Question. Water tank. Usage

[casualbiker]

Hi. I've just moved into a new rental house it has been empty or limited usage for about 2 years.. My question is do I have to do anything with the water tank.. The reason is both myself and my wife had a mild stomach upset this morning. Could have been the food or possibly the water.. Thoughts please.

[Crossy]

If it's been stood that long I would drain the tank, have a look inside (clean if you feel it's necessary) and hang a pool chlorine tablet in a sock for the first refill.

Don't drink the water until the chlorine smell / taste has gone.

Actually I wouldn't drink village water without an RO filter and we live right next to the treatment plant.

[casualbiker]

Thanks Crossy.. We don't drink it.. Just cleaning teeth etc.. I'm currently running the taps to get new water in the tank.. No idea how to drain etc. Probably see if the village has a handy man. I'm guessing that big screw lid on top is the lid..LOL

Edited January 12, 2016 by casualbiker

[Crossy]

Turn off the incoming valve (left side of your photo) and run the pump until the water flow stops.

In these days of water shortage maybe just turn off the supply and use the water for showering, flushing the loo and cleaning until the tank is empty.

The lid on top unscrews so you can look inside, do NOT enter the tank without arranging some sort of forced ventilation.

[casualbiker]

Thanks Crossy. Clear and helpful as ever. Cheers.

[sappersrest]

Or you could use household bleach about 1-2 litre should suffice instead of the chlorine tablet if you haven't got one, or 1-2 table spoon of chlorine powder if you have a neighbour who has a pool.

[IMHO]

Or you could use household bleach about 1-2 litre should suffice instead of the chlorine tablet if you haven't got one, or 1-2 table spoon of chlorine powder if you have a neighbour who has a pool.

That tank looks like it's not more than about 1500L in total. Household beach is normally around 6% chlorine. Using my basic math, adding 1L of bleach would result in about 40PPM chlorine. Yes, that should kill anything in the water, but that's an awful high concentration

I would probably start with 100mL of Haiter bleach - i.e. ~4PPM

Edited January 12, 2016 by IMHO

[sappersrest]

40 - 60 PPM of free chlorine is the correct amount if you need to test you will need high range DPD1 and do a dilution.test

Don't forget to clean the tank lid and top.

Remember the contact time to kill CRYPTOSPERIDIUM is 10 days at a constant 1ppm of chlorine.

[sappersrest]

If you don't want to put the heavily chlorinated water on your garden /drain etc you can reduce the amount of chlorine by using Sodium Thiosulphate In the tank before dumping the water..

[Fookhaht]

In a 1250 litre water tank, how much liquid chorine would you guess would be sufficient to keep the water from growing bacteria, algae, etc.?

Edited January 17, 2016 by Fookhaht

[Chuckles78]

When i rented a house last year i looked in the water tank and noticed the water was brown. Drained and cleaned it.

[bankruatsteve]

In a 1250 litre water tank, how much liquid chorine would you guess would be sufficient to keep the water from growing bacteria, algae, etc.?

If using the tank for household water, I would start with 3 caps of bleach and then 1 cap for every 500 liter turnover. That should be enough to stop any growth and not come through with the "swimming pool" smell.

[Crossy]

In a 1250 litre water tank, how much liquid chorine would you guess would be sufficient to keep the water from growing bacteria, algae, etc.?

If using the tank for household water, I would start with 3 caps of bleach and then 1 cap for every 500 liter turnover. That should be enough to stop any growth and not come through with the "swimming pool" smell.

What's the water source?

If it's treated town water then there's likely enough chlorine anyway.

[bankruatsteve]

In a 1250 litre water tank, how much liquid chorine would you guess would be sufficient to keep the water from growing bacteria, algae, etc.?

If using the tank for household water, I would start with 3 caps of bleach and then 1 cap for every 500 liter turnover. That should be enough to stop any growth and not come through with the "swimming pool" smell.

What's the water source?

If it's treated town water then there's likely enough chlorine anyway.

I assumed the question came because of current algae growth. (?) Anyway... that works for me.

If in or near a larger city, I would assume chlorine added to water already. But elsewhere, ha ha. If money is provided for that, it would be going into somebody's pocket, not the water.

[casualbiker]

In a 1250 litre water tank, how much liquid chorine would you guess would be sufficient to keep the water from growing bacteria, algae, etc.?

If using the tank for household water, I would start with 3 caps of bleach and then 1 cap for every 500 liter turnover. That should be enough to stop any growth and not come through with the "swimming pool" smell.

What's the water source?

If it's treated town water then there's likely enough chlorine anyway.

yes.. Town feed. It smells ok