Cleaning and sanitising water carriers

Water carriers should clean and sanitise their tanks by:

• physically cleaning the tank with detergent and flushing with drinking water, (water carriers should follow relevant Workplace Health and Safety requirements if entering a confined space or working at heights)
• spray a solution containing 10 milligrams per litre (mg/L) available chlorine onto the surface, leave for 5 minutes and rinse with drinking water OR
• fill the tank for at least 30 minutes with drinking water containing at least 5mg/L of available chlorine then drain and rinse the tank with drinking water.

Water carriers should clean and sanitise their hoses and pipes by:

• physically cleaning the pipes/hoses with detergent and flushing with drinking water
• sanitise the pipes/hoses by filling for at least 30 minutes with water containing at least 5mg/L of available chlorine
• physically clean and soak the fittings in warm water containing at least 5mg/L of available chlorine for at least 5 minutes
• rinse the pipes/hoses and fittings with drinking water, and
• store the pipes/hoses and fittings in a manner that protects them from contamination such as placing caps or plugs at the ends of the pipes.

Preparing chlorine solutions

Water used to prepare chlorine solutions should be from a local government’s potable water supply or treated private water supply. Local government potable water supplies will often contain a level of residual free chlorine. To sanitise surfaces, this level of chlorine is too low and will not sanitise the surface. The tables below detail the amount of chlorine needed for a particular volume of water to make both a 5mg/L chlorine solution and a 10mg/L chlorine solution.

Table 1 - Making a 5mg/L chlorine solution

Table 2 - Making a 10mg/L chlorine solution