Potable water

aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
Does anyone reccomend a tablet or some kind of treatment that I can put in my water tank. For some reason this season my water doesn't smell that good.
2008 330EC

Comments

  • frodo13056frodo13056 Member Posts: 212 ✭✭✭
    There are tablets that you can purchase, but I just add a small amount of Clorox bleach to the fresh water tank (about an 8th of a cup to my 40 gallon tank) while filling the tank. Then I open all faucets and let everything run for 5 minutes or so, shut everything off for a few hours and then run the water tank about empty, refill, empty, refill and that takes care of any issues. Bacteria starts to grow in water pretty quickly and even faster in warm environments - like fresh water tanks that are located in engine compartments. Hot water heaters on boats are a perfect breeding ground since most folks don't run a lot of water through the heaters on a routine basis.
  • TikiHut2TikiHut2 Member Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Frodo has a sound process and it's critical to keep that tank clean. I'll find the rag boat cruisers guide to water tank treatment but it's not far from Frodos advice. Montezuma's revenge is easy to get from foul water in your tank.
    Mike
    2004 FV270, 300hp 5.7 350mag MPI Merc 305hrs, 2:20 Bravo3 OD w.22p props, 12v Lenco tabs, Kohler 5kw genset, A/C, etc.etc...
    Regular weekender, Trailer stored indoors, M/V TikiHut, Sarasota, Fl
  • aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Will try the bleach, thanks!
    2008 330EC
  • raybo3raybo3 Administrator Posts: 5,455 admin
    Mike will you forget about rag bote's......lol
    2002 342 Fiesta Vee PC Point Of Pines YC Revere MA. popyc.org     raybo3@live.com
  • TikiHut2TikiHut2 Member Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If I forgot all the decades of tricks I've learned (and mostly lost to rum-itis) as a stick boat captain in the tropics all Id have is a couple of decades of small to midsized stinkpot habits. Both combined barely get me back to the dock as it is. ;)

    Maybe bad water is why sailors......uh mariners.... prefer rum anyway :D

    One thing on todays task list is adding a water tank drain that Rinker neglected to add to our 270. Always good to try and drain it occasionally. Since mine's an 04 thatd be about 9yrs. Id guess it's about due. :-&
    Have great day. Mike
    2004 FV270, 300hp 5.7 350mag MPI Merc 305hrs, 2:20 Bravo3 OD w.22p props, 12v Lenco tabs, Kohler 5kw genset, A/C, etc.etc...
    Regular weekender, Trailer stored indoors, M/V TikiHut, Sarasota, Fl
  • 212rowboat212rowboat Member Posts: 2,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2013
    Dang link wouldn't work... Google clean tech ozonator 12vdc for potable holding tanks..


    cleanotech.com/dc-unit.html
  • TikiHut2TikiHut2 Member Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2013


    Drew, that looks like a system for a home aireator or maybe a cistern but maybe I didnt look far enough.

     Like Frodo mentioned A tiny dose of bleach on each fill and a stout treatment and complete drain every quarter will keep your crews lower G.I. happy. If  all you do is rinse off getting any in your mouth or brush your teeth on a long weekend you'll probably want that water clean enough to drink a bit. With our basic setup we don't drink from our water tank but it's safe enough to do the basics while many have addl treatment systems/filters and certainly drink it safely. For all the sordid details a rather "spirited" debate and some sage advice on how to keep the crew and water supply healthy see the link below.

    Here's the link from noted marine sanitation speaker and author "Peggy Hall The Head Mistress". She's also THE resource for waste tank stank maintenance. Cross culture awareness shamelessly ripped off from yet another sailing cruisers form. ;) 
    (LINK, SEE POST #8)

    Drink up...or not. Mike

    Post edited by TikiHut2 on
    2004 FV270, 300hp 5.7 350mag MPI Merc 305hrs, 2:20 Bravo3 OD w.22p props, 12v Lenco tabs, Kohler 5kw genset, A/C, etc.etc...
    Regular weekender, Trailer stored indoors, M/V TikiHut, Sarasota, Fl
  • brianluckbrianluck Member Posts: 174 ✭✭✭
    ive never used my fresh water for drinking. just rinsing off hands and the shower at the swim platform. we alway carry plenty of bottle water if we get desperate enough to put down our beers. but i think ill treat my tank with a little bleach too as you can never be to carefull
    1994 300fv "General Madness"
  • aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
    brianluck said:
    ive never used my fresh water for drinking. just rinsing off hands and the shower at the swim platform. we alway carry plenty of bottle water if we get desperate enough to put down our beers. but i think ill treat my tank with a little bleach too as you can never be to carefull
    Same here, we don't drink it.
    2008 330EC
  • 212rowboat212rowboat Member Posts: 2,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2013
    I've used an ozonator on many things... I used one in a 500ga container in the desert... I use one in my hottub... The navy uses them... I don't see why a small one can't be fashioned to be used in smaller applications of <30ga..... I wouldn't drink it, mind you, but you don't have to worry about fuzzies... Or, critters, for that matter... I wouldn't hesitate to use one if I had a holding tank on a boat.. I can't see how its any different than that on an RV, which I DID use... The cap on that thing was replaced with a basket assembly that did the deed.. a lot of backcountry hunters, who have huge lifted trucks and in-bed campers use them to keep the water brought clean, but also to further clean (after filter and treatment) water found from springs/creeks ect...

    Isn't it something like an extra o2 dangling, anyway? That loses activity pretty rapidly, leaving pure h2o?.. as in the same thing as hydrogen peroxide?
  • TikiHut2TikiHut2 Member Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Drew, I hear you. Sounds like a valid idea. If you build it.....they will come. :) Go man. The boat and RV market love hi-tech stuff like that.

    Drinking the water from a fresh water holding tank that's clean and has a secondary filter would be perfectly safe and is very common for cruisers but I fully understand the ease of just bringing a few gals of bottled water which is what we also do when on-board for a few days. 

    It's a wonder we ever survived being a kid drinking out of the well and swimming in emerald pond but I'm older and a feel a bit less "resilient" after abusing my innards with hot sauce and rum for too many years. Better safe than..... 
    2004 FV270, 300hp 5.7 350mag MPI Merc 305hrs, 2:20 Bravo3 OD w.22p props, 12v Lenco tabs, Kohler 5kw genset, A/C, etc.etc...
    Regular weekender, Trailer stored indoors, M/V TikiHut, Sarasota, Fl
  • bat32bat32 Member Posts: 161 ✭✭✭
    I treat mine with bleach as well but don't drink from it.  Bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth.  However if I don't treat the water with bleach it turns pretty fast and the smell is well lets say undesirable at best....

     

  • TonyWalkerTonyWalker Member Posts: 744 ✭✭✭

    Takes me back to the days of the 50's and 60's.  In those days no one I know of gave these problems any thought.  Just fill up the ole water thank, drink your fill and when empty, simply refill.

    Tony

    Salt Shaker 342

  • Michael TMichael T Member Posts: 7,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2013
    An old salt at my marina doesn't use the marina provided hoses (he gave too many reasons to list here but you can imagine some of them - oh he!! here's one, I can't resist - he watched a kid at a local marina use the potable water fill hose to wash some "material" that had run out of the septic vacuum hose. The kid dropped the end of the water hose into the run off. He looked around, picked it up and hung it back on the reel. Nice Eh?) . The old salt uses the certified water hoses, he keeps them in a canvas bag to avoid having dirt etc. get into them but still allowing them to breathe and dry out to avoid microbe growth. He wipes off the tap end, water intake port on the boat and both ends of his fill hose with "normal" 3% hydrogen peroxide then lets the water run for about five minutes before putting it into the boat. Said the whole deal takes less than 10 minutes plus the time to fill the tank. Says he was a sail boater for 30 years and has been a power squadron cruiser for 20 years. Has used his method on canvass water containers, rubber sailing bladders, aluminum tanks and now the "plastic" modern tanks. Has varied the strength of the mixture a bit depending on the type of tank but says you should not be afraid to drink the water if you follow some basic cleaning advice. Once a year (more often if its a longer or hotter season, he puts a 1/2 cup of bleach into the water tank, leaves it for a hour, empties and fills the tank once, adds a cup of vinegar and fills and empties the tank, then adds a half box of baking soda and fills and empiies the tank. He and family drink the water and he swears no one has ever gotten sick. Mind you he boils the water for coffee and most of the water on his boat seems to get added to hard liquor! P.S. He said keep your dirty hands away from the water intake or you're washing what you touched last into your tank. I know someone will find a punch line there! MT
    Post edited by Michael T on
  • aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How much bleach do you think will be good for a 33 gallon tank?
    2008 330EC
  • Black_DiamondBlack_Diamond Member Posts: 5,439 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You do not need a lot of bleach, a few tablespoons really. Do not use scented bleach though.

    Past owner of a 2003 342FV
    PC BYC, Holland, MI
  • 212rowboat212rowboat Member Posts: 2,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The marine corps taught us to use a cap full of bleach per quart of water... This is regular ol' household bleach, at 5% chlorine.. I drank it many many times with no issues..

    H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) makes more sense, though.. it cleans organics out.. when the extra molecule escapes, you're left with plain ol' h2o.. you can use dang near as much as you want in a tank, except it will attack metals and some compounds of rubber.. this is why the notion of an ozonator is a good one.. it literally adds the failing molecule back to h2o, making it, briefly, h2o2 again.. it cleans as good as if not better than chlorine..

    If you guys are dead set on chemicals, I may suggest chlorine as intended for pools and spas (10%).. in granular form, and added when LEAVING the boat..
  • aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I put some bleach in this morning, ran the faucets for about 3 minutes and the smell was gone! I'm going to let the bleach sit in the lines for a few hours and pump it out later.
    2008 330EC
  • Michael TMichael T Member Posts: 7,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2013
    Hey aero3313 - this is for you - DIRECTLY quoted from the 2013 Rinker Owners Manual: Fresh water tank must be empty to start process. Caution Bleach solution used to sanitize system is poisonous!. Do not allow anyone to drink water from system while sanitizing. In an appropriate container make a solution of household bleach and fresh water 2 oz bleach per gallon. A minimum of ten gallons recommended. Pour solution into empty tank. Fill tank to capacity with fresh water. Turn fresh water pump on. Open all faucets beginning with the faucet furthest from the pump to bleed air from the entire fresh water system. Stop when water starts to come out of faucet. Leave solution in tank for 3 to 4 hours. Drain all of the solution from tank and lines. Flush system thoroughly with fresh water. If you taste chlorine after this - prepare a solution of one quart vinegar with 5 gallons of water. Pour into fresh water tank and leave solution in tank for several days. Drain entire system and thoroughly flush system with fresh water. Fill the tank with fresh water. Bleed all lines of air. Soooo, that's the "word" from Rinker. Pretty much matches what the "old salt" told me (see my above post) guess he knew what he was talking about. Hope this helps all. P.S. There are two physicians in my family - one a sailor one a power boater, both with potable water tanks. Both said beware of bleach. It is a highly misunderstood chemical surrounded by myths regarding its use. It can be a tremendous health hazard if misused even rather slightly. My background is advanced sciences and I too would agree. Followed correctly bleach is a great product, misused it is deadly. FOLLOW the directions, don't get creative and make-up your own chemistry experiment (Please!) P.S. When I winterize my boat at the end of this season I'll make sure I run a LOT of water through my tank, pump, faucets and TOILET pump before emptying the tank. I do not want bleach and/or vinegar residue sitting in my pumps, fittings or faucets for the winter - can you imagine what that would do to them? My 2 cents. Hope the info helps! MT  
  • aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thanks Michael, we bring 2.5 gallon jugs of Poland Spring for drinking with us. The water in the tank is for rinsing things down and showers. I always tell my passengers not to drink the water out of the faucets.
    2008 330EC
  • BoatAwayBoatAway Member Posts: 179 ✭✭✭

    Poland Spring!?!?! aw that stuff is gawd-aweful! Evian is the ONLY way to go...

      

    :))
  • raybo3raybo3 Administrator Posts: 5,455 admin
    Lets start a Spring Water challange test. Just like Coke and Pepsi. Put the 2 together and lets see who can tell them apart........
    2002 342 Fiesta Vee PC Point Of Pines YC Revere MA. popyc.org     raybo3@live.com
  • 212rowboat212rowboat Member Posts: 2,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
    raybo3 said:

    Lets start a Spring Water challange test. Just like Coke and Pepsi. Put the 2 together and lets see who can tell them apart........

    We did this in the desert, in our extreme boredom.. you would be surprised how many folks could nail it without fail, labeling as many as four different waters in the first try.. when that is all there is to drink, its pretty distinguishable. :-) spring time and Evian always came out on top.. :-)

  • Dream_InnDream_Inn Member, Moderator Posts: 7,552 mod
    yes, the bateria in each of the 4 taste very different! :)>-   The longer it's bottled, the more time for bacteria to grow.  Sorry, I'm just not the believer in all that bottled crap!  I always try to stay away from this topic, most know my opinion!  Just don't be so lazy, and rinse out your water tank weekly and use it it.  That is the key, use it!  We don't even connect the hose to the back at our marina.  I drink it out of the tank, shower in it, eat the ice from it & the only way to kill the bacteria in all of it is to add some good liquor to it!!! >:/

    Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express

  • Black_DiamondBlack_Diamond Member Posts: 5,439 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I do the same, always using the storage tank, rarely the hose hook up. Eat, drink and shower with it. Probably a tankfull a week. Knock on wood. lol

    Past owner of a 2003 342FV
    PC BYC, Holland, MI
  • Michael TMichael T Member Posts: 7,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2013
    DI and BD - That's EXACTLY the advice I have received. MT
  • pepmysterpepmyster Member Posts: 308 ✭✭✭
    Only use the tank water to wash, shower, you know, the regular stuff.Never drink it, we bring the bottled stuff instead.

    All I've wanted was to just have fun.

  • OldDogNewTrixOldDogNewTrix Member Posts: 166 ✭✭✭
    Spring water is recommended in a Keurig machine. Thats why we always carry it on the boat. My wife makes her tea with it too. We cook, bathe and brush our teeth with the water tank water.
    Wayne '09 340 EC
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