Drinking (?) water holding tank

R

rhodyboater

New Member
Feb 25, 2009
212
Rhode Island
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2004
Engines
Twin 8.1 mercs
I've only had my 280da for a couple of months but I've learned it is not a good idea to actually drink the water from the faucets. I do use a marine water safe hose to fill my tank but have been told bacteria can grow in there.
So what is the common practice? Do most of you shun the on board water except for washing things?
Is there some disinfectant that should be used?
 
Tony,

We don't drink the fresh water for the very reasons you indicate. I use the water freshner/anti-alge stuff that is in the RV section from Walmart. Put a couple caps in before filling the tank. I also fill the tank with an in-line water filter from the same section.
 
2 caps full of bleach will kill pretty much anything. we go through the whole tank in a weekend.
 
I put bleach in maybe once a month to kill anything in there. by go through, I mean use up a whole tank in a weekend with showers, washing, cooking etc... I try and not let any water sit in the tank for more than a week.
 
We live in Seattle/Tacoma and it's not quite as warm as South Florida.... We carry a 100 gallons total, I put in a cap full of bleach per 20 gallons filling. We brush teeth, rinse, maybe drink a little, but for the most part I drink bottled water.....
 
We don't drink it either. No matter what we do as far as disinfectant....It just doesn't look or smell right.
We use it for the terlet and rinsing a toothbrush...thats it.
 
Ours went bad a couple of weeks ago. When you ran the water, it smelled rank in the cabin. I did a search on this site to find the right ratio of bleach, and applied the procedure. To drain it, I cleaned the entire head, top to bottom - including the shower curtain. Everything was sparkling. I soaked our plastic coffee cups in it - they are now sparkling white. Then, I re-filled it and off we went. I've used it to drink a couple of times since then - this is after about 3 full cycles of filling/emptying.

Short answer - we generally don't drink it, but right after cleaning the system (and after a few rinses), it's fine.
 
I also use the Walmart RV stuff- 2 capfuls/25gal? It is Sodium Hypochlorite, similar to regular bleach.

Somewhere I read that treating the water is only temporary cure and if that tank of water sits a while it will need retreatment. I get a rotten egg smell when I first run the transom shower if it has been sitting so will mix a couple capfuls in a small water bottle from the trash and pour it into the water fill. It improves the smell fairly quickly but will need it again if I still have the same tankful the next weekend. I think my water would be OK to drink but prefer bottled water unless boiling for coffee, rice or pasta.

Eddie
 
We use bleach as well, based on a formula we got from the FEMA website. The water becomes safe to drink, it just dosen't taste so great. We carry a couple gallons of bottled water for actual drinking. But for washing showers teeth brushing we use the tank. We also only fill the tank from a hose that runs from our house to our dock that I also make sure is clean and bleached from time to time.

Henry
 
Hmmm....I would think a stainless steel holding tank would solve this...bummer.
Thanks for the info. Chlorox here we come.
 
Tony,

I just sanitzed my tank according to the owners's manual: weak bleach solution, leave for three hours, flush, fill and flush again. That being said, bottled water is $3/case. You couldn't talk me into drinking from that tank with a fistful of hundreds! I'll look for you on the Bay.

Pete:lol:
 
I clean using the bleach solution in the spring, empty the tank each weekend and then refill before we head out. I drink it and haven't had any problems. It's really no different than the storage tanks the city uses. If the water is turned over enough, the bacteria won't be a problem. I'd rather drink the freshwater out of the tank than bottled water. It's cheaper, doesn't become a storage problem with the bottles before or after use and saves some money for gas too! I do use a dedicated RV hose for filling. I don't use a "dock" hose and I run the water to flush the hose before I start filling. Some folks put a filter on the freshwater, but I haven't found that necessary. If you let it sit in the tank, it will taste like plastic, but that's why we drain after use and refill the following weekend.
 
petern said:
Tony,

I just sanitzed my tank according to the owners's manual: weak bleach solution, leave for three hours, flush, fill and flush again. That being said, bottled water is $3/case. You couldn't talk me into drinking from that tank with a fistful of hundreds! I'll look for you on the Bay.

Pete:lol:
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Well said.:thumbsup:
 
Dude, I just paid 25.00 for a case of water on Block, it was 3 bucks at walmart but we ran out. I still wont drink out of the tanks, shower and brush teeth as well as doing dishes etc.
 
you bunch of wussies. clean the tank and fill it with fresh water... mmmmm tastes good.
 
TurtleTone said:
you bunch of wussies. clean the tank and fill it with fresh water... mmmmm tastes good.
Click to expand...

I am with you Mike. I do the bleach thing pump it through the system, especialy the hot water hearter and let sit for 24 hours. Then drain fill with fresh water, pump through system. Drain, repeat and then run system agian until no more bleach smell. Drain, fill again then you are set. As with my RV I drink the water, it won't hurt you and is probably better than that bottled water y'all are drinking.

Get home, drain system. I am on a well which is the best water around......................

In fact when I am in PWS, I get my drinking water from a few spring fed streams.

I won't drink the water from the tank, man what a bunch of weenies.................LOL:smt009
 
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The lesson here is that ya'll (you guys) don't use your boats enough. In order to insure public health, the boat must be used enough to keep water in the tank fresh enough for healthy consumption. Most wives and girlfriends don't have a clear understanding of this, and it's your responsibility to keep everyone on board healthy. Boat systems must be excercised regularly to reduce maintenance costs and for the health of all concerned. Now....man up, and take responsibility, and use your boats!
 
TurtleTone said:
you bunch of wussies. clean the tank and fill it with fresh water... mmmmm tastes good.
Click to expand...

I'm with Mike. Why do you have the water if you don't want to use it? If you regularly drain and sanitize the tank once in a while, what's the difference in filling up a plastic jug at home and bringing it with you? I probably would refill the jug every week if I didn't use it. Maybe consider doing the same with the onboard tank.

Our chlorine levels here are high enough that you really don't need to use the bleach or any other sanitizer weekly although some sort of regular cleaning couldn't hurt.
 
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