Using Holding tank as a water Tank?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by KenKo

I don't know if this is a plausible solution given the plumbing system on your boat, but could you isolate the plumbing from the tank so it only supplies a shower and/or boat washdown system and also possibly the freshwater toilet flush on your boat and not the drinking water? Just an idea--I never tried it myself or encountered a situation where I needed to.

Also, you could use this as the rainwater tank.


If the kids use up all the water for showers, you still have your drinking tank, which would last longer. Like having a dedicated starting battery.

[rslifkin]

For those worrying about the fiberglass leaching stuff, there are potable water safe coatings that can resolve that issue. In my mind, if you can get good enough access, the proper procedure would be to get the tank spotlessly clean, bleach the crap out of it, then get all of the surfaces perfectly clean, dry, and prepped. Coat the inside well with a potable water safe coating, replace any fittings of unknown material or that can't be cleaned adequately, then it should be safe to use for water.

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by thinwater

If it were a stainless tank how would the group feel? That sounds very reasonable, although the cleaning would still need to be meticulous. Shiny and passivated with citric meticulous.

Originally Posted by rslifkin

In my mind, if you can get good enough access, the proper procedure would be to get the tank spotlessly clean, bleach the crap out of it, then get all of the surfaces perfectly clean, dry, and prepped. Coat the inside well with a potable water safe coating, replace any fittings of unknown material or that can't be cleaned adequately, then it should be safe to use for water.

Why risk it?

[colinalleck]

Bladder 👍good luck don’t be underturd

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by KenKo

[...]possibly the freshwater toilet flush on your boat and not the drinking water? Just an idea--I never tried it myself or encountered a situation where I needed to.

Did you read his post? He wants to convert to a composting toilet.

[EdenRose]

This is by FAR the best solution I have read here. And we have a composting toilet we LOVE vs holding tanks and conventional head. And so agree that the urine tank is the only unpleasant part. Especially if you leave the boat for a week or more with the tank unemptied. It gets bad. And emptying the urine tank (which is frequent) is just unpleasant. Running the urine into the holding tank is a great answer. If you have not purchased the composter yet, see which of the two (Air Head and Nature's Head) would be the easiest to attach.
Harley

Originally Posted by jen1722terry

Hi, and congrats on your new composter. We love ours, but you will miss the incomparable joy of cleaning out head clogs.

We've written on composters and holding tanks several times over the years.

So, again, you may want to consider plumbing the liquids tank of your composter to your holding tank. Why?

1. The liquids tank can fill up quickly when you're sleeping on board or have guests.

2. It may not always be legal to dump your liquids overboard.

3. At the very least, it may be rude to dump your liquids near other boats.

4. If you're just using the holding tank for liquids, pumpouts are infrequent, particularly if your tank is in the 40-50 gallon range. Our tank is only 18 gallons and we pumpout every 2-3 weeks. We're full-time live aboards all summer.

5. You minimize the risk of liquids seepage or spillage when you forget to emtpy the small liquids tank. Also, we can attest that folks sometimes drop their liquids tank when emptying it either in the cabin (spillage) or overboard in rough weather (TOB emergency), unfortunate in either case.

6. You'll enjoy your composter even more with this setup.

Just some thoughts. PM us should you like more info on our 9 years of composter experience.

Cheers

[rick bertram]

Cut the top out and insert a proper drinking water tank.

[David Mathis]

What a wonderful topic for discussion for the guests during and after dinner. Notice the lack of taste in the water you're drinking? That's because we rinsed and cleaned the holding tank before using it to hold our fresh water.

[Martinini]

Cut the top out. #2 clean the crap out of it(lol) and then slip in another tank that fits as well possible. #3 use a couple of cans of expanding foam to fill any gaps between the two tanks and plumb up the fittings.

[sck5]

Get a new tank. It is just gross to use a tank that held crap for years. (or even minutes)

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by David Mathis

What a wonderful topic for discussion for the guests during and after dinner. Notice the lack of taste in the water you're drinking? That's because we rinsed and cleaned the holding tank before using it to hold our fresh water.

Loved it!

[TideTime]

That's a horrible idea!

[Carl-T705]

Originally Posted by rosatte

Hell dogs drink outta toilets what’s the big deal

. In the US, testing of ice water served in restaurants was found to have more bacteria than the toilet water in the same restaurant.... I'm just saying... The problem was always traced back to the ice machine. so don't put ice in the holding tank and you'll be fine.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by squarpeg

So we have been considering switching to a composting head. That would leave our holding tank empty. This tank is built into the boat under a bunk. It is fiberglass. It also does not have great access to cleaning as there is a single "port" in it. Probably 40-50 gallons. I'd love to use it for fresh water but thinking if that would ever be possible? What do others think?

The way you describe it the tank is nearly inpossible to clean so using it for potable water is out. Think outside the box. Maybe use it as dedicated water to wash the anchor and anchor chain?

[jen1722terry]

Originally Posted by EdenRose

This is by FAR the best solution I have read here. And we have a composting toilet we LOVE vs holding tanks and conventional head. And so agree that the urine tank is the only unpleasant part. Especially if you leave the boat for a week or more with the tank unemptied. It gets bad. And emptying the urine tank (which is frequent) is just unpleasant. Running the urine into the holding tank is a great answer. If you have not purchased the composter yet, see which of the two (Air Head and Nature's Head) would be the easiest to attach.
Harley

We have a 9-year old Airhead.

The only tricky thing was attaching the drain fitting to the small liquids tank on the composter. The tank is made of a very hard to glue plastic. There is a 2-part glue out there, but I can't recall the name. Maybe ask Airhead what type of plastic they use.

We also used a 3/4" ID reinforced rubber hose. Any smaller diameter could glog with mineralization. Then we trimmed the old hose to the holding tank back to where it enters the bottom of the locker next to the head and installed a fitting to connect the new hose to the larger ID hose to the holding tank. This allowed the liquids to flow by gravity.

We spray white vinegar in the bowl after each liquid deposit. Helps with odor and seems to retard mineralization as well as minimizing a gunky white buildup in the liquids tank.

For all the trouble it saves, it was a pretty easy project.

Hope this helps.

50 degrees and sunny again today in Nova Scotia. We think we'll have wine and cheese on the outside porch which is toasty warm with with the sun bouncing off the harbor. One more warm day tomorrow before the deep freeze and snow returns on Sunday.

Cheers