Diesel in Fresh Water Tank - The Cardinal Sin

[Dockhead]

Shirt happens. I feel for you.

Deck fills for diesel are from the devil. Cause of 90% of fuel problems, I reckon, and also this. We should all demand that fuel fillers be put somewhere above deck level, where the fill cap is never under water, and where this confusion can't happen.

[AMCarter3]

It happens every once in a while in charter fleets.. the college cleaning crews get onboard after each charter and... you know the rest. One of them makes a mistake (either diesel in the water or vice versa). It just happened 2 weeks ago here - small amount of diesel in the water tank. The best practical solution is hiring professional tank "polishing" pros. We have a group here in Putget Sound. They come in, do their job and 4-5 hours later, your tank is spotless and smells great.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Shirt happens. I feel for you.

Deck fills for diesel are from the devil. Cause of 90% of fuel problems, I reckon, and also this. We should all demand that fuel fillers be put somewhere above deck level, where the fill cap is never under water, and where this confusion can't happen.

Agreed, many boats place the fills in a way that's basically a huge human factors trap. My boat has deck fills for fuel, which isn't ideal for water intrusion risk. But at least they're not next to a water or waste cap, and the fuel fills are also significantly larger than the others, which makes it pretty obvious which is which even if you don't read the labels (water and waste fittings take 1.5" hose on my boat, the fuel fill hoses are 2 3/8" with correspondingly larger diameter deck fittings).

[Rassy40]

I recommend trying washing soda, also known as Na2CO3 water lye. It removes the last residues of fat.
I had a boat cover that was contaminated with heating oil. I've been trying different detergents for weeks. It only worked with a tip with washing soda. The smell of heating oil is gone.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I think you should just get to the end result immediately.

you’re going to spend a lot of time trying to clean that.

You should just pull the tank and buy a new one. That tank is done. I would never drink from that tank again after diesel was in it. it will never come out of the plastic.

And unfortunately while you are at it you are going to have to replace the filler tube as well. And maybe the vent tube. And any part of the plumbing diesel came in contact with including hoses running to your fresh water pump.

just to save time and aggravation I would go straight to that approach.

then buy some of those caps that have the colors. Blue for the water, red or green for diesel, black for pump out.

One day at might be a dockhand or something that makes the same mistake.

then buy some of those caps that have the colors. Blue for the water, red or green for diesel, black for pump out. EXACTLY!!! Fortunately, my water intake is no where near my diesel intake.

[jackrabbit59]

As a chemist, you got rid of most of the diesel with the Dawn detergent wash. I would do the oxiclean first. Then use several gallons of white vinegar and fill to the top with water. Let it set for several days. Add a couple small boxes of baking soda and let it set another few hours. Leave the fill hole open as it may off gas a little. Then rinse. If it still has a smell, it may be the fill hose and not the tank. I would replace the fill hose first before replacing the tank.

I find vinegar works best on plastics for smell removal. Whenever I have to work on the poop tanks a few cups of vinegar allows me to work on it without throwing up.

You can drink the water again when you get it cleaned out. Breathing the fumes while filling your car gasoline tank is much worse for your health than drinking the water from that tank for years. If you got a PET scan for cancer in the last 20 years, the drug they injected most likely came from a synthesizer I personally set up. I may not be an expert sailor but I know a lot about cancer.

If you do decide to use the tank for water again, use hydrogen peroxide to keep it disinfected. I use 1 cup of H2O2 per 50 gallons of drinking water. This allows a good disinfectant without hurting your water maker. Personally I think one of the worse things you can drink is water with chlorine in it. It will ruin your O rings and seals in your boat and kill your water maker columns. Plus it does your body wrong in many ways.
Just my 2 cents. Worth what you paid for it.
Good luck.

[donradcliffe]

My treatment is to add a gallon of cheap vodka to the tank full of water, let stand overnight, and flush.

[thinwater]

Lots of good ideas.


After cleaning as best you can, install a carbon water system. Common in places where well water has become contaminated. Works well in combination with bleach.


Sail Delmarva: Drinking Water Filtration--The Short Version

[pendragon]

Originally Posted by Howler

- Other suggestions and tips to get rid of the odor?

No luck---->I put once diesel in a plastic water drum, as there was nothing else available, thinking I'll wash it out later...... I tried : water, detergent & hot water, nappy wash, petrol, paint thinners, isopropyl alcohol...Nothing got rid of the smell.

[chrisr]

have you tried vinegar (the strong stuff, not the domestic)

usually cleans fresh water tanks really well...

cheers,

[Marekaofholland]

Just to make you feel better: also 50+ years sailing and it did happen to me as wel. Felt very stupid… had it emptied and cleaned by professional company. They told me it even happens to professionals on the super yachts…. But I did paint the deck caps blue and red after this

[gonesail]

i have had great success with STAR BRITE Aqua Water Treatment & Freshener eliminating odors from my water tank. not sure about diesel. but if you use it be sure to give it a few weeks or a month to do its thing.

[becrux]

Star Brite Aqua Water Treatment and Freshener is Sodium Chlorite.
Rather nasty before diluted. Wear gloves. Handle with care.

Sodium Percarbonate (OxyClean) is a strong oxidizer. It should not be left long term in SS tanks. (Fine in plastic.) After sanitizing SS components in my winery, it is SOP to repassivate the SS with citric acid. I buy each by the industrial food grade 25kg bag, but that’s a lot of Percarbonate.
Vinegar would work as well for repassivating, but that’s a dirty word in a winery.

[Johnno]

Hi Howler, I've done exactly the same thing! Luckily, I immediately closed the cock connecting my water tanks so only one was affected. my solution was found on the web.

I added half a litre of swimming pool chlorine to the water tank in question. Then completely emptied the tank (600 LT!), then opened the inspection port and washed the tank out with household detergent.

I then filled tank rinsed it and flushed it out again. I left the inspection port open overnight and refilled the tank the next day. I've had no problem with either a diesel or chlorine smell since.

I am now paranoid about filling the CORRECT tank when taking on water!!

[merrydolphin]

OK, I did the REVERSE of this once. I had just purchased my Cal ll-46 ketch and was going to sanitize the water tanks. The best product for this is pool chlorine (powdered), as opposed to Clorox. So I put in a correct amount for a 100 gal tank. I no more than poured it in when I realized that I put it in the Diesel tank!
Oh crap, I was really worried. Tried googling it. Called a few diesel fuel places. And finally got my answers from a couple of Petrochemical engineers that I was able to connect with. Their answer? What’s going to happen? …………..nothing! Don’t worry. Won’t hurt anything. And it didn’t. In nearly the ten years that I had the boat, no problems at all. In fact when I sold the boat the new owners are still crossing oceans with the 53 yr old boat with original Perkins 4-236, and fuel tanks.