Strong taste of plastic in water from tank

D

Dipodomys

Advanced Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
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76
I would really love it if the water tank in our 2017 Fleet could take care of all our water storage needs, but the system imparts such a strong taste of plastic to stored water that it's difficult to drink. For now, our only solution is to use the Fleet's water system for dishes and bathing, while also lugging around containers of water for consumption. The water I'm putting into the tank is coming from our municipal supply, going through a drinking-safe hose and an RV filter before it goes into the tank. It's fine before it goes in, so it's definitely the system imparting the plastic taste.

Has anyone here figured out a way to improve the camper's water system in this regard? A major mod would be replacing whatever parts are causing the problem, like maybe a storage tank made out of a different type of plastic. Filtering the water coming out of the system might be easier. An in-line filter would be great if the pump can handle the flow resistance that would impose. Otherwise, maybe filtering water after it comes out of the tap, though that would add stuff to haul around and time to use. Ideas?
 
Thought about inline filter as well.

We use a Zero Water pitcher for drinking, coffee etc.
 
I carry drinking and food prep water in up to 20 plastic half gallon jugs (Ocean Spray and similar) under the passenger side bench seat. I like having ten extra gallons anyway on longer trips. For weekends I take six or eight jugs.
 
Years ago we had a problem with really nasty taste from the camper tank. It ended up being the rv rated water hose. Even flushing it and sanitizing wouldn't help.
Replaced the hose and sanitized the tank real well. No more problems.
This might not help you but wanted to share.
Hope you had a nice Easter, Bigfoot Dave
 
+1 to what Bigfoot Dave said. Get a good food safe water hose. I use a "Zero-G" branded flexible, collapsable 50' hose. Folds up nice and small.

On top of that, I installed a water filter IN the camper. I believe it is a 3m system that filters out most everything (.2 micron?) as well as even viruses and chemicals. Our water tastes great!

The pressure did drop, a LOT. I found the water pump manual online and cranked the pump up to its max. Caveat, I installed my own water system and hoses, and know that they can take 50+ psi. I'm not sure what the stock water system can take for pressure. Use caution and lots of towels if it leaks!
 
It has been several years since we experienced a similar problem with our 2014 Hawk. I found that if I went overboard with the chlorine bleach sanitization process, this would happen. I tracked mine down to leaving the chlorine shock treatment in the system too long especially in warmer weather. Mine stopped when I stopped putting a pint of chlorine bleach into the tank and running the pump until it went through the pipes and filled the water heater and I left it for several days.

Cutting back on the amount of chlorine bleach to about a half cup, leaving it overnight then draining it with the faucets open and the water heater set to return to the tank. Park with the drain downhill to get rid of as much bleach water as possible.. Refill with fresh water, drive around for a day and drain again with care taken to ensure it drains from the pipes, water tank, etc. Repeat the process then refill with fresh water again and leave overnight and check for bad odor again. I found that three rinses always eliminated the smell. Unless I suspect bad water on a trip, I shock the system only once a year otherwise.

Good luck. Having that smell really can ruin a trip.

Paul
 
What Bigfoot Dave and PaulT said…

The nastiest taste has been from a new RV rated hose that was sitting in the sun while connected to the city water inlet.
 
On my 2021 Grandby it does not seem to be my white potable water fill hose, which I use with a Camco charcoal and microbe filter at the camper end. Our city water is from a mountain watershed and reservoir and has no odd tastes or smells. If I put water from that hose in containers it tastes fine.

I’m also thinking it’s the lines and not the tank. If I take water from the rear wall exterior drain valve after letting about a half gallon flow, the plastic smell mostly goes away. I’m wondering if I’m experiencing what Paul T described with chlorine treatment having oxidized the plastic lines making them leach out taste and smell. I have always followed the recommended amount of bleach, but I think I have left the bleach in overnight. I may try vinegar again. Or maybe lemon juice, which has worked for backpacking water soft containers.
 
Not recommending it, but have heard of folks adding a bottle of Vodka to the tank and running that through the lines vs other chemicals. At least you can drink the stuff!
 
Vic Harder said:
Not recommending it, but have heard of folks adding a bottle of Vodka to the tank and running that through the lines vs other chemicals. At least you can drink the stuff!
Click to expand...
We used cheap vodka when we winterized our C Dory boat. It was a very simple system that used a Whale foot pump and had a single tap at the sink. I’m not sure it was really effective at shocking the entire tank, but the nasty taste of chlorine and/or RV antifreeze was gone.
 
Dipodomys,

I had a similar experience after building out my Eagle shell in 2020. I installed a 16-gallon NSF rated polyethylene tank from an Amazon vendor. I didn't install a sink because I do all of my meal prep and cleanup outside of the camper. I just have a fill port and plumbed it to hose faucet on the exterior.

From the first use, it had the plastic taste and odor from the start. I got an RV inline filter and NSF food rated hose. The taste was still present.

Next, I tried flushing with various concoctions (however, I never tried vodka). Then I suspected the quality of the import hose I plumbed it with, so I replaced it all with Tygon branded hose, no change.

Because I couldn't find a commercially available stainless tank to fit my build out, I decided to make my own tank (I can do a passable job tig welding stainless). I removed the poly tank to measure for the new tank. The next day walking past the poly tank in my shop I noticed what looked like a blue zip-tie inside the poly tank and stuck to the bottom.

I immediately was certain that was the taste I was experiencing, it was just like when you hold a zip-tie in your mouth while working with them! Upon attempting to remove the zip-tie from the tank, it became apparent that the zip-tie was embedded in the tank. I'm convinced this was embedded during the manufacturing process. The tanks are roto-molded and I'm guessing that this zip-tie was used to close the bag of polyethylene powder and was dropped into the mold cavity when the material was added.

I contacted the Amazon seller and even though it was well beyond the window for returns, they immediately sent me a replacement tank. Since replacing the tank, my water is fine with no plastic taste.

My advise is to look for some foreign substance in the tank or other portions of the system.
 
Thanks for all of your replies. I will definitely check the hose first, as that would be very low hanging fruit. I haven’t shocked the system with chlorine for quite a while, but a good flush might be in order. I’ll let you all know if I manage to fix it!
 
Jon R, could you please elaborate on that?

FYI, I just did the bleach treatment in our camper, and with the 3M undersink filter I could not taste the chlorine - even before rinsing the tank out! So, 30 gal water, 1/3 cup bleach, no taste with that filter. I'm impressed.

I flushed the tank 2x anyway, just because.
 
Hi Vic.

I was reading an article on less toxic cleaning agents in general for home use, and there was a long section on what to clean and not to clean with white vinegar. They cautioned against cleaning plastic and rubber items with vinegar because the acid can react with some types of those materials. When I think back to the timing of when I started having the more serious issue with plastic smell, it started shortly after I used vinegar and then baking soda to try to get the new system smell/taste (which was not really that bad) to go away. I suspect I damaged the lining material of the braided-steel-covered flex lines. I don’t think my tank is the issue because if I let the system run for a bit the smell from the water is significantly reduced.

I was just thinking I have some used flex hoses I removed from the house. I’ll cut one up and see if I can identify the lining material. I may also pull an easy to access hose out the camper and then put it in a pitcher of water to see if it makes the water smell like plastic. If I can isolate it to the hoses I’ll do a replacement project, maybe converting the whole thing to Pex typeA.
 
I have a similar problem with the plastic taste. On mine if I run the water for a few minutes the water tastes better. Seems like it might not be my tank or the the filling hose but the water lines from the tank to the faucet and shower. Mine is a late 2022 but I am not ready to open it up to replace the hose lines.
 
HomerSimpson said:
Dipodomys,

I had a similar experience after building out my Eagle shell in 2020. I installed a 16-gallon NSF rated polyethylene tank from an Amazon vendor. I didn't install a sink because I do all of my meal prep and cleanup outside of the camper. I just have a fill port and plumbed it to hose faucet on the exterior.

From the first use, it had the plastic taste and odor from the start. I got an RV inline filter and NSF food rated hose. The taste was still present.

Next, I tried flushing with various concoctions (however, I never tried vodka). Then I suspected the quality of the import hose I plumbed it with, so I replaced it all with Tygon branded hose, no change.

Because I couldn't find a commercially available stainless tank to fit my build out, I decided to make my own tank (I can do a passable job tig welding stainless). I removed the poly tank to measure for the new tank. The next day walking past the poly tank in my shop I noticed what looked like a blue zip-tie inside the poly tank and stuck to the bottom.

I immediately was certain that was the taste I was experiencing, it was just like when you hold a zip-tie in your mouth while working with them! Upon attempting to remove the zip-tie from the tank, it became apparent that the zip-tie was embedded in the tank. I'm convinced this was embedded during the manufacturing process. The tanks are roto-molded and I'm guessing that this zip-tie was used to close the bag of polyethylene powder and was dropped into the mold cavity when the material was added.

I contacted the Amazon seller and even though it was well beyond the window for returns, they immediately sent me a replacement tank. Since replacing the tank, my water is fine with no plastic taste.

My advise is to look for some foreign substance in the tank or other portions of the system.
Click to expand...
Excellent problem solving!
 
I do not drink the water from the storage tank, not because of taste, but due to health concerns. Following is an excerpt from a Scientific American article ( https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-chemicals-in-plastics-impact-your-endocrine-system/#:~:text=In%20particular%2C%20plastic%20contains%20endocrine,system%20in%20possibly%20dangerous%20ways ) regarding these concerns:

"Before this plastic enters the natural ecosystem, the chemicals inside can leach out of water bottles and other food containers, entering the body and potentially endangering human health, according to a mounting body of research. In particular, plastic contains endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that could wreak havoc on certain messaging systems in the human body."

If you google "plastic and hormones" you will find much info on the subject. It appears that when plastic is heated it is more prone to releasing chemicals so perhaps even more of a concern in the summer.

Like a lot of other things it is difficult to know how serious a concern this is (particularly with intermittent use unless we live year round in the camper) but I tend to lean towards being safe.
 
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