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Old 31-12-2009, 22:08   #1
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Poly Water Bags - Water Tastes Like Plastic!

Hi, I've just purchase a (used) boat that has two 150 litre polyethylene fresh water bags (tanks). I recently filled them and the water tasted strongly of plastic. Has anyone else had this and found a lasting solution??

I'm sure that flushing them out before I go off shore will provide a temporary fix, just wondering if there is longer lasting solution.


Thanks

Terry
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Old 01-01-2010, 00:10   #2
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Had one several boats ago,never got rid of taste.Might try on of those brita filters on faucet,marc
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Old 01-01-2010, 02:56   #3
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Got one on our small express cruiser. Always had bad tasting water. Tried bleach etc. to flush it out with no luck. The pink anti-freeze we have to use up here in the winter only makes it worse if you don't thoroughly flush it in the spring. We never use our onboard water for drinking. Our boat is too small to install a poly tank so we'll have to live with it till we sell it.
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Old 01-01-2010, 03:50   #4
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You could try flushing them out with near-boiling water. Just be very sure they're HDPE (High-density polyethylene) before you do.

If you do several runs like this, letting the hot water sit for a few hours each time, it should improve the flavour of your water. Brewers do this to polyethylene tanks and jugs before storing hot wort (un-fermented beer) in them.
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Old 01-01-2010, 04:58   #5
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when doing the fit out on our tri i had a 240 lt water bladder specially made to fit an area and boy was i disappointed with the water quality nothing i did seemed to help so after a year i bit the bullet and had two poly tanks made to order - taint free !we have never looked back i always discourage any body from buying them the bladders for the water quality is terrible one other problem i had was when the water was low our pressure system would spurt from sucking air the times i got a face full from a spurting tap ...lol it was after one of these soakings that i said enough of this s...t and i ordered the poly tank
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Old 29-03-2010, 18:25   #6
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buy the stuff they sell for babys bottle sterilization,obvious a large quantity will be needed.
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Old 29-03-2010, 18:48   #7
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I would get glass, titanium, stainless steel, anodized aluminum, or even copper containers and store water in those. Plastic is not safe to drink from. It has compounds that interrupt your endocrine system.

Bisphenyl-A is one and there are many others. I would just go with glass, it is a known safe water container. Stainless steel would be good too.

You only get one body, may as well invest in it.
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Old 29-03-2010, 19:14   #8
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I think the only filter that will work is a carbon filter.

cheers,
Nick.
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Old 31-03-2010, 08:30   #9
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Plastic is not safe to drink from.
As a blanket statement this is simply not true. There are lots of different kinds of plastic and most of them are perfectly safe to drink from. There are SOME types of plastic that MAY leach chemicals that are not safe to drink. Those containing BPA are quickly being pulled from the market.

Most specifically, the materials used to make the water bladders and plastic tanks for use in boats, sold by places like Defender and West Marine, are completely safe to drink from. But don't believe me. Look into it yourself. Get past the hysterical reports in the newspapers and on TV (that are mainly designed to generate revenues) and actually read some of the studies that have been done. Do this and my guess is that you will come to the conclusion for yourself that plastic tanks and bladders are absolutely safe.

Now back to the original question. Alternating rinses with solutions of chlorox and baking soda may help. I would mix the chlorox at the rate of one tablespoon per 5 gallons and the baking soda at the rate of a box per 10 gallons or so. Two or three rinses with each should be good. After that, if it still has an off flavor, I think filtering is your only hope (although I would just convert to rigid polyethylene tanks).

Good luck!
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Old 31-03-2010, 08:35   #10
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It might be the type of tanks you have or they have gone bad for some reason.. Our boat is designed for inflatable tanks and I've replaced the origionals with "Vetus" tanks... no problems here........
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Old 31-03-2010, 14:33   #11
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Originally Posted by denverd0n View Post
As a blanket statement this is simply not true. There are lots of different kinds of plastic and most of them are perfectly safe to drink from. There are SOME types of plastic that MAY leach chemicals that are not safe to drink. Those containing BPA are quickly being pulled from the market.

Most specifically, the materials used to make the water bladders and plastic tanks for use in boats, sold by places like Defender and West Marine, are completely safe to drink from. But don't believe me. Look into it yourself. Get past the hysterical reports in the newspapers and on TV (that are mainly designed to generate revenues) and actually read some of the studies that have been done. Do this and my guess is that you will come to the conclusion for yourself that plastic tanks and bladders are absolutely safe...
I’d be interested in reading some of those studies, to which you refer. Please provide some references, or (better yet) links.

Since it’s quite impossible to know the exact chemical makeup of any commercial plastic product; how can the consumer realistically evaluate amount of migration and corresponding toxicological effects of the constituent(s) of any proprietary “plastic” used in a water tanks (or anything)?

I expect that the scientific studies are based upon very well-defined plastics.
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Old 31-03-2010, 15:07   #12
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Far be it from me to interfere in a perfectly good argument...

I have no idea why this is underlining, it will not turn off...

My Plastimo water bladder will cause the water to have a plastic taste (well, actually more of a smell) if the water sits too long, or when the bladder was new. If you have not already done so, fill, flush and repeat a couple times... good test of the blige pumps anyways.

Works for me.


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Old 01-04-2010, 10:29   #13
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I expect that the scientific studies are based upon very well-defined plastics.
Of course. And the plastic content is precisely defined, and easy to find, for any tank or bladder that is FDA approved for potable water (as are those sold by the major marine and RV retailers).

It has been several years since I read any studies on this--back when questions came up about BPA, and I had several water bottles that contained it. As such, I don't have any links saved at this point. I will, however, try to find a few for you.

By the way, after doing quite a bit of reading on the subject, I still use my water bottles that were made with BPA.
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Old 04-04-2010, 00:46   #14
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Plastic taste

All plastics have a certain amount of un-polymerised monomer in them. Better grade plastics have less, badly made plastics have more.
Bladder tanks always have the entire surface in contact with whatever volume you have in them, unlike rigid tanks which depend on the fill volume. Bladder tanks therefore highlight any problem plastic. Heating the tank MAY flash off the monomers, but if the plastic has a really high monomer content you may never get rid of it.
If you can taste the plastic, you are ingesting monomer, so beware - it May not be as bad for you as some alarmists may say,but it certainly isn't GOOD for you!!!!
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Old 17-01-2012, 15:03   #15
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Re: Poly Water Bags - Water Tastes Like Plastic!

following up on this, I have just sent Plastimo an email asking about their BPA content in their tanks. our tanks also impart a slight plastic smell/taste when the water is left for a long time.

the wikipedia entry on BPA lists type 3 flexible PVC as a possible source of BPA, and Plastimo's website is pretty clear that they make the tanks out of flexible PVC.

hopefully they'll reply.
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