Inaccessible Integral Water Tank - Solutions? Allied Seabreeze

[PineappleOrange]

I recently purchased a 1965 Allied Seabreeze, and it appears to have the original 40 gal. integral water tank. It has a single 6" inspection port, of which access to half of the tank blocked by the centerboard trunk. There were many specimens seemingly growing in the tank.

I have bleached and flushed the tank a few times, and will likely do it more. Eventually I'd like remove the cabin sole, cut open the tank, clean it, and paint it; however, until that point I'm not sure I can trust the quality of the water it holds. In the meantime, It'll just serve as additional ballast, and I'll pull from jugs. I'd like a long term solution though.

Have any of you had similar issues, what was your solution? Should I be looking into installing pressurized water and installing water 0.5 micron filters?

[SailingHarmonie]

It sounds like you want water that you can consider sterile. A sterilizing filter is 0.22 microns, so you'll have to do better than the 0.5 you are thinking of.

But...

What exactly are you worried about? If you don't have pathogens being introduced into your tank, the water will be potable. Potable is NOT sterile. Humans evolved to drink water very much dirtier than your tank ever will be.

Of course the bottled water industry works very hard to convince you otherwise. They have been very good at making this an irrational emotional issue so you buy their overpriced and unsustainable product with a huge trash footprint.

I have lived on boats for 25 years. I only drink raw tank water, with only a 10 micron sediment filter for esthetics. Much of the time, the water is all desalinated ocean water. I never "bleach" the tanks, because bleach is bad for the equipment on the boat, and the resulting chlorinated organic chemicals are bad for me. I cleaned the tanks, once. Haven't bothered since. I never put any city water into the tanks from a suspect source that might have viable pathogens in it.

[PineappleOrange]

I just want to be able to trust the water from the tank, and ensure that it is a safe to drink. If I were able to physically wiped the tank down, I'd probably be fine with it. Unfortunately, the inspection port it too small to allow a good cleaning, and the centerboard trunk blocks the other half the tank, and that side of the tank is noticeably slimey.

[boating4ever]

You may need to cut access, I would want to give a good scrub down and sanitize. Is there a brush you can some how buy that has a bendable arm that aided with a camera you also insert into the tank might allow you to clean it?

[PineappleOrange]

Originally Posted by boating4ever

You may need to cut access, I would want to give a good scrub down and sanitize. Is there a brush you can some how buy that has a bendable arm that aided with a camera you also insert into the tank might allow you to clean it?

I do actually have an old wireless camera I could use, and a broken flexible phone holder that might be long and stiff enough. Thanks for the idea, I'll have to try and remember to bring it!

Cutting a new access hatch, or making the entire lid a hatch would be ideal; then I could coat it too. Unfortunately, that will be down the road as it will require me to also remove part of the cabin sole.

[huramentzefix]

chlorinate it to 50ppm for 24hrs.
it needs to be full to the brim.


Put an elbow into the overflow to raise it and let sit full with chlorine soluten for 24 hours.


40US gallons is 150 litres in real measurement.
50ppm is 50mg/l.
you need 150*0.05g=7.5g of pure chlorine only!
If you use 90% chlorine that is 8.5 grams only!!!
If you use 60% chlorine that is 12.5 grams only!!!!


Chlorine is for Viruses and bacteria only.


After that do the same treatment with 10mg/L of Copper-Sulphate.
You need 1.5 grams of copper-sulphate only!!!!
That is less than half a tea-spoon!!!


After that test your water for biological growth with some toast-bread in a plastic bag.
Test before any treatment, test after chlorinating and then again after copper-sulphate treatment.
you can do that with the same piece of toast, just use a suringe with the needle.
Check in youtube for instructions.
They are mostly to be found in insctuctions about the retarded "desinfectant" with alcohol during COVID instead of washing hands.


Don't drill, just drink away and stop worrying.
If you want to be bullet proof then install a UV-sterilizer in line after a 20 micron filter.

[Pete7]

We always drink from the tank and use shore water. However, water quality is heavily regulated in the UK and most of Europe thinking about it. However we do bleach annually and have good access to the inside of the tank to inspect.

Don't forget you hoses too, particularly the breather hose. I keep meaning to do mine, but saw a useful tip involving disconnecting both ends, then insert a small piece of clean rag tied to a piece of fishing line. Use a vacuum cleaner to pull the cloth through the hose. Add more fishing line or string and does cloth with bleach. Pull through a few times before flushing.

Pete