How to Treat Cistern Drinking Water With Chlorine Tablets
Cistern drinking water often needs regular maintenance. If a cistern has become contaminated, shock treatments can be used to remove the contaminants. Chlorine tablets can be an effective way to treat your cistern drinking water and restore your water to a clean, safe and usable condition.
Things You Will Need:
- 1 gallon of chlorine laundry bleach
- High-test calcium hypochlorite tablets (HTH)
- Polyethylene rope
- 5-Gallon plastic bucket
- Cloth bag
- Scrub brush
- Inspect the water. Remove the cover of the cistern and view the water that is inside. If you notice floating debris in the water, drain the cistern.
- Create a cleaning solution. Combine 5 gallons of water to a 1/2-gallon of chlorine laundry bleach. Use this mixture to clean the inside of the cistern. Scrub the interior of the cistern using a scrub brush. Rinse the cistern thoroughly with clean running water.
- Refill the cistern with clean water.
- Determine the capacity of your cistern in gallons. This information can often be found in the owner's manual. For every 100 gallons that your cistern holds, you will need to add 1 HTH tablet to a small cloth bag. If your cistern holds 300 gallons of water, you will use 3 HTH tablets.
- Use polyethylene rope to tie the cloth bag closed.
- Lower the bag into the cistern. Move the bag in a continuous up-and-down motion until the HTH tablets have dissolved completely.
- Turn on the faucets in your home and allow the water to run through your home's pipe system. You will notice a strong chlorine smell. Once you notice the smell, turn your faucets off. Allow the water to sit in the pipes for 24 hours. Do not use the water during this time period.
- Flush your water system. Drain the cistern once again and run the faucets to remove all of the water from the pipes.
- Refill the cistern with fresh, clean water. Again, fill your cloth bag with 1 HTH tablet for every 100 gallons of water that your cistern holds. Tie the bag shut using polyethylene rope. Suspend the cloth bag in the cistern and leave it there.
- Repeat this treatment for every 10,000 gallons of water use.