Decomposed mouse in attic water tank

John Lewis is not

I found and removed a decomposed mouse at the bottom of my water tank. I'll be calling a doctor tomorrow to see if we need to get checked for anything. In the meantime I want to scrub the tank clean and disinfect the lines. Any suggestions on what I could use to do this and how would I go about it?

I was thinking maybe draining, cleaning and then mixing bleach and refilling until I smell chlorine coming out the taps, the close all taps and leave to disinfect for 12 hours.

Any better suggestions? Also, have any of you encountered a dead animal in the tank before? As you can imagine, I'm pretty disgusted by it all. I've young kids, we all use this water to brush our teeth etc. I won't be telling my wife about it unless the doctor advises us to get a check up.

jca

How will you explain the stink of chlorine to the missus? I think you're overreacting tbh. We do have immune systems to cope with these things. Probably no harm to get a sheet of timber to cover the tank in case the word gets around in mice circles and they come to the funeral... Life is too short etc...

Rosedust84

Years ago when I still lived at home I had a hamster, he escaped from the cage one day and I never managed to find him. Anyway fast forward a year or something and my father found him pretty decomposed in the attic tank (poor thing!). We were all pretty grossed out at the thought of germs etc but nothing ever happened.. Not sure if its different with a wild mouse, I would probably chlorine it myself to be sure but I am pretty paranoid about this stuff!

evolving_doors

Ya happened to me in a rented house yonks ago. Having a shower and got a whiff I remembered from childhood (never forgot the smell). Everyone else thought I was mad until went up and found them.

Back story.
Building site nearby.. house got mice/rats.. landlord called Rentokill and put down poison. We thought it 'scared' all the rodents away and thought nothing of it for a few weeks till smell developed. Anyhow word of warning.. rats seek out water when poisoned. Nearly as bad when they die and get trapped between walls

Anyhow we all survived.

Flush out tank a few times ...we used milton. Boiling water too. Got an airlock in the pipes so baught a plunger and plunged a few times when the tanks was full again.

You can buy a tank cover in plumbing centres.
Good time to replace an old stopcock while yer up there... maybe throw up a plug in cable with light fitting... some insulation. Turn it into a positive... throw the missus of the scent.

John Lewis is not

Thanks for the replies. Actually makes me feel a lot better. I was getting stressed at the thought of my kids catching something like Legionnaires or Leptospirosis, even though I know the likelihood is minimal since the mouse has clearly been decomposing for a long time and we all seem to be in good health. I've told my wife that I'm giving it a clean since we've just bought the house (we were renting and purchased from landlord) and we're renovating everything so she's aware that there will be a chlorine smell. She just doesn't know the real reason. I'm actually getting an tank lid and blanket installed next week when we get it insulated. I was up having a look to see if it required cleaning beforehand when I noticed the mouse.

I'll have a look at Milton tomorrow so, maybe that might be a better option, thanks.

deandean

A decomposed mouse...the bad bits are probably long gone. Once it sinks to the bottom of the tank the rate of decay reduces.
I wouldn't bother bleaching it.
Get a cover for your water tank!

nhunter100

The tank feeds the hot water taps ie through the cylinder / central heating wouldn't worry about it tbh.

Sleeper12

If you have a plastic tank you can scrub away. If you have a galvanised tank cleaning it can cause it to leak. If galvanised tank I'd be replacing it rather than cleaning

freddyuk

Storage tanks should have a tight fitting lid and insulation and there should be a bug screen on the overflow to stop unwanted foreign debris and animal life in your system. It is a water byelaw in the UK but I guess 90% of older homes will not have this fitted. It is one rule I am happy to follow as it does prevent problems with contamination and rot from condensation. Byelaw kits are available to do the job properly so ask your friendly plumber if he ever heard of these.

John Lewis is not

Thanks for all the advice. It is an old house and I'm in the process of renovating it to bring it up to standard

evolving_doors

nhunter100 wrote: »

The tank feeds the hot water taps ie through the cylinder / central heating wouldn't worry about it tbh.

I think his kids were using the cold water tap in the bathroom . As far as I'm aware most houses only have the kitchen cold tap coming from mains. Tis in mine anyway.