Had a foul smell in water lines. Tasted and smelled like dirt.

Used part bleach and water in lines and let sit for 15 min. Got rid of smell and odor, but it came back in about 5 days-just the cold water this time.

Was in N.C. and as I looked at the stream of water coming from the outlet at RV park there would be an occational red color coming through. It was the same color as the dirt, "clay"

Any ideas out thre...Thanks

 

I'd do the bleach again for a day and drain. Then put Baking soda, 1 cup, in tank pump lines and hotwater tank full, a couple hours then completly drain lines and hotwater tank. Hook up city water and flush lines. If not clear of bleach taste, fill lines from tank, With baking soda water again and let sit over night. Drain whole system next day. Then get an inline filter on hose.

 

Thanks dersequim..I'm going to try that

 

The only thing that bleach will do is kill the germs. If mold is the problem, like they said re-bleach it. But use a stronger mixture. Just remember the hot water heater! I boo-booed one time and got it in the hot water tank. :'( That took something else to get all that smell out!

Kimrey

 

Tried the bleach...so far so good. Was afraid the baking soda may settle on the bottom and I wouldn't be able to get it all out.

 

Jimbo,
Just got back from NC - - had the same thing at one site. It is the red clay coming in thru their well. You need a particulate filter to get that out. The quickest way to handle that is with an inline filter in your hose just before it goes into the RV. I use it anytime I suspect the water. We also use the small filter that goes on the water faucet in the kitchen. It seems to do a good job and the replacement cartridges don't kill you to replace. You turn the filter when you want filtered water, then set it back for unfiltered. We like it.
Bob

 

Fiver Bob
I think your right about the clay in NC.
I agree about the inline filter I saw one "inline filter" for $26. Good for 2000 gal.

Any other filters out there?

 

The smell is coming back, but only in the cold water line. The hot water lines are fine.

The bleach worked great, but the stink came back. I don't know if it's bacteria or a demon. I didn't use backing soda. I'm going to bleach it again and put a filter on it. Has anyone else had this happed. It smells like dirt. I know the water here is fine, "St. Petersburg" Fl

Fiver Bob..What is a "particulate filter"

 

I was told to not use any kind of external water filter because it was the cause of the algae blooms I was getting in my water system.

I knew something was up when I had sanitized the system with two cups of bleach to 33 gal of water, let it sit overnight, then flushed it. And the very next time I filled the tank up using my inline filter, the bloom was back again.

So I tossed the filter, re-sanitized it, and things have been fine ever since.

Rob

 

[quote author=JImbo1 link=board=11;threadid=19975;start=0#msg194204 date=1065581290]
Fiver Bob..What is a "particulate filter"
[/quote]

A particulate filter can be either in-line in the water hose just before entering the unit, or installed inside. The filter is available in Home Depot about as cheap as I have seen anywhere. The filter element itself looks like a big spool of string (which it probably is) inside a plastic container (about 4" diameter by 14" long) and is quite cheap to replace. It filters out particles down to "whatever" (??) microns in size. It works great in places like NC or anywhere you might suspect the water having some small solids. It does not "purify" the water. We use one anytime I am suspicious of the water. Then we have the PURR filter on the water faucet that helps with taste and some additional filtering. It is simple, not bulky and easy to change the filter. I only drink the water when I feel the supply is good and I am hooked up. The element should be changed if it has not been used for a while to prevent the build up of "critters" in the element.
The biggest culprit to the water "going south" is storing the unit for periods of time with water still in the tank. And that is double for us in the south due to the heat. Anytime you are going to store you unit for a while, add a little bleach to the tank but do not pull it into the water heater. Turn on the cold taps long enough to allow the water to come thru the cold water lines only. I always bring drinking water with me when we head out, so my goal is to just keep the stored water from fouling out - - I don't drink it. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks..Fiver Bob

 

FWIW, I was listening to Paul Harvey maybe a month ago. He had a tidbit about Leginares disease. Remember the one that everyone thought came from moldy A/C units.
Now the thinking is it is really caused by hot water lines. They said water temperatures around 95 to 105 degrees or so is a perfect breeding ground for all kinds of nasty things you don't want in your water.
That being said if you live in the south just think of what the water temperature is in your holding tanks during the warmer months.
Randy

 

When picking the inline filter for your RV please take note of the following.
Most filters are only Granular activated coal. These filters are ok when the source water is potable and the only problem is with taste or odor (T&O). These filters will absorb the most common T&O such as hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) and will trap rust from piping; this is very common in deep wells. When using these filters take note of the flow (gallons per minute), as most will only do the job if there is sufficient contact time. This is usually 2-3 GPM and most water systems will supply at a much faster rate. When the tap water has not been treated properly from the supplier or is untreated this will open up a whole new set of things to look out for. There are very few over the counter filters that will handle unsafe or raw water and make it potable or safe to drink and then only at very low flows. Remember that there is a difference between potable and palatable. You can have good tasting water that will kill you if you drink it, or water that taste like the water out of a cow track that is very potable.
I do not feel that I can make any recommendation for any brand that is on the market at this time but if you decide to buy one them keep the following things in mind.
1) Look for a filter that will remove criptosperideum and gairdia (Sorry spelling was not my best subject) along with viruses and particles.
2) With all filters read and follow the manufacture recommendations for the GPM through the filter.
3) And keep the filter changed on a regular basis. This one thing has caused more problems in homes with a filter than anything else. When the filter is not changed it will cause T&O not help it.
Sorry to be so long but I deal with problems like this every day and I have developed a real opinion on the subject.
I am the superintendent of a water treatment plant in a small town south of Dallas Texas. I hold a Class A water treatment license so I do have a background on this subject, if I may be of help on this matter feel free to E-mail or me and I will send you my phone # so that we may discuss this matter further.
I will leave you with one last caution, do not under any circumstance listen to anything that a water filter sales person says .

I am not sure if this will read the way that I intend but I think it will get my point across.

 

Thanks Bigfoot..your a storehouse of knowledge..

I was thinking that this water that smells like dirt may be caused by an alge bloom. Is it possible that I have a algae bloom? By the way does anyone know what an algae bloom is and what the symtons are. and the cure? If that's the case wouldn't I need a filter that would kill bacteria.
I remenber years ago these filters had silver in them and they killed bacteria. Now I notice they have some other thing in them that kills bacteria. Is that as effective as the silver. I think it was called KD? something.

This "criptosperideum" thing...is that caused by bacteria and would it cause your water to smell like red clay from N.C.or dirt.

I did the bleach thing and let sit overnight. Right now the waters great.

Do you think if I get a filter that kills bacteria..then my problems are over?

 

To try to answer your questions in order.
It is very unlikely that you have what I would think of as a full-blown algae bloom in your water tank most water tanks do not receive enough sunlight. Algae is a plant not a bacteria. But it is possible that there are algae of some type growing in the water tank of your RV and this could be causing your problem to resurface. But the better bet is that the water is just going stale from not changing it often enough. Try changing the water once per week for two or three weeks and adding 1 cup of bleach /40 gals water, pump this trough the system but not in your water heater. By the way algae bloom = pond scum on a smaller scale.
Most filters that kill bacteria use some form of iodine, but if you read the label on most filters they will say that they trap bacteria not kill. Most do not even do this as they are only for T&O. This means that if bacteria has been removed and is trapped in the filter and the speed of the water passing through the filter is increased then there is a very good chance that the bacteria will be washed out and into your glass of water. The good news is that EPA requires that all systems in the US add chlorine to the water. Chlorine kills bacteria.
Now for the bad news, in my opinion most operators of water systems don’t understand the importance of chlorine or anything else for that matter and so do not add it on a regular basis. I’m talking Podunk towns here not the Dallas, Chicago New York type of towns. So my best recommendation is when in doubt of the water supply (I am in doubt about 75% of the time) then go and buy some purified drinking water not spring water and use this for drinking .use the outside water for shower and washing only.

Cripto is a parasite found in the intestines of some warm-blooded animals that can cause very bad diarrhea and in some cases, death. Also it is very resistant to chlorine so the best way to stop it is good filtration. Note that I said good, not high price. Think back, Milwaukee WI had an outbreak back in the early 80s it made over 100,000 sick and killed over 100. It turned out that the water treatment plants were nottreating and filtering the water properly. If /when you buy a filter remember this, bacteria = about 30 microns clay about 20 microns cripto about 10 micron