Just wondering how you all keep your aqua rolls or water containers clean?
When we had our Freedom we only had a small (10 litre) container so I used to wash it out with Milton at the start of the season and then with fairy liquid before each outing.
With the new (to us) ABI the water container sits outside, and we have an aquaroll. Before we used it for the first time this weekend I did the whole system with Milton and it was fine. But it is a bit bulky to try to wash out with fairy before each weekend away (I will be rinsing the bubbles out for hours and hours!).
So what do you all do to keep it fresh and usable?
This topic comes up quite frequently. We (like a lot of others) just sterilise the aquaroll with Milton if it hasn't been used for a couple of weeks or more. We don't drink the water from the caravan taps anyway, because it tastes of plastic and we don't think it's nice to drink water which may have been sitting around in the aquaroll or pipework in warm weather. Any water which is consumed without boiling it first comes from a jug or Brita filter, filled at the site supply tap.
Hi, I think Ulti-mates and Scarletsfan have hit on the right note when they suggest you might be better using the aquaroll water for washing and dishwashing etc. However often you clean out the aquaroll and the caravan water pipes there is usually that unpleasant taste in your cuppa. We always now use water direct from the tap for drinking, using a large flask with sealed lid for keeping it in.
I sterilise with Milton or Puriclean each spring then just rinse it out before re-filling each time. We don't use it for cold drinks - the kids only drink pop anyway so I usually get a bottle of fizzy water for me when I get their coke. If it's hot weather and we need drinking water we use an empty pop bottle and fill it at the site tap.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
As everyone else appears to agree, we don't use our Aquaroll for drinking water. The other thing to consider is that, if you flush the system with Milton, you will contaminate the water filter with sterilising solution so you ought to change the filter every time you sterilise the system.
I rinse my Aquaroll before each trip using Milton, which I also use to rinse out the whole caravan system. I them flush through with fresh water, so any water left in the system has only been there as long as it takes to drive to the site. I don't have a filter so that is not an issue.
We all drink the water from the caravan system as we don't get any funny tastes and that is what it is designed for. I mean I didn't spend the best part of £12k so that I could walk to the site tap each time I need a drink! Plus how often does each site sterilise its taps? Not often I'll wager!
Same as Mike, and we've been doing it for over twenty years - still here, and (touch wood) no tummy upsets yet! Mind you, we don't usually drink water neat anyway - it's boiled for a cup of tea!
Just a thought - if the water isn't fit to drink, are the plates and dishes fit to eat off after they've been washed in that water......
Gram
------------- What's the difference between a chicken?
We clean our Aquaroll with Puriclean.You also want to make sure you get a good solution of cleaner into and through the pump.
The unpleasant taste that you sometimes get is from the pipes in the caravan not being quite as clean as you'd like. We flush these through with Puriclean, then for the first 24 hours on site fill the kettle from the tap. We've found that once we've done this the water is perfectly fine for tea and coffee etc. Wouldn't drink it though just for a refreshing drink of cold water.
I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about the water quality delivered from any outside 'barrel' through the caravan pipes, after we took our pump apart and were horrified by the slime, black mould, and smell, from inside the pump and the flexible pipes (six years old, and we've always cleaned and sterilised our system thoroughly). I'd like to see the manufacturers or Caravan publications, gather more information about the quality of water, not in a test version, but actually in 'site' conditions (ie using an Aquaroll, or similar) on site, week after week, heating up and cooling down, and just measure what grows in the water. I suspect, after a conversation with a bacteriologist friend, that we'd all be horrified! We don't drink the water unboiled now, nor to clean our teeth, but keep a large container of 'fresh' water inside the van, with drinking water in the fridge.
I sterilise my waste master and aquaroll at the end of the year but we always use a 5L water container for drinking water. Even if the aquaroll was perfect I prefer my water straight from the tap and in a sealed container. I can always taste the aquaroll and a bottle lasts all day easily.
------------- Good friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget.
We use our Aquaroll 24/7 365 days a year and every month we have to use Milton to clean the system as slime develops on the pump pipe work even though it is covered and in the shade.
Milton should be fine. I use similar stuff called puriclean and let it stand in th aquaroll and caravan water system for 12 hours.
you should not leave milton in the hotwater tank for more than one hour as milton likes to eat stainless steel tanks.i have been asking for 12 months or more in various places,how do you know the site water system is safe,ie.is it tested every 12 months by the health people?as a rule its delivered to tap in a plastic pipe.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
I think in this country we worry a lot unduly. Our dog prefers water from puddles to tap water. Is this perhaps because she can taste the added chemicals? As was said above how often are the plastic pipes delivering the water on site tested or indeed your own household pipes. You will probably take in more germs from food preparation areas than the water system.
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Topic: How clean is your aquaroll?
