Why does my water taste like TCP

[Guest peter]

We get this in our boat from time to time, and think it might be the water company overdosing with Chlorine. So I fitted an inline Carbon filter to clean the water, it also clears bugs etc. Not cheap at about £20 but completely cured the problem. Only needs fitting in the sink/drinking water cold supply. I bet they are not fitted to Motorhomes as standard.

[michele]

Goodluck John . Perhaps after all the hag you have had with them they may mend the shower tray for free. On account of the fact that you keep spending your well earned money on petrol . Back & forth. *-)

[michele]

Do Browhills do collection & delivery ? People anyone know ?

[michele]

Peter, I hope john does not mind . The thread that was started the other week called Brownhills By hbarnett that was locked was bad enough. Poor howard . Still awaiting new's on that event . I don't mean to be rude to Howard because I would be hopping mad. Nor do I in anyway try to put down what he is going through. This one is another .. I will leave that for John to tell at a later date if so inclined . But I must say that sometimes you are just at the end of your tether and wonder is it all worth while. :-(

[Hymer694]

Do you have a neighbour with a Brita waterjug or kettle that you could borrow and fill up from your MH's water tank? That way you could determine if an inline water filter is the answer. Or you could get yourself a new Brita kettle for home and take it with you on your travels thereby killing two birds with one stone. Paul.

[michele]

Over to you john ;-)

[Simon]

We always had a bit of a taint with coffee using the melamine cups supplied with the van - a good cuppa was the only thing we longed for at home! We took our household mugs one trip and the the taint was gone. Not probably your problem, but worthy of a mention.

[Mel B]

To try to establish if the taste is coming from the fixings, if you can get into the water tank try: 1) block the pipe that goes from the fresh water tank to the tap - put a bung in it somehow to stop water getting into the pipe work. Next hold a jug or something immediately under the pipe that enters the tank from the filler, get someone to fill with a bit of fresh water and then catch the fresh water before it goes in to the tank itself, taste the water in the jug - if it tastes you know it's the pipework BEFORE it reaches the tank. 2) Now put some more fresh water in and let it go into the tank (leave the bung in place in the 'out' pipe). Empty the jug and put some of the tank water in it, taste - again if it has a nasty taste, it's the tank that's at fault. 3) If not, then remove the bung from the 'out' pipe and draw some water up into the tap, again taste the water, if it's horrible, then the fault is in the pipework from the tank to the tap. At least if you can establish where the water is being tainted you stand a chance of being able to find the actual culprit without dismantling the whole of the water system first!

[enodreven]

Hi, we have the same problem and found it appears to come from the electric travel kettle (very well known make) and we only use bottled water we have changed the kettle to another not quite so well known and its gone ? I can't see any reason for it but its there and if you smell the water it has the same sort of TCP smell, It seems unbelevable while we were in France we showed it to another couple we met and he tipped his boiling kettle full of water into our kettle and washed it out, this worked until the week before last when for no apparnt reason still using bottled water the smell and taste returned, as meantioned above we have now purchased a new travel kettle ? and so far no problems ? If anyone has an answer to this it would be welcomed ? Brian

[Don Madge]

[QUOTE]enodreven - 2006-10-07 2:03 PM still using bottled water the smell and taste returned, as meantioned above we have now purchased a new travel kettle ? and so far no problems ? If anyone has an answer to this it would be welcomed ? Brian [/QUOTE] Brian, Just to change direction slightly but why do you buy bottled water (?) Don

[enodreven]

Hi, Don I supose its because most of the tummy problems that people experiance when abroad usually result from the water supplies, not that they are necessaraily contaminated, more from the fact that the water often carries bacteria that our gut is not used to and therefore result in a tummy upset, If i took the tiime to really think it through i would suspect that it is rather silly to purchase bottled water then boil it, but habits are hard to break, also bottled water in France (Lidl's) is so cheap ? hope that answers your question Don Brian

[Don Madge]

Brian, That's interesting, we never buy water unless it's essential. One year in Spain every thing was frozen solid so we had to buy some then, on some aires/stellplatz we have to pay. We don't drink water as a rule, we use the tank water for washing/showering and have four eight litre containers for the water that we boil for tea/coffee. What do other forum members do (?) To buy or not to buy (?) sorry about that. Don

[Clive]

We never buy bottled water. Its one way of reducing greenhouse emissions. If you don,t drink it they won,t have to transport it and why should they when there exists a country wide underground distribution network anyway. Never had a problem with local water in France for many years now, we make tea or coffee or even orange squash from it without any problems. It all comes out of the underfloor tank. What was it granny used to say about eating a peck of dirt? We did have a TCP type problem though, turned out to be the electric kettle where the plastic had started to degenerate. Took us ages to find the culprit. C.

[David Dwight]

We have noticed this problem on and off for years, well I can tell you it aint the kettle, the hose pipe or the water tank, its the c- - - p the water companies insist in putting in the water. We have had it in different parts of the country. We thought the usual pipes, kettle, tank, once when we noticed it we used the old tin kettle, still there, then tried a saucepan still there. Next day moved on had fresh water no taste. Flouride is actualy a poison if you water a tree continuously with tap water that contains flouride it will die. The freshest tastiest sweetest water I have ever tasted came from a spring on a farm in Cornwall, the spring was situated on the side of a muddy lane that the cattle walked along twice a day, there was an eel in the spring. A group of us shared our drinking water on the Isle of Mull with a dead sheep, we noticed it after about 4 days of camping by the stream, was anyone ill no way, (we possible were eating our peck of dirft). Not only that food was not super clean as it is today, remember pulling a carrot out of the garden wiping it on your trouser leg, and then eating it, what a lovely fresh taste. As Clive says why buy bottled water when you can get it out of a tap despite the flouride etc. Cheers everyone. David. ps we had the taste in Pembrokeshire a week ago, and that came straight from the tap.

[enodreven]

Hi, Don I do drink a lot of water proberbly 1-2 litres a day, thats excluding tea/coffee etc As for the differnt tasting water in the UK, I have noticed this when traveling around but thats not quite the same taste as the TCP, and as i meantioned before we only use bottled water and after changing the kettle the same bottle of water tasted OK so I can only assume that it must have been the kettle, Albeit the kettle was only a few months old ? I will let you know if the new kettle starts developing the same taste ?

[Mel E]

A few words to add to this massive thread. Our new 'van unfortunately had a somewhat 'plasticky' taste to the water, even when boiled. I tried various 'guaranteed' products on the tank, all to little avail. In the end, I succumbed and spent on putting a General Ecology filter in the cold supply to the kitchen tap. Now have the purest water you can get anywhere - no taste, nasties and remoives most additives as well. It's not cheap, but it is a good solution to the problem and means we can drink tap water anywhere in the world without problems.

[Norma]

When we set off we take up to 6 x 5 litre bottles of water filled from the house filtered tap. That tides us over far a good few days (I drink at least 3 litres a day and hubby has tea. We only buy water when in France and bring the bottles home for refuelling. I taste the tap water on sites. If there is any sign of chlorine I have bottled water. Otherwise we refill the bottles for kettle water and I drink purchased water. We never drink out of the tank. We have found a taste from plastic kettles. But Johnboy's problem is obviously much deeper. Good night Johnboy.

[michele]

where does one buy these ecology water systems please and how much are they.

[derek500]

Last year we had 'TCP' flavoured water from two Aires in France. Bergerac and Sainte Maure de Touraine. It took a couple of fillings at other Aires to get rid of the taste. We always keep a couple of Lidle/Aldi 5 litre bottled water on board in case.

[Randonneur]

[QUOTE]michele - 2007-05-04 11:06 PM where does one buy these ecology water systems please and how much are they.[/QUOTE] Type in "nature pure" without quotes into your search engine and all will be revealed. I think the best ones are from General Ecology and are about £130

[breakaleg]

we had this problem quite a few years ago, our new to us van then was 13 years old, we put the taste down to two things, either the previouse owners had left water in the tank unused for a considrably long time or it was unflushed milton, i say this as we tried to use milton to clean the tank but it made the problem worse. we use bottled water in our present van, at 21p for two ltrs i consider it cheap enough, also auto-sleeper water tanks are under slung with breather holes on the top, and if water can get out, what can crawl in? pete :'( :'(

[alan k]

Don't forget that the trace of chlorine in the water is your sign that the water is protected but yes I agree that the speck of dirt is good as long as you're used to the bugs in that bit of dirt. We have never used bottled water when touring on the continent unless my wife wants a bit of fizz, much cheaper than the other stuff and anyway boiling water for 60 secs or so will kill most things. But back to the TCP taste, minute trace chemicals which surprisingly do not taste at room temp do so in boiling water. As previous posters have said its the reaction of chlorine with some of the plasticisers in the plastics or PVC that cause the problems. Some proprietry cleaners for water systems seem to react with van water systems and cause more problems. In my previous existence I have bought customers new kettles to get rid of the problem. Lots of flushing is often the cure i much prefer my whisky undiluted, which could lead me on to a story about a Huddersfield farmer who accused me of ruining his whiskey and all because we'd taken all the goodness out of the water. ak

[michele]

Just out of interest has anyonetried Bicarbonate of Soda Before. Sylvia thanks for the link . ;-) everyone else thank you also.

[Pentland]

Most definantly the hose pipe they're using to fill the tank with i'm sure. Me being a top class plumber, B-) go to your local plumbing merchants buy a Speedfit plastic tap connector 3/4" to 15mm get a couple of inches of 15mm copper push it into to the connector then go buy a proper water hose from your local camping supplier, NOT GARDEN HOSE and jubilee clip it to the copper tail. 90% of the water taps you will find (outside) this set up will attach onto via you hand tightening only no spanners or fancy gadgets then you should find the water should taste better. Keith

[Brambles]

Don't agree I am afraid. The reason there is a bad taste in the water is down to the tanks fitted and manufactoiring process. If it is a PVC tank it is the plasticers used, but is more likey to be a PET tank and when moulded during manufacture they used two high a temperature and pressure, due to the size of the mould, and as a result the plastic breaks down and Acetaldehyde is produced. This is a gas that is contained within the plastic and leaches out when in contact with water and very small amounts can taint the taste of the water. The only way to stop it is to replace the tank and if I had tainted water I would certainly take the matter up with the Motorhome supplier and expect a replacement tank. I bet no one with a HDPE (High Density Polyethylene tank) has a problem. Somewhere on your tank should ne moulded the material for recycling purposes, either PVC, PET, or HDPE and my bet is it is only PET tanks giving the problem. Another easy way to identify is what the material is like - PVC ones will be softish and surface can be easily scratched with your finger nail, PET ones will have quite a hard surface and be shiny, and HDPE ones will generally be opague, a sort of milky white like milk bottle containers. If you think what I am saying is a load of gibberish, go and buy yourself a Fruit Shoot and take a first swigg from the bottle after pulling up the cap, what do you reckon to the taste you get. is this the same as your water from tank. Now look what the bottle is made from.....PET. I shall go back to sleep now and not disturb the converstion anymore - what do I know?? not a lot.