Drinking water in plastic containers

[thethreebears]

We have a couple of new 20 L plastic containers for our drinking water. They smell very "plasticy". Any ideas as to how to clean them?

Are there any issues keeping tap water in these containers for a couple of weeks?

Thanks
Barb

[sportsman 1]

Hi Barb,

We have the best water in the world here in Melbourne so whenever we go away with Myrtle the Minibago we take our own.

I have fitted 2 15litre square plastic drums into the back of the TD and plumbed one to an exterior tap so we have hot and cold running water whenever we need it. We have had no problem with taste but we do drain them when we get home so they dont go off.

I suggest putting some water in one for a week or so then drain and dry fully, see if that gets rid of the "new" smell.

cheers for now,

Leigh.

PS if I had to take Qld water I'd buy a 20lt drum of water when I got to where I needed it!

[fbmad]

Hi Barb.

I'm not sure of any anti plasticity smell remover recipes but someone here may have one.Perhaps just try filling with hot water ( to make the water sterile ) and just leaving it in the container for a few weeks/months might reduce the smell.

There is ( or was ) a solution/tablets available from any caravan accessories place that enables long term water storage just by adding the required amount to whatever amount of water you have in the tank/container.I remember seeing it in a caravan shop a few years ago so I'd guess it or something like it is still around.I haven't used it however so can't tell you whether it would be suitable for what you want to do.

There is/was a place in Sydney called "Caravan Accesories" that do mail order and used to have a catalogue. Perhaps just type caravan accesories in your browser and it may come up or look in yellow pages online under caravan accesories.They may be able to help.

Hope this helps,

Terry.

[Deleted]

Hi Barb
Plastic smell .......
Hmmm lemme think.... think think , thinkitty think. aaahhhaaarr i have it....
Ok heres the solution......ya live in QLD right?
Take plastic drum and fill with bundy rum.
Plastic smell will disappear immediately and the world will look a whole lot more rosey the next time ya boil up the billy for a cuppa with the contents from the drum.

Its all too easy when ya have it explained to ya eh

I know a bloke that used an old empty floor detergent bottle to carry his water around in. he flushed it with boiling water half a dozen times and was sure it was safe to use.
first time he used it he was sick for a week.

No names mention .. he gets really embarassed when i mention it .. dont I

Reddodors

[casavilla]

hey guys - hate to be a pain but i tried this boiling water trick and it kinda heated the plastic and made the smell even worse?? not sure if this helps

good luck with it

[humpty2]

"Puritab" was the name of the item from campingplaces.....didn't really work for me though

[belinda]

here are a few thoughts on water from an old bushwalker.

It is unlikely you are going to be away from a tap for a couple of weeks, so the water in your plastic containers is only ever going to be in there for a couple of days between top-ups.

Water is heavy, so only carry it when you really have to. We tow our van with the tank empty and fill it when we arrive. For bush camping we fill the water containers at the last garage.

As well as killing off any bugs in the water, Puritabs and similar products can also kill off your body's natural flora and fauna. Be careful, or you might end up with a really bad case of Thrush.

The only water that needs to be germ-free is the stuff you drink, which is actually a small proportion of what we use each day. There is no need to have purified water for washing dishes or having a shower.

Every time you boil the kettle for a cup of tea you are sterilising some water. Make a habit of storing any leftover water from the kettle.

There are plastic containers and plastic containers. Store your drinking water in food-quality plastic. A drum from a brewing supplier is ideal, an ex-detergent container is not!

Have spring taps not twist ones and you minimise water waste (especially with kids). However, be careful how you carry the drums - make sure they aren't going to move against something and snap off the tap.

Between trips, empty any containers and store them dry.

[tinnie]

Hi Barb,

Great advice from Belinda.
As a long time camper, I agree with Belinda, consider where your drums came from and if you want to use them for drinking water -and brewers drums are usually great quality.
If you use separate containers for drinking water and washing water, supply is less of an issue since creek water will do for washing!
The best water containers I have found recently are the 10 litre items with a tap that you buy in the supermarket already full of water. Bought a couple of these last xmas when we ran out of water from home, and the local water was . The tap unscrews to refill, but I daresay these aren't designed for reuse so I will throw them out soon before the plastic starts to degrade (just to be safe). This gives us twenty litres of drinking water which lasts about 4-5 days (two adults and two small kids). We also recycle the 3 litre plastic Juice containers - these are great too coz they fit in the fridge and pack easy in the van cupboards or car boot. Next best drinking water container I had was one I got from a pub some years ago. It was a 15 litre that had previously had scotch in it (just rinsed it out with some Dry - Hic). Took a couple of rinses with hot water to remove grog but I figured it was fairly sterile to start with. Beauty of this also was that it had a tap and plug, plug for trasporting, then swap to tap for using when away.

To rinse your current ones, I would try a mixure of salty water (ideally sea water) and white vinegar (put water in first) then give a real good rinse. Otherwise try vanilla essense and hot water, then rinse.

Hope this helps!!

Mark

[Dorothy Dix]

Put two tablespoons of Baking Soda in full container, leave over night then flush with vanilla mixture. dot
.

[sportsman 1]

Hi again Barb,

ran this past the boss and she said clean out container with solution of water and vinegar as per Tinnie. i assume the container is new.

Leigh.

[thethreebears]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Brian went for the Bundy Rum! Well on second thoughts, he said "drink the rum and then any water out of the container will taste great!!!!

JBJ - we purchased a new heavy duty plastic container from Boating, Camping and Fishing so we could take our dwindling supply of Brizzy water!!! However I have purchased some bottled water to drink, so can use the other for cooking or washing up. I haven't actually tried to drink it, I can't get past the smell!!!

We are trying the bicarb soda, then vanilla.

First trip this weekend - free powered camp ground at Thornton (30 km sth of Laidley) - 1 1/2 hrs drive from home!!! Only 2 bears going, baby bear has a party! Thanks to Belinda we have a list a mile long . We are just a tiiiiiiiney bit excited!

Cheers
Barb