Advise required on de-sanitising house water system

Chelpet


Joined: 10/03/2010
Posts: 253

Message Posted:
17/06/2010 09:50

We are coming out next week, what advise would be recommended regarding our home water system, to get rid of bugs and germs that may have decided to take up residence within the water system, IE shower heads, taps ect, we were out in April so system was flushed then by general usage, but as it is now a lot hotter and these nasties tend to breed in heat.

Thank you in advance





Peter

the butler


Joined: 22/06/2007
Posts: 1958

Message Posted:
17/06/2010 11:17

Hi,



On no account drink the water from the taps. You can undo all the filters on your taps and soak them in descaler or bleach. The same with your shower heads, just unscrew and soak them. run water through taps for 5 minutes to get rid of any water standing in pipes. before undoing taps remember to turn off water supply.



The butlers wife

Mandy


Joined: 25/10/2009
Posts: 48

Message Posted:
17/06/2010 11:38

Thats actually a life saving question.



Showering in water that has been standing for a while is dangerous. Thats because some of the water droplets are breathed into your lungs - thats more dangerous that drinking it.



Treating the water safely is quite easy. If its hard (furring up your kettle) its good to first mix some Sodium Carbonate (baking soda) in the water to reduce its hardness.



Then, from your pool shop, buy calcium hypochlorite in granular form. The recommended dosage is 1 kg bag to every 80 tons of water, so if you have a 10 ton tank, one eight of a kilo will treat it.



This is the same chemical and the same dosage as tablets that are sold to purify drinking water as you can see here http://www.gripolabs.com/chlorine_tablets.html

keithcaley



Joined: 13/06/2008
Posts: 2521

Message Posted:
17/06/2010 13:41

mandy,

That's a good solution.

When I do it, I treat the downstairs tank, turn off the pump, and turn all the taps in the house on, to drain the roof tanks (make sure the immersion heater is switched off!) and the whole of the house pipework system.

Then turn all the taps off, and turn the pump back on - the system and roof tank will then fill up with treated water.

If you purchase a pool test kit, you can actually check that you've got the chlorine level at about 1 part per million which meets UK drinking water standard (NOT that you should drink it!) - and is enough to kill virtually any 'nasties' if kept at this level.

Chelpet - Don't be tempted to get the level any higher than this, or you'll end up smelling as though you've been to the public swimming baths, and your eyes will sting from the chlorine!

Long term, I'm told that you could also use zerochlor, but you'd need to ask the suppliers about dosage...

Linnyloos


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 483

Message Posted:
17/06/2010 13:44

I've never done this before so must do it when I come out next week. Thanks everyone.

janjin



Joined: 10/04/2008
Posts: 488

Message Posted:
18/06/2010 00:33

Brilliant query Chelpet.

I wonder if Zerochlor products can be used foir this?

Can you help with this query Zerochlor please?

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
18/06/2010 09:17

Hi Keith,



msg 4 is very good advice regarding water tank disinfection.



However, you forgot to mention time scales and I would suggest that at 1ppm you should leave the system to stand for ay least 24 hours. If this is inconvenient, higher dosages of chlorine could be used for shorter time periods.