Flexible water tanks

[Cowpoos]

While I totally agree that a solid water tank is a better option, it is not always practical.

So I'm looking for information from people who have [or had] flexible water tanks on their boats and their longevity/failure rate. Mounting tips and locations that may lower the failure rate.

If people have comments about specific brands and have used different brands, these thoughts would be appreciated also.

[Mike OReilly]

I used one for years during seasonal cruising on the Great Lakes. Mine was a Plastimo, 40 gallon (I think). It was housed in a rigid container, and was secured so it could not move around a lot. It worked fine.

[hpeer]

Yup, I have the same under my stb pilot berth on the 33’er. Works fine. It is really cradled in there. I forget what I used as an underlayment.

Because it is relatively high it is easy to drain for the winter, just let empty into the bilge and the ounot sucks it out while cleaning the bilge.

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by Cowpoos

While I totally agree that a solid water tank is a better option, it is not always practical.



So I'm looking for information from people who have [or had] flexible water tanks on their boats and their longevity/failure rate. Mounting tips and locations that may lower the failure rate.



If people have comments about specific brands and have used different brands, these thoughts would be appreciated also.

Had one for years and years in my 1979 CAL39MKII and it was great! No odors. I did set it up with two Y valves so I could pump it out to sea, or use the services at the marina and vacuum all of the contact till very flat.
I just made sure my diaphragm pump was a over water line

[RaymondR]

I used the Vetus ones for about 25 years and replaced them once. One of the major advantages of them was being able to take them out and clean them and the inner tank was transparent so one could see when they were clean. I switched to SS tanks to increase the volume of water carried but found that on a steel boat the inflatables were a lot more convenient.

[toddster8]

I’ve got a plastimo water tank under the q-berth and a vetus holding tank under the v-berth. Going on ten years now.
Didn’t really see any need for “underpayment” as there were no rough edges there. The Plastimo came in a stout nylon jacket. Tied off the corner loops to D-rings screwed into the underside of the deck.

Note that when empty/not used, the tanks take up zero volume and other cruising gear can be stashed on top of them. When full, they take on cylindrical shape and may push-open the lids of the compartment.

[Pete7]

I have been following Sailing Yacht Zora from the beginning as he and gf completely refurbishes an old steelie, brave but they are doing okay on a limited budget.

They are just doing their water tank again so perhaps worth watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4iP...ilingYachtZora

[tobixen]

I've been mopping up water from leaky flexible tanks of the brands Plastimo and Nuova Rade for years now. Possibly because my installation does not protect the tanks sufficiently from moving around. Still, I believe there are serious design weaknesses on both those tanks.

I've tried to summarize my experiences at https://solveig.oslo.no/solveig/flex...atertanks.html