Integral Water Tank

[Kipper 2]

Looking for advise on maintenance for my water tank. It a steel integral tank with an inspection hatch in the well deck, which appears to have been unopened for quite a while (years).

The tank is empty at the moment for winter but I'm wondering what steps I should take before spring?

There was no foul taste or smells last year and no discolouration when the taps are run, up to when I emptied the tank for winter.

Any advise would be appreciated. 

 

[Tony Brooks]

3 hours ago, Kipper 2 said:

Looking for advise on maintenance for my water tank. It a steel integral tank with an inspection hatch in the well deck, which appears to have been unopened for quite a while (years).

The tank is empty at the moment for winter but I'm wondering what steps I should take before spring?

There was no foul taste or smells last year and no discolouration when the taps are run, up to when I emptied the tank for winter.

Any advise would be appreciated. 

 

 

Nothing, apart from perhaps pour a bottle of cheap thin bleach into as you refill it, run water through each outlet until you can smell bleach, let it stand for an hour or so and the pump it out and flush the tank.

Edited February 14, 2025 by Tony Brooks

[ditchcrawler]

22 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Nothing, apart from perhaps pour a bottle of cheap think bleach into as you refill it, run water through each outlet until you can smell bleach, let it stand for an hour or so and the pump it out and flush the tank.

I think that should be Thin Bleach Tony

[Arthur Marshall]

In the thirty years I've had my boat, I've cleaned the tank out twice and doubt I'll ever do it again!. It might be worth, once it gets a bit warmer, taking the hatch off and having a look inside. It's a fairly nasty job cleaming and repainting it, but better to do it before it needs it than after.

[matty40s]

It is well worth a look inside, you might have a shock....

[ditchcrawler]

Its when you leave the hose running but the tank never gets full

[matty40s]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Its when you leave the hose running but the tank never gets full

Or...you never need to use a hose, it never gets empty....

[Tony Brooks]

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think that should be Thin Bleach Tony

Yes, I thought I had typed thin.

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, matty40s said:

It is well worth a look inside, you might have a shock....

When I bought mine it had been stood and ignored for several years. When I took the hatch off it looked worse than that, great blooms of rust and general nastiness. Took an age to clean and a horrible job as the deck level was below the waterline, so the tank was just over a foot high and you had to get right in to reach the pointy end. We'd raised the deck before I did it again.

[matty40s]

Believe me, this was bad, the two water out pipes fell off when we pressure washed it...we had to fabricate new...

[Kipper 2]

An interesting update to my question in this topic. 
On filling the tank with fresh water after ‘de winterising’ I was very concerned with the very limited flow from any of my taps and a different sound to normal from the water pump. The water that did flow from the taps, eventually, was not discoloured nor any strange smell. 
I thought perhaps sediment had settled around the outlet causing a blockage? 
Checking the filters revealed no issues. 
I tried connecting a hose directly to the outlet from the tank and reverse flushing, which did eventually make a lot of noises before flowing into the tank. 
Reconnecting everything and trying again produced very little improvement.

I was coming to the realisation that a may need to open up the tank and look inside when after talking to one of the engineers from my marina, he suggested the outlet pipe from the tank (1/2” iron) could have rusted up internally.

I pumped out the tank, disconnected the pipe work from the outlet and ‘rodded’ the inside of the outlet spigot. It was definitely blocked and rusted up. No sediment, just a rusted outlet internally.

A happy ending to the story…. Yes! The water pressure at the taps has never been better and a ‘happy’ sounding water pump.

[Arthur Marshall]

4 hours ago, Kipper 2 said:

An interesting update to my question in this topic. 
On filling the tank with fresh water after ‘de winterising’ I was very concerned with the very limited flow from any of my taps and a different sound to normal from the water pump. The water that did flow from the taps, eventually, was not discoloured nor any strange smell. 
I thought perhaps sediment had settled around the outlet causing a blockage? 
Checking the filters revealed no issues. 
I tried connecting a hose directly to the outlet from the tank and reverse flushing, which did eventually make a lot of noises before flowing into the tank. 
Reconnecting everything and trying again produced very little improvement.

I was coming to the realisation that a may need to open up the tank and look inside when after talking to one of the engineers from my marina, he suggested the outlet pipe from the tank (1/2” iron) could have rusted up internally.

I pumped out the tank, disconnected the pipe work from the outlet and ‘rodded’ the inside of the outlet spigot. It was definitely blocked and rusted up. No sediment, just a rusted outlet internally.

A happy ending to the story…. Yes! The water pressure at the taps has never been better and a ‘happy’ sounding water pump.

That happens to mine every three or four years. Flow reduces, and I poke a screwdriver into the tank outlet and dislodge a bit of rust. Ife tried using on of those long metal snakes doewn thdpipe from the pump end but there are two right angle bends and it won't go round them. It's just a pain getting the hatch cover off.

[alan_fincher]

On 14/02/2025 at 18:39, matty40s said:

It is well worth a look inside, you might have a shock....

Nah!  That's looking down the weed hatch, surely?

[David Mack]

5 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

Nah!  That's looking down the weed hatch, surely?

Only if you are at Worsley or the north end of Harecastle tunnel.