered it was most probably biofilm which can harbour bacteria and which can form on any surface that comes in contact with water. This is why we now Puriclean it a couple of times a year. If you don’t drink the water, it probably won’t do you any harm but we drink the water from the caravan tap (after running it through a filter jug) so we decided better safe than sorry.
I do as Pixie does for the blue water hose, but the grey waste hose doesn't get 'cleaned' as such, might run some fresh water through it from the stand pipe if I have time, just to flush it.
Don't clean either to be honest, try to get as much water out of the blue pipe before packing up and then make sure plenty of water flows through it when we set up before using it for drinking etc.
As for the waste pipes, we use Colapz so I try to get as much water out of them as possible when we pack up, then keep them in the front locker so that no smells enter the caravan