Is RV antifreeze an effective sanitizer?

[Denver Dan]

I'm in my second year of ownership and haven't yet sanitized my water system, but I've been wondering...

Is the propylene glycol in RV antifreeze an effective germicide? Seems like I wouldn't have to worry about running a bleach mixture through the lines next spring if the germs have already been eliminated by the antifreeze.

[JohnD10]

You'll need to run the bleach to sanitize the AF taste out of the lines...

[MtBiker]

Anti freeze is not a sanitizer. Also you do not run rv anti freeze in your fresh water tank or in the water heater and you need to sanitize both of them in order to prepare the whole system.

[Riverbc]

^^this^^

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

You'll need to run the bleach to sanitize the AF taste out of the lines...

...and then probably rinse it again to take the bleach taste out of it

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by jeff64

...and then probably rinse it again to take the bleach taste out of it

Of course!

[Chazman]

And don't go crazy with the bleach. Chlorine is a powerful disinfectant and even at 5.25% (typical of household bleach) it doesn't take a lot. There are plenty of How to's on the web regarding disinfecting your tanks.

[bedubya]

All of the above are correct. Generally use ¼ cup household bleach per 15 gallons of water. I flush out the antifreeze with fresh water first, then I put ¾ cup in my 45 gallon fresh water tank and fill it up. Then run that solution through the lines and into the water heater. Let it sit for an hour or two then drain everything and run fresh water. And if DW smells bleach, I flush it again.

[cavie]

I don't use bleach. Just run the city water till the pink stops and I'm good to go. I'm on a seasonal site. FW tank is for emergency only if the park water goes down. Well system. Very good mountain water.

[SailorSam20500]

Added info:
When using bleach to sanitize, use plain bleach.
- No Fragrence.
- No "splash-less"
- No "Gel"
- etc.

Get either no-brand cheap bleach or Clorox® Regular Bleach.
Note - there are alternate bleach concentrations. If you use a bleach with more than 5.25% concentration of sodium hypochlorite, you can lower the amount of bleach used appropriately.

[NJKris]

If you system was clean when you winterized it, just sitting for 6 months before flushing and refilling seems it would be adequate. CDC advises rotating water supplies out when you fill containers yourself after 6 months in storage. They also suggest the following for sanitizing containers before being filled with fresh water the first time:

Before filling with safe water, use these steps to clean and sanitize water storage containers:

Wash the storage container with dishwashing soap and water and rinse completely with clean water.
Sanitize the container with a solution made by mixing 1 teaspoon of unscented liquid household chlorine bleach in one quart of water.
Cover the container and shake it well so that the sanitizing bleach solution touches all inside surfaces of the container.
Wait at least 30 seconds and then pour the sanitizing solution out of the container.
Let the empty sanitized container air-dry before use OR rinse the empty container with clean, safe water that is available already.

*obviously do not use soapy water at any time in your fresh water system. Unless you like the taste of soap!

[Jakieboy]

Just remember that the ingredients in Anti-Freeze can be harmful or fatal if ingested. Read the labels of the products you use, and make sure your system is thoroughly flushed with potable water before you begin using your RV after winterizing.

[DKRITTER]

Originally Posted by Jakie-Boy

Just remember that the ingredients in Anti-Freeze can be harmful or fatal if ingested. Read the labels of the products you use, and make sure your system is thoroughly flushed with potable water before you begin using your RV after winterizing.

That is correct with normal automotive style antifreeze, but you should never ever use that when winterizing any potable water system.

There is safe, non-toxic, non-hazardous RV/Marine antifreeze on the market you want to use. Here is an example;

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-RV-Anti...=rv+antifreeze

[bedubya]

Originally Posted by Jakie-Boy

Just remember that the ingredients in Anti-Freeze can be harmful or fatal if ingested. Read the labels of the products you use, and make sure your system is thoroughly flushed with potable water before you begin using your RV after winterizing.

RV Antifreeze IS NOT harmful or fatal if ingested. It probably doesn't taste very good.



I hope no one here is using automotive antifreeze.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by bedubya

RV Antifreeze IS NOT harmful or fatal if ingested. It probably doesn't taste very good.



I hope no one here is using automotive antifreeze.

This is in "General Community Discussions". I bet a lot of motorhome owners are using automotive antifreeze!

Just another reason I wish every thread started with MH or 5er or TT.

[NJKris]

I just hit New Posts each time I come on here. Doesn't matter the category, if a thread looks interesting based on title, I click on it.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

This is in "General Community Discussions". I bet a lot of motorhome owners are using automotive antifreeze!

Just another reason I wish every thread started with MH or 5er or TT.

I'm pretty sure we could put that information in bright red 40 pt font letters across every single post and people would still miss it.


That said, the OP mentions sanitizing his water system, so it's pretty safe to assume that it's RV antifreeze we are talking about.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

This is in "General Community Discussions". I bet a lot of motorhome owners are using automotive antifreeze!

Just another reason I wish every thread started with MH or 5er or TT.

I would think that those that drive motorhomes would know just like we do that their water systems use a different antifreeze than their motorhome's engine radiators do.

[GalsofEscape]

Actually the OP poses an interesting question. Propylene glycol (PG) can be a disinfectant. see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4415329/

(i know - an actual scientific article - and it studied more than just PG)


The question is whether or not the antifreeze contains the PG concentration that would be bactericidal. The linked study says that PG concentrations between 25 - 50% are effective against some objectionable bugs (depending on the organism). And according to freeze and burst charts for PG, -50F RV antifreeze would have PG concentrations of at least 35%. So yes, the RV antifreeze is probably a sanitizer and makes me happy knowing that having the stuff sit in the water system all winter will not promote bacterial growth.


Would i depend on it, no. I would still bleach the system. Just the smell of bleach is so comforting. LOL

[donkro]

I thought I had read on this forum once that city water, from cities that use chlorine as a disinfectant in their water supplies, has chlorine in sufficient quantity to disinfect an rv system. True?