I am glad you weighed in on this. I was started to get a little concerned. I
have been a active whitewater boater for years. We have used a small capful
of bleach to do dishes (rinse cycle) on river trips (per 5 gallons) for
years. A university chemist recommended this to me and it seems to work just
fine. In my 1995 EVC I have been using a capful (~teaspoonful) when I fill
up our freshwater tank in the spring or after it has been sitting a while
with water in it. I feel this keeps bacteria from growing and does not hurt
the parts or skin. Mind you we DO NOT drink this water. Our drinking water
is a separate matter (container) all together.

Sean Garrett
1981 Westy (his)
1995 Eurovan Camper (hers)
Soon... 1987 Syncro project
sean.garrett@asu.edu

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill N [mailto:freeholder@STARBAND.NET]
> Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 10:12 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: A WARNING!!! (Was: Cleaning the water tank!?)
>
>
> I notice you preface this by stating you have no specialist
> knowledge of this subject.  While I
> appreciate your concern, your advice could get people sick.
>
> First, there is not a problem with home use of chlorine
> bleach causing production of dioxin.  I
> quote below from an FDA site"
>
> "Dioxin is an industrial by-product that is produced a number
> of ways. Dioxin is not produced
> by manufacturing sodium hypochlorite bleach, nor by using it
> in the home. To form it you'd need
> to introduce acidic solutions, concentrated chlorine gas,
> temperatures in excess of boiling or
> organic molecules such as those found in the cell walls of
> wood and paper."
>
> Chlorine can produce dioxin when it is being used to bleach
> paper pulp in paper mills, but will
> not do so in home use.  It is a very safe disinfectant that
> is used not only in water supplies,
> but also in almost every swimming pool and in many hot tubs,
> although I prefer bromine for hot
> tubs.
>
> Vinegar is not a general disinfectant.  It is an excellent
> cleaner for many applications,
> including cleaning the corrosion from copper brewing parts,
> and will keep many kinds of
> bacteria from growing, but it does this simply because of the
> PH.  Some bacteria don't like
> acid conditions.  Others (for example: acetobacteria) love
> these conditions and grow very well
> in vinegar.
>
> Keep in mind that the bacteria that cause food poisoning live
> very well in your stomach, which
> is a very acidic environment.  Don't count on vinegar to kill these.
>
> Vinegar is used in food preservation (pickles, for example)
> but is only used in conjunction
> with heat.  Any acid food product does as well as vinegar in
> this regard.  That's why when you
> can food at home, pickles and tomatos can be processed in a
> water bath canner, while non-acid
> foods must be processed in a pressure canner to attain higher temps.
>
> Now, the fact is that one of the most effective things we can
> do to keep our water systems in
> our Westys safe is to simply drain the tank when we aren't
> using it.  Anything else we do is
> just extra protection.  If you want to use vinegar, fine, but
> don't think you are disinfecting
> anything.  It will get the scale out, though.  Many
> dishwashing liquids do have a germicidal in
> them, so they could be effective, if you rinse them out well
> enough afterward.  If you use
> bleach, don't worry about it.  It won't hurt anything.  I
> will say you don't need to use nearly
> as much as many are saying.  1/4 cup is more than ample.
>
> BTW, my wife and I do have substantial "specialist knowledge"
> in this area.
>
> Bill
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Anthony Polson" <acpolson@HOTMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 5:43 AM
> Subject: A WARNING!!! (Was: Cleaning the water tank!?)
>
>
> >
> > Hi Dave,
> >
> > I am not speaking from a basis of any specialist knowledge, but I am
> > dismayed to see several people, including yourself, recommending
> > Chlorine-based bleach as though it were intrinsically safe.
> >
> > In fact Chlorine-based bleach generates some of the world's
> most dangerous
> > chemicals, both in its manufacture and use.  These
> chemicals are called
> > Dioxins, and they pose a massive threat to human health and
> to the global
> > ecosystem as a whole.  There are strong links between
> Dioxins and cancer and
> > birth defects.  At Seveso, Italy, they were the cause of
> one of Europe's
> > most massive ever public health disasters.
> >
> >
> > I realise that European and American approaches to the
> environment are very
> > different, and that advice on hazardous chemicals may be less easily
> > available on your (western) side of the pond.  However, the
> principles of
> > chemistry are the same, and no-one who knows about Dioxins
> would risk their
> > production in a potable water tank.  Of all places, surely
> this is one where
> > Chlorine-based bleach must be avoided.
> >
> > I would forget the Chlorine-based bleach and go for a good
> scrub with
> > detergent followed by sterilisation with vinegar.  (Thanks Stan!)
>