Drinking Water from watertanks

[Captain Anthony]

I too have 40 year old tanks. I have found that cleaning the tanks every year, keeping the tans full and filtering the water before it goes into the tanks and at the faucet goes a long way to keeping healthy.

[a64pilot]

I’m five years I have never shocked our water, or ever added any chlorine.
In fact I filter all water that goes into the boat from a tap through a carbon block filter to remove any traces of chlorine.
I do that because my tanks are aluminum and chlorine is of course an oxidizer, and will of course oxidize aluminum. It’s a real expensive proposition to change our tanks.
Anyway in five years so far there has never been a problem, we do use a Seagull filter for our drinking and cooking water, and I have a 20 micron filter to catch any lime that comes from the tank, over 32 years there is some lime build up in the tank.

I think the key is to regularly use water, continuously.
Drinking water from plastic water bottles is nuts, besides the harm it does to the environment, ask yourself what keeps the water in plastic bottles from growing “stuff”?

[Captain Anthony]

I always clean my tanks at the start of the sailing season and filter the water before filling the tank and at the facet in the boat

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Paul Kelly

How much bleach do you add Mike? It'd be very helpful to know. Thanks.

Basically we follow Peggy Hall’s advice: "1 cup (8 oz) of household bleach per 10 gallon.” We do this at the start of every season. It has kept our tank clean and tasting fine.

Searoom I For the Cruising Sailor | Freshen your water tankFreshen your water tank

Actually, the biggest issue we have is removing the anti-freeze taste following each winter. That’s mainly what the carbon filter is there for.

Originally Posted by Huskybeer

Can you explain „shock the tank“ with ultrasound or what?

I hope this answers your question Husky. Basically its an occasional deep cleaning.

[Lepke]

I liveaboard and make all the water. I do so because most of the coastal water supplies from marinas and fuel docks doesn't have a pleasant taste. My tanks are galvanized steel from about 1972. I add a small amount of chlorine to the tanks before making water and have filters at the galley sink for any bad tastes. Seems to work. Guests love the water & ice.
This business of raising children in sterile environments means they won't have immunities to common bacteria found everywhere. I grew up around farms and the forest, drinking well, spring and creek water. In Oregon, we have Beaver Fever in the streams. Makes city people have the runs. But I can drink any moving clear water. Even in Vietnam, the Philippines or Panama. I don't get sick and maybe have one cold every 5-10 years. And I'm an old geezer that oughta have one foot in the grave.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I just use a carbon filter at the sink and just ........................... drink the water. If I feel the water is "old" I add a little bleach and let the carbon filter take it out.

Another vote here for fhe standard carbon filter, nothing more is needed unless you are filling tanks from questionable sources. You didn'f specify your cruising area.
All water coming from our tank goes tbru the carbon filter right after it leaves the pump. So no matter wbere on tbe boat you draw water, hot or cold, it tastes fine.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Tsuru

Our potable water always tasted like plastic and sometimes plastic with chlorine. It wasn’t bad but we used water jugs for drinking water.

My boat was the same when I bought her. Turned out one of the previous owners had used garden hoses for water pipes. Removed those and replaced them with food grade hose from a catering place and I’ve had no problems since.

[CarinaPDX]

I definitely don't get paying a small fortune for Seagull filters; I'm not questioning their abilities - just the price and availability. Standard 10" filter bodies are readily available pretty much everywhere in the world, and there are many suppliers of filter elements, at a very reasonable price. Personally I have a sediment filter rigged to the filler hose to remove anything coming in, but not the chlorine in the municipal water. Then at the taps I use combined sediment/carbon filters to remove the chlorine and any tank taste before using. When changing the filters it is important to clean the short section between the filter and faucet as the lack of chlorine can allow bacterial slime to build up.

Edit: When choosing filter elements do pay attention to the required pressure: particularly the carbon block filters need decent pressure to drive water through them at a good rate.

Greg

[saillr]

Buy a watermaker, Clean water all the time. We have had one in our IP40 for 15 years. Never need to look for marina water or worry about the quality.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by saillr

Buy a watermaker, Clean water all the time. We have had one in our IP40 for 15 years. Never need to look for marina water or worry about the quality.

Spend several thousand dollars on a watermaker plus associated maintenance and fuel costs?

Nah, I'll just keep using free water from a tap or the sky but thanks for the suggestion

[Sailmonkey]

We drink water straight from the tank.....if it’s the same water you’d drink at your house, why not?

[Rumbottle]

I've been using the same tanks for 39 years. If you can fill the tanks with drinkable water and add a few crystals of potassium permanganate ("Condys Crystals") you wont have any problems. Put too many crystals in and the water turns purple

[desodave]

... "1 cup (8 oz) of household bleach per 10 gallon"


Mike, that sounds like an incredible amount of bleach to use. I have an 80 usg tank and use 1 1/2 cups of bleach to shock it, not 8 cups. One public health agency, Yukon Health , recommends 1 cup for every 50 imp gal for an inaccessible potable water tank. I've seen similar recommendations on on RV sites.

[sailorboy1]

I see people don’t let basic chemistry get in the way of various myths

[sdowney717]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Here I am 15 years drinking unfiltered water from the water tank. Myself having helped design several biopharmaceutical plants, I realize that the filter media used in water filters happen to be a perfect growth media for bacteria.

That's the main reason I don't put a filter on my water tank. Well other than the fact that we have a millions of years of evolution, where we did nothing but drink water out of streams or well's.

My old 1970 system uses all copper lines, and a SS tank. The copper pipes kill over 99% of all bacteria in the water, so I have noticed the water is always fresh in our boat. It is one reason I have kept the system pretty much intact as is.