Extra Water Tanks

[DeftxM]

i was thinking about having an extra water tank or two, maybe even movable or something for rainwater. is this a bad idea? are bladder tanks a good option or solid?

[thinwater]

Personally, I would not use bladders, as they are not easily cleaned.

[Dockhead]

Bladder tanks are also vulnerable to holing through chafe. Some people use them with success, but I would avoid them, myself, if possible. Much better will be a plastic tank made to fit a specific volume available, with baffles inside, and very securely bolted down. Yes, that's expensive, so maybe not realistic for everyone in every case. Here's one company which makes really good water tanks: Tek-Tanks - Custom made or standard fit water, waste and fuel tanks

Also be careful about trim -- remember water is very heavy (one metric ton per cubic meter).

[sparrowhawk1]

For drinking water I like the 3 gallon water jugs made by igloo. much easier to carry and lift up to my deck from the dinghy. For rainwater any bucket will do but if you have several that will fit inside each other for storage that works best and you also want them to be open top so you can clean them easily

[JPA Cate]

Good idea sparrowhawk, since the OP's boat is small, it may be easier for him to find nooks and crannies for them.

A very long time ago, we had some hypalon water bladders that had been custom made as the sole water tankage for our boat, and they lasted quite well, and fit pretty well. Never had to clean them, always had mildlly chlorinated the water in them, then filtered out the chlorine via a charcoal filter.

When they wore out at about 20 yrs., we replaced them with some tedlar ones from WM. 5 yr. guarantee, lasted 2-1/2 weeks. Quite disappointing. By then we were in NZ, and had s/s ones fabricated that fit very well indeed.

Ann

[HopCar]

This is a good source for water tanks if you're in the USA. They have about 500 sizes and shapes available.
Ronco Plastics - Marine Water Tanks, RV Water Tank, Auto Detail Tanks, Water Tanks

[sparrowhawk1]

Ann that just reminded me. on my 27 foot boat I had all the nooks and crannies filled with 2 liter soda bottles that were rinsed and filled with water. I collected them from all my friends. I had a whole bin that was completely full with them and I put a hole on the side so I wouldn't have to lift my cushions up to get to them. When I would take them in by dinghy to fill with water I would put them in a large army surplus duffle bag. Worked great. Little bit of a pain when filling them to un- screw and screw so many caps but better than having big jugs take up space on a little boat. And never leaked a drop

[GILow]

We have failed bladder tanks on our boat and they are a nightmare. I would not recommend them at all. Ours have gone rock hard, have cracked and are leaking and now smell like the worst locker room pong you could imagine. I have to pull the engine and gearbox to get them out. Yuck! Avoid if at all possible.

Matt

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by GILow

We have failed bladder tanks on our boat and they are a nightmare. I would not recommend them at all. Ours have gone rock hard, have cracked and are leaking and now smell like the worst locker room pong you could imagine. I have to pull the engine and gearbox to get them out. Yuck! Avoid if at all possible.

Matt

Actually, Matt, no offense intended, ....BUT....

IMO, you should make it a priority. With your projected trip to Tassie with crew, you really ought to have good water, and adequate amounts. It's something the skipper just has to do. Sorry to sound so forceful, but I feel very strongly about this. You can sail from Adelaide to King Is., with no food; not so with water.

Besides that, having water storage that tastes good and you can trust and helps trim the boat is a good deal. If you decide to have made and install s/s tankage like we did, allow enough space to include timber spacers so that the s/s doesn't lay against the hull directly. Much reduces the possibilities of unseen corrosion. Ours worked well.

Ann

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Actually, Matt, no offense intended, ....BUT....

IMO, you should make it a priority. With your projected trip to Tassie with crew, you really ought to have good water, and adequate amounts. It's something the skipper just has to do. Sorry to sound so forceful, but I feel very strongly about this. You can sail from Adelaide to King Is., with no food; not so with water.

Besides that, having water storage that tastes good and you can trust and helps trim the boat is a good deal. If you decide to have made and install s/s tankage like we did, allow enough space to include timber spacers so that the s/s doesn't lay against the hull directly. Much reduces the possibilities of unseen corrosion. Ours worked well.

Ann

Ann,

No offence taken, I agree with you 100% and I appreciate the advice.

There are three items on the boat that will prevent me from doing the Tassie trip this summer if they cannot be attented to in time, and the water tanks are the FIRST, and most important of all of them..

At least we still have around 300 litres capacity in the main settee SS tank for weekends, though at the moment I have left that tank completely dry and we are day sailing using three food grade 20 litre water jerry cans, which I find much easier to keep fresh. I simply empty them after each trip, leave them upside down in the galley with the lids off, and then refill them from the taps at the pen before we set out.

Reinstating the keel tanks is a big project... and I one that I really want to start as the boat simply STINKS when those tanks get agitated. But there are just a couple more tasks at home before I can get back to the boat... and home is pretty darn important.

Matt

[JPA Cate]

Matt,

Don't know what you've done to try and neutralize the odor, but I'd suggest using household bleach, use at least 2 full cup measures full, and let it kill whatever's in there making the stench. It will not injure the hypalon.

I sympathize, it sounds like a very daunting job. Good luck with it when you get to it.

Ann

[Cheechako]

Two ways to go: water maker and smaller tanks (watermakers need to be used often anyway.) Or buy water or obtain rain water or get water to the boat by dingy or fuel dock etc. More tankage nice!
There are so many ready made plastic tanks out there it shouldn't be too hard to find a spot or two to put them.
In the end, you use what you have anyway though. So on a small boat, not sure installing a couple small tanks is worth it.
If you can find a spot to mount a bigger one ...yes.

[JPA Cate]

IIRC, the OP has an under 30 ft. boat, maybe 27? For him, it may well be that sparrowhawk's suggestion of using the 2 l. soda bottles could prove to be the best way for him to go. They're easier to cart around and refill, and sometimes carrying the water to the boat is easier than finding somewhere you can take the boat to water it up. In the old days, we used collapsible water jugs for "jugging" the water from shore.

GILow's boat is a 42 ft. Swanson, lots of space for tankage. It's not comparing the same kinds of situations, and Liquid Metal got here first with the question. Apologies for participating in thread drift.

Ann

[GILow]

Sometimes I feel our boat IS a tank.

Anyway, to keep on the OPs point I just really worry when people talk about fitting bladder tanks. I can see the appeal and I suppose they have their merits just avoid putting them somewhere difficult to access.

Also I think we can easily get hooked on the joys of being able to turn on a tap to get water and forget that multiple small containers make us more frugal with water and less vulnerable to pollution or failure of the boat plumbing.

Matt