converting holding tank to ?

[FSmith]

I have gone composting and want to convert the plastic (pp or pe) holding tank to fuel or water. Any suggestion on cleaning this sucker and whether it can actually be used for potable water.

[Free Agent]

You're kidding,, right?

In the movie "I sailed to Tahiti with an all girl crew" Wally Cox removed his and the engine and installed a wine cellar.

[capn_billl]

Ewwww! No way. I wouldn't even use it for fuel. Wreck it out and replace. All it takes is one hepatitus virus spore, (or glob of fecal matter), to be lodged in a crack during sanitization, then become dislodged during water refill, down the pipe to your glass,....

On the other hand how are the composters working for you?
I have a small sailboat with a porta potty, and am looking for something better.

[svBeBe]

Today is NOT 1 April. Please set your chronometer to 08 April 0239 GMT.

Bill

[SimonV]

I think for safety sake, once you've gone black there's NO going back.

[RabidRabbit]

Keep the tank for 1 year till your super sure you like the composter. For the amount of time I spend onboard a composter would be going backwards as far as the hassle involved. I want my boating bathrooom exp. to be the same as my landbased bathroom exp. and thats just the way its gotta be. For me anyway.

[bobconnie]

Heck wash it out and use it for extra diesel !! a little fecal matter will stick in a Racor !!! just a thought from some one who ran out of diesel once !!

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

Heck wash it out and use it for extra diesel !! a little fecal matter will stick in a Racor !!! just a thought from some one who ran out of diesel once !!

I don't know, I do my own engine work.

[FSmith]

Ok, I guess potable water is out but I think diesel might work. This tank has been emty for years as I went to composting long ago. Maybe potable water will work for uncooperative crew.

[bobconnie]

I do my own engine work also !! and I would sure use this tank washed out for diesel fuel!! a team of racors would take anything left in the tank out no problem !! Just my 2 cents

[Astral Blue]

The thought of converting your holding tank into a potable water tank made me not as enthusiastic about having lunch anytime soon. With that said, a new potable water tank is not expensive. If you are going to decommission it, replacing it is not going to be a big deal.

I would avoid using it for Diesel. All fuel tanks need to be USCG approved; and holding tanks generally do not fall into that category. If you were boarded for an inspection, a holding tank full of Diesel is not going to something you want to explain to the coasties.

[hellosailor]

Remove top of tank entirely. Clean out with bleach and peroxide or otherwise treat as a biohazard area. Now drop a blivet (a Nauta tank, a flex tank) inside the space where the holding tank was. And even then I think I'd use it for fuel. I would be reluctant to let drinking water anywhere near an old holding tank. No matter how nicely it smells of roses now...on that one I think I'd toss the tank and lay in a fresh clean one rather than do the intensive cleaning.
There's just too much "stuff" that can get passed in waste, that drugs don't cure.

I've rebuilt heads, but when it comes to drinking water in an ex-holding tank....Nah, not me.

[Pau Hana Daz]

Ford - Check your PMs. (and don't drink out of that tank)

I don't see a problem with converting a poly tank to diesel, but if it were me, I'd prefer the extra storage space gained from pulling the tank over any extra diesel capacity gained by converting it (of course my fuel tank is 20some gallons larger than yours).