Adding a small amount of chlorine to the fresh water tank

[HighTechRedneck]

I think most stay under 4ppm chlorine.

Consumer laundry bleaches are typically 3-10% active chlorine.  So if you added 1.3 ounces of a generic bleach with 3% active chlorine to a full 100 gallon tank of water, it would result in about 3ppm chlorine.  If you added 1.3 ounces of Clorox Ultra, then it would result in 10ppm.

[chris4905]

I have used the bleach solution for years.

Make sure it also fills the hot water heater, open all the water valves to fill all the lines.  I always tried to leave it in the lines for 24 hours.

After the bleach solution is drained I would put about 4 tablespoons of baking soda in the system, with fresh water, to neutralize the bleach.  Let it set for a few hours and completely drain all the water and refill with fresh.  Don't know if the baking soda step is really necessary, but have done it for years, and have stayed with it.

[Dave Siegel]

Wow, you folks are fantastic. What I thought was a stupid , simple question turned out to be a really good learning post for , I think, lots of people besides myself. Thank you everyone for the great answers.

Dave Siegel

[boogiethecat]

Anyone ever though of using hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine?  ALL halogens are nasty to humans... I've got a hot tub that's been sitting at 100 degrees for what, about 12 years now... 10PPM h202 is all I use for sterilization, and to date not a hint of algae, bugs, etc, and the water's clear and blue..
it's gotta do the same for a cold tankful of water, and it's not harmful to drink at that percentage level...

[WEC4104]

To clarify, the addition of baking soda is for taste purposes only. The baking soda is effective in getting rid of the chlorine taste. It neutralizes the taste, but not necessarily the chemistry of the chlorine.

Also, HighTech is correct with his 4ppm figure.   In Jan '04 the EPA started regulating chlorine levels in municipal water systems and capped the chlorine (and chloramine) levels at the 4ppm levels. 

Some municipalities have been switching from Chlorine to Chloramine (a chlorine-ammonia compound) for their disinfecting agent.

Chloramine disinfection, is preferable to chlorine for almost all uses: drinking, cooking, bathing, gardening, and pets. The water's taste may improve, the carcinogens called trihalomethanes formed by chlorine will be reduced, and more pathogens will be removed due to chloramine's extra stability. The Dept of Homeland Security is also not thrilled with the presence of railroad tankers filled with chlorine near large metropolitan areas.

Wayne

[Chaz]

Hey Boogiethecat,
  Ya beat me to it!!
  Hydrogen peroxide is MUCH better than chlorine! BUT!!!!!!!!!, ya NEED to use "Food Grade" hydrogen peroxide. Not the stuff in little brown bottles we use on cuts. etc.
  I have 35% food grade H202 in my freezer (won't freeze) and use it in my hot tub also. I'm not an expert on the subject, but there is ALLOT of research on the stuff you can check out. I get allot of my answers and knowledge from a book called Oxygen Therapys.
  I would HIGHLY recommend anyone looking into this avenue. I think you will be amazed.

   Sorry for the "hijack". Maybe I need to start a new thread. 

  Be careful,
          Chaz

[TomC]

I know that here in Los Angeles, the water is chlorinated enough where nothing has ever grown in the tank since I first filled it 12 years ago.  Good Luck, TomC

[WEC4104]

Do you guys with the hydrogen peroxide in your hot tubs have a lot of blonde friends?   

[RJ]

I think most stay under 4ppm chlorine.

Consumer laundry bleaches are typically 3-10% active chlorine.  So if you added 1.3 ounces of a generic bleach with 3% active chlorine to a full 100 gallon tank of water, it would result in about 3ppm chlorine.  If you added 1.3 ounces of Clorox Ultra, then it would result in 10ppm.

Take a close look at a bottle of Clorox or other bleach on the supermarket shelf.  Most are 6% Sodium Hypochlorite.  Chlorine purchased at Home Depot, etc. for swimming pools usually is 10%, and the stuff I get from the pool wholesale house runs 12%.

But -

Liquid chlorine deteriorates rapidly when exposed to sunlight.  If I run around with a case of liquid in the back of my truck for a week, that 12% will be down to about 9 or so.  If I don't use it up, by the end of the month, it's virtually useless - even in the opaque bottles.  Moral: keep bleach containers out of direct sunlight to maintain potency.

Swimming pool water is typically maintained at 1 -3 ppm of chlorine average year-round.  I will bump some of my customer's pools to 3 -5 ppm due to heavy usage in the summertime, then let it drift back down to 1 -3 for fall/winter/spring.

Wayne's comments about municipalities using chloramines for sanitation brings up another point.  If you get out of a pool and "smell like chlorine", what you're smelling is actually chloramines - often formed when kids pee in the pool.  (Combination of chlorine and organic compounds, actually)  Those of us in the pool industry have found that excessive chloramines in pool water actually reduce the effectiveness of chlorine as a sanitizer, and must be dealt with by adding additional chlorine into the water to break the organic bond and allow the free chlorine to provide the sanitation necessary. (AKA "Superchlorination")

Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) is used by the pool industry to help balance alkalinity, which acts as a buffer to help control the pH of the water, with 7 pH being neutral (acid/base balance).

How does this relate to fresh water tanks?  My point is that if you keep the chlorine level in your tank to that of a pool (1-3 ppm), you shouldn't have any problems.  This does require that you either a) do the math to figure out how much bleach to add specifically for your tank size, or b) buy some test strips at a pool supply store and test your water (run some tap into a bowl) and adjust as necessary.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[Chaz]

Do you guys with the hydrogen peroxide in your hot tubs have a lot of blonde friends?   

Nah. Peroxide blonde, bleach blonde....... eh, all the same.

  But the peroxide is alot easier on you!!
     Chaz

[JohnEd]

I wouldn't drink municipal water that WASN"T clorinated.  Put well water in your holding tanks and you can get introduced to problems you can't even pronounce...let alone spell.  We need that clorine to keep the bugs in check.  All of us have been drinking it all our lives unless you have a well.  When I fill up at a park that runs well water I always put in a "little" bleach to BE SAFE.

I don't think I am odd on this one....am I?

John