Plastic tasting water

[bnd10706]

Since we moved into our rv full time I have started to problem solve bit by bit.

My new problem is our water.

I have a blue tech 3 stage filter on my house and from the filter to the rv I have a blue tech metal hose.

Any water that comes out of our rv faucets taste like plastic. Very badly.

However if you drink right out of the metal hose after the filter the water taste fine.

How do I remove that plastic taste?

[creativepart]

How about Year, Model and Floorplan of your RV? If we knew that we could look up the plumbing diagrams.

There's nothing in your profile either.

[Morich]

The devil is truly in the details as things change.
How new is the RV and what has been done to sanitize? That can often be a start on new RV or those which have been stored.
Have you done the setup as the manual shows to make sure the water is safe to drink?
Lots of different solutions but knowing more details on the problem can help.

[Ray,IN]

First the simple things. To eliminate the hose as the source, use a different white drinking-water approved hose. Sanitize your fresh water tank and plumbing system. Observe results.



If the plastic taste is still present, repeat the sanitizing process but use baking soda. It that fails we can proceed to the things that cost money.

[Morich]

Where the details can matter so much is that new plastic has a much stronger flavor than older!
Sometimes just the chlorine residual from city water supply will clear it but if it is old, then other things may be needed.

[bnd10706]

Sorry... This is a 2008 Winnabago Sightseer 35j.

I have a BRAND NEW hose. The hose goes from the outlet into a 3 Stage Blue Tech Filter

https://goblutech.com/collections/wa...sential-bundle

The hoses outside are metal and brand new. And the filter is brand new..

If i taste the water from the hose into a cup.. its great, taste fine, no problem. When i plug that hose into the RV, and taste the water that comes out of either of my faucets, it tastes like plastic.

[Eagle5]

Hi bnd10706,
Could it be possible that a segment of your 2008 plumbing was replaced with a grade of plastic hose that is not drinking quality?
Eagle5

[bnd10706]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Hi bnd10706,
Could it be possible that a segment of your 2008 plumbing was replaced with a grade of plastic hose that is not drinking quality?
Eagle5

I dont know.. I am the 2nd owner of this RV. But there is no signs of this RV ever being modified until I got it.

[Morich]

With that info, I might suggest going two different ways as a way to assure we are not missing something important.

First thought when I get a different RV is that I never know what others may have done or not done well, so I want to be sure anything growing in the plumbing lines and tank is cleared of the bad stuff that can make us sick. So I do a sanitize process using bleach.
This can do two things. One is clear the nasties out and the second is clear some of the taste and smells which can be simply a matter of RV setting too long.
If not familiar with doing this, look for info in manuals, online or here for semi-simple ways to go.

Then after doing the bleach thing and letting any chlorine smell taste disipate, it can help to try different items for the problem as it can be different things. A half jug of vinegar run through instead of bleach can help or there are some times when a baking soda solution does it better.

Part of the problem is that we can never be really sure what we are tasting/smelling, so what tastes like plastic may not actually be the plastic itself but something reacting with the plastic.

You can gets lots of different result if the water came from the high mountains or the muddy river, so I assume the worst and do a reset!
We can never be really sure of history of an RV, so I like to do my own "reset" of the plumbing!

[bnd10706]

Ok, I will look at doing a full cleaning at our next stop where i have full hook ups and can do this.

[Ray,IN]

If you don't want to use bleach, consider Purogene Airline water system sanitizer. Unlike using bleach, no rinsing required.
Yes it's more expensive than bleach, but the benefits are greater.

[reeman]

Try filling it with colder water and pumping it through the system before it has a chance to get warm. I find during the summer the water tastes a little more plastic than during the fall when it has a chance to cool down in the plastic system.
Good thing is that toilet toilet could care less... Unlike when I was working with my dad and a home owner had reversed the copper to the upstairs bathroom and the toilet would almost boil over and stink to high heaven in the rental suit in his house... He balked at the 200 dollar bill to remove a wall to fix because he had drywalled and put a new floor over the mess LOL. Eventually he ponied up but he was one of the worst slum lords in Vancouver so it was like extracting teeth to get the money.

Seriously if there is a way to keep the water cooler then the plastic taste and smell becomes almost imperceptible on newer rv type tank and pump systems. Heat is the enemy of all things created by the petrochemical industry including water holding tanks and piping.

[Morich]

Reeman makes a good point that is often not mentioned. Warm plastic does put off chemicals.
Remember the junk that collects on the inside of the car windows? That is stuff offgassing from the interior that collects on the windows --- and possibly your lungs, too?

[bnd10706]

I am going to do a full system disinfectant today based on the manual using bleach. I know I cant use the water for 4-5 hours and right now we are stopped on my in laws property so its a good opportunity.

We have been in FL and are now in the GA mountains and the water is colder now.

But I have replaced all my plastic hoses with metal ones, so I cannot imagine that is the reason unless its the plastic INSIDE the RV.

[Morich]

The tanks and lines in the RV are almost certain to be plastic.

And then there is always the question of whether to use bleach to sanitize water lines?
I've never found a reason not to use the recommended methods as the only difference in using bleach to sanitize versus what we find in most water supplies is the amount of chlorine in each.
In most cases when we drink from public water supplies it will have either chlorine or chloramine, so putting it in the RV tank to sanitize is just using a stronger mix of the same thing!
Once we get done with the sanitize, running water through the RV system dilutes the chlorine down to the same safe drinking water levels, so I go the cheap easy way.

[bnd10706]

Originally Posted by Morich

The tanks and lines in the RV are almost certain to be plastic.

And then there is always the question of whether to use bleach to sanitize water lines?
I've never found a reason not to use the recommended methods as the only difference in using bleach to sanitize versus what we find in most water supplies is the amount of chlorine in each.
In most cases when we drink from public water supplies it will have either chlorine or chloramine, so putting it in the RV tank to sanitize is just using a stronger mix of the same thing!
Once we get done with the sanitize, running water through the RV system dilutes the chlorine down to the same safe drinking water levels, so I go the cheap easy way.

ya this is my first time doing it... and my wife HATES chemicals. So im sure ill be doing 2-3 flushes....

I have NEVER used the fresh water tank since we got it other than to flush the toilet on the road.... so... I guess this is a way to make sure that is ready for drinking..

[Morich]

When I think of what is likely to grow iin spaces where there is little air movement and lots of humid air or standing water, I can see where folks do not want to drink or use the water for cooking!
We freak out after floods that may wet down things in a house and tear out the walls and insulation, so I see little difference in what might grow in a fresh water holding tank!
Since the tanks rarely drain totally, if we don't really work at it, lots of "things" might be left to grow as the chlorine gasses off and leaves just water to become stagnant and polluted.
One of the small points that folks may miss is that the public water is not treated to kill ALL the bacteria, etc in the water but just enough to kill most of it and bring it down to what the normal healthy person can manage.
If we fill a bottle of water that has been treated and store it for some time, we get the idea! Even bottled water has an expiration date as the bad guys start reproducing as soon as they can!
Not going to shower in that stuff! Even the water left in RV pipes is prone to being bad if it has time, so it is better to flush them before we use too much of it.

Not something I would even want to take a shower in!!
So I go for treating it!
A small point on the chlorine taste and smell left after tyreating may help? One of the problems or benefits of chlorine is the way it gasses off. If we want it to stay in to treat the water, gassing off is a problem and we move the choramine as it gasses off and disapates slower. allowing us to use less. But the benefit side is when we want it gone, we can just let is air off and blow away!

So one way to deal with any smell or tase we object to after treating our RV is to let it have some time to dry off and let it blow away!
Somewhere between waiting so long the bad guys come back (weeks?) and not waiting long enough for the chlorine to leave? Several days is enough to work for me!

Hating chemicals is a real problem if she eats or drinks most anything! If she eats most anything like chicken or meat from the store, drinks any bottled product or has a glass of water, she is likely getting chemicals!
I bet she uses makeup?? It likely would scare her to death if she knew what she spreads on her face and lips!

Keep that one under your hat!

[bnd10706]

I invested in a really expensive 3 stage water filter and water softener for this reason...I just did the bleach treatment... so ill know in about 4 hours if it worked.

[Morich]

Smells and taste in water is a full lifetime struggle in some places!
One of several jobs I have played with after retiring was water treatment first on a community well for testing/monitoring the water quality for state reports and then as a repair guy for water treament like softeners.
That last part got me into the area about a hundred miles in all directions from St. Louis and that has a wide range of water. Everything from the iron and coal in missouri and Illinnois well water, to the challenge of keeping up with the water pumped from the Missouri and Mississippi rivers after flooding!

It was a fun job to be a rookie on the learning curve as it had so many different ways to try to sort out what to do with the many different sources of complaints!

One of the fun things was treating wells that had a really bad hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) problem! People often sold property cheap because the water was "bad" but it could be treated with a few jugs of bleach to kill the bacteria living on the iron content in the ground or casing of the well! Kill the bacteria and the problem went away!

Peope were SO HAPPY when they could drink the water after we treated it to kill the bacteria.

[Ray,IN]

FYI, those "metal" hoses use vinyl and/or latex tubing inside the metal jacket. Flexible metal is not waterproof itself. Not all of these are certified drinking water safe.

https://bestofmachinery.com/metal-garden-hose/