Water Treatment

[Boats in the head]

I have a stainless steel tank for fresh water and Im not sure if I should be adding some sort of water treatment when I fill up ? Its a new boat so it should be clean now , but how do you keep it that way? I dont drink from the tank water unless its boiled first but some unsuspecting visitor may

 

What if anything can I add that dont cost a packed and that will keep my water fresh, with out killing me or recking the tank and plumbing system

 

 

Cheers

Rooster

[churchward]

I have a stainless steel tank for fresh water and Im not sure if I should be adding some sort of water treatment when I fill up ? Its a new boat so it should be clean now , but how do you keep it that way? I dont drink from the tank water unless its boiled first but some unsuspecting visitor may

 

What if anything can I add that dont cost a packed and that will keep my water fresh, with out killing me or recking the tank and plumbing system

 

 

Cheers

Rooster

Personally I don't add any treatments to the water tank. The stuff you hose in is just the same mains water you use at home. An occasional flushing may be useful with a cleaning fluid may help every other year. If you wish rather than put additives to the water why not add a drinking water filter one that will filter for microbes as well as impurities such as a Doulton unit. Again personally I have not felt the need to do this as yet but for some this may be more important.

 

I guess also it depends on how much water you use on a regular basis so how long the water is going to remain in your tank. A live aboard who is topping up their tank regularly with fresh water is not likely to experience any issues using the water straight from the tank but someone who uses the boat two weeks of the year (I know an extreme example) will have a lot of water standing about for some time. However, not a lot can happen to it, it's in the dark (no algae) there shouldn't be any real organic matter to decay or grow bacteria.

[John Orentas]

I have a stainless steel tank for fresh water and Im not sure if I should be adding some sort of water treatment when I fill up ? Its a new boat so it should be clean now , but how do you keep it that way? I dont drink from the tank water unless its boiled first but some unsuspecting visitor may

 

What if anything can I add that dont cost a packed and that will keep my water fresh, with out killing me or recking the tank and plumbing system.

 

 

 

 

As bug's and micro-organisms of all kinds seem to require some degree of daylight to survive, the total darkness inside a water tank will look after itself, both my boats have had integral tanks, on the very rare occasions I have looked inside them for painting after years of use, apart from a bit of sediment they have always been totally clean and fresh.

 

If anything I suspect if we could look inside our ancient municipal water supply systems they would be a lot more grimy than our tiny efforts.

[Boatgypsy]

I've got a stainless steel tank and have never put anything chemical into it. I drink from it and have never had any problem with tummy bugs in ten years.

 

Incidentally, my dogs drink from the canal all the time and have never been made ill. I'm not sure I would go that far, having seen some very nasty things floating in it.

[David Schweizer]

You can buy packs of treatment tablets from most Chandlers, I bought a pack a few years ago before I re-painted my tank, but to be honest I am not sure that they were anything more than a very weak solidified form of Milton. Although there was no taint to the water there was certainly a very sligt whiff of bleach whne it came oput of the tap.

 

Since re-painting the tank I have not used anything in it, and I have survived the past seven years drinking water from the tank through an Aquafilter, without boiling it first. I do clean out the pipes every spring with Milton though, just in case anything unpleasant has taken up residence in the emptied pipes over the winter.

Edited December 1, 2008 by David Schweizer

[blackrose]

I've been treating my integral tank with Milton about once a year. My tank is about 1275 litres so the problem is getting the stuff out without knackering the water pump. There's a new Milton fluid which is supposed to be safe to drink but i think all these treatments are chlorine-based. Some poeple just make up their own chlorine solution which is a lot cheaper. At the other end I have a Nature Pure water filter going to a dedicated tap in the kitchen sink. Expensive, but they're about the best you can buy. http://www.generalecologyeurope.com/naturepure.html

I never run Milton through the filter if I've just treated the tank.

 

Most people avoid drinking water from upstairs taps in their houses if it comes from a tank, so I don't think any of this is excessive.

Edited December 1, 2008 by blackrose

[John Orentas]

In my caravan days I did have a very persistent problem with some form of water bug, I found the most effective treatment was the stuff that pub landlords use for cleaning their beer pipes, it was free too. The downside is that you have to put up with is having to consume lots of his product to stay friendly.

[chris w]

Milton's tablets (or fluid) are Sodium Hypochlorite; it's very expensive to buy in Milton's form So I buy swimming pool chlorine powder which is identical to the composition of Milton's and it's a fraction of the price. A 2.5Kg container is only a few quid.

 

For my 450 litre stainless steel tank, I use 2 level teaspoonfuls on every fill up (proportional if not empty). This is the recommended dosage by Miltons. I also have a proper bio water filter on the main galley tap.

 

Chris

[churchward]

I've been treating my integral tank with Milton about once a year. My tank is about 1275 litres so the problem is getting the stuff out without knackering the water pump. There's a new Milton fluid which is supposed to be safe to drink but i think all these treatments are chlorine-based. Some poeple just make up their own chlorine solution which is a lot cheaper. At the other end I have a Nature Pure water filter going to a dedicated tap in the kitchen sink. Expensive, but they're about the best you can buy. http://www.generalecologyeurope.com/naturepure.html

I never run Milton through the filter if I've just treated the tank.

 

Most people avoid drinking water from upstairs taps in their houses if it comes from a tank, so I don't think any of this is excessive.

 

It can't be excessive; in any case taking a safe route can't be wrong. Also some individuals due to health or other circumstances may be more vulnerable than others. I have thought about a filter for the drinking water but as yet have not felt the urge to get one.

 

In several ways though drinking the water straight from the tank on a boat is different to drinking water from the loft tank. The boat tank is closed environment (particularly if an actual tank, plastic, stainless steel etc) only access points being the filler and air vent (this should be protected against insects etc) so should not let much in the way of contaminants in to cause problems. The house loft tank although should have a lid on it isn't a sealed system and the loft is a very dusty environment and insects even vermin could find their way into the tank. So, on the whole the loft tank for this and other reasons is more likely to become contaminated particularly in an older house.

[johnjo]

More likely to get contamination from the WATER left in the hose from the last fill up, always a good idea to flush the hose BEFORE putting any water into the tank, better still drain it after use and plug the ends, also give the tank inlet a good clean BEFORE opening.

[churchward]

More likely to get contamination from the WATER left in the hose from the last fill up, always a good idea to flush the hose BEFORE putting any water into the tank, better still drain it after use and plug the ends, also give the tank inlet a good clean BEFORE opening.

 

Quite so, we always let the hose run to flush it through and wash the end of the outer hose before it goes into the tank filler. Some folk also also make sure that they buy a hose that is made from food safe material rather than any garden hose product.

Edited December 1, 2008 by churchward

[Lady Muck]

Never done anything to my water tank and never had to clean it, haven't dropped dead yet!

 

BUT, I use a food quality hose, we run water through the pipes to the tap and then through the hose for a few minutes before it goes in the tank and we're very careful when we fill up.

 

If I'm not sure about the cleanliness of a tap (I've never used the one at Old Ford becuase its directly above the Elsan Disposal point), I won't use it.

 

I guess I should give it a dose of Milton at some point, I fill up every 1-2 weeks depending on how much washing we've done.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Lady Muck

[WJM]

At a Thames lock once, I stopped a lady off a white plastic cruiser from putting the provided hose into the filler on her boat. I cleaned the end of it and then handed it back, pointing out that she had just picked it up from a puddle of effluent beside the pump out. How do these people come to have the money to buy a £100k piece of floating self-congratulation in the first place?

[ditchcrawler]

I've got a stainless steel tank and have never put anything chemical into it. I drink from it and have never had any problem with tummy bugs in ten years.

 

Incidentally, my dogs drink from the canal all the time and have never been made ill. I'm not sure I would go that far, having seen some very nasty things floating in it.

Same with my boat and dog. After all, I can still remember drawing water from the well with my grandmother, and she clocked 80 before departing, also she didn't have a fridge.

[chris w]

Same with my boat and dog. After all, I can still remember drawing water from the well with my grandmother, and she clocked 80 before departing, also she didn't have a fridge.

Maybe if she'd looked after herself better, she would have lived longer

[ditchcrawler]

More likely to get contamination from the WATER left in the hose from the last fill up, always a good idea to flush the hose BEFORE putting any water into the tank, better still drain it after use and plug the ends, also give the tank inlet a good clean BEFORE opening.

I always drain our hose after use and then plug the two ends together. Before using it I flush it through for a bit. Mind you its only garden hose, not food grade.

I would have thought the hire fleets would have a greater problem the number of times I have seen them drag the end of the hose through the cut as they transfere from one boat to the next on changeover day.

Edited December 2, 2008 by ditchcrawler

[Bones]

Water tank stuff is something I have thought about, and I did put a filter in between the tank and the pump on order to filter out lumps of coal and that sort of thing. I was going to treat the tank, but then someone reminded me that water contains chlorine and that should be enough. I also rinse the hose out for a couple of minutes. I still wonder whether I am doing enough, but I think I always will.

[ditchcrawler]

Water tank stuff is something I have thought about, and I did put a filter in between the tank and the pump on order to filter out lumps of coal and that sort of thing. I was going to treat the tank, but then someone reminded me that water contains chlorine and that should be enough. I also rinse the hose out for a couple of minutes. I still wonder whether I am doing enough, but I think I always will.

You should tell Dusty to be more careful where he shoots your coal if its ending up in your water tank

[Mitch - Soma]

I've got a stainless steel tank and have never put anything chemical into it. I drink from it and have never had any problem with tummy bugs in ten years.

 

Incidentally, my dogs drink from the canal all the time and have never been made ill. I'm not sure I would go that far, having seen some very nasty things floating in it.

 

Yea, well, actually I do.

 

I have a small swimming pool pump on the swim inside the engine hole. This sucks canal water directly from the swim, thus avoiding "floaters", (leaves, bags, body parts etc), by being just a few inches below the surface, and silt, by being quite a bit off the bottom of the cut. I shove this water through a small, 75kg, swimmingpool sand filter, which is back-washable, and straight into the tank. The tank, only a little one 'cause it auto-refills by switching on the pump when it get's low, feeds all the taps and machines, for bathing, washing machine, dishwasher etc.

 

Water can sometimes be a bit brownish, depends where you are on the cut, but it's got absolutely no sand or grit in it, and doesn't smell either - strangely enough. I then bung this pre-filtered water through a 5-stage, under-sink, Reverse Osmosis filter system which proides drinking/cooking water from a separate tap. Have lived on it for over 4 years and am still alive. Have often thought about bunging some chemicals in the tank, but never bothered. I figured that the calorifier would take care of most bugs when heating the water, and the machines all get various detergent tablets which would undoudtedly have some anti-bacterial stuff in anyway.

 

Only have to back-wash the sand filter - by turning the handle and running the pump, so chucking the dirty water back into the cut - once every 6 month's or so. I have noticed that the calorifier has once got some very smelly green water in the bottom, though I didn't notice this till I decided to flush the entire system one day, so the flush is now part of the back-wash routine, and it hasn't happend again.

 

Mitch.

[bag 'o' bones]

If society was not so infatuated with things being so clean/santised then maybe our immune systems would be able to cope with a bit of contamination from the water tank. Not saying thast we should return to the days of lack of sanitation but the way some of the adverts whip up fear of 'dirt' really does annoy me. That doesn't mean we should put up with dirty hospitals however

 

You don't dogs puking up every 5 minutes and there always licking/eating things they shouldn't!

 

On the subject of water treatments I think my dad said he chucks in a bit of Milton when he fills the tank although from what you lot have been saying it seems that its not necessary to treat everytime.

 

Perhaps its a case of as long as the water is changed regularly, as in used and refilled, then the exsisting chlorine should be enough.

Edited December 2, 2008 by bag 'o' bones

[MAIZEE]

can I just ask, our problem is that we have a very strong smell and taste of chlorine in our water even after boiling and this is spoiling our cuppa's. There is a small filter, looks like a tube of silicone, you know what i mean which is called AQUA SOURCE,i think. This must have been on the boat from new as it hasn't been used till we bought it which means its about 30 months old.

Do these under sink filters get rid of chlorine taste and would a replacement do the trick.

 

Thanks fro your help

 

lois

[bag 'o' bones]

can I just ask, our problem is that we have a very strong smell and taste of chlorine in our water even after boiling and this is spoiling our cuppa's. There is a small filter, looks like a tube of silicone, you know what i mean which is called AQUA SOURCE,i think. This must have been on the boat from new as it hasn't been used till we bought it which means its about 30 months old.

Do these under sink filters get rid of chlorine taste and would a replacement do the trick.

 

Thanks fro your help

 

lois

 

You could get one of those inline 'smell and taint' type disposable filters they hook up to the inlet pipes of coffee machines and the like which is probally what your thinking of.

 

I think screw fix sell them, if not any good catering supplier.

Edited February 23, 2009 by bag 'o' bones

[Keeping Up]

can I just ask, our problem is that we have a very strong smell and taste of chlorine in our water even after boiling and this is spoiling our cuppa's. There is a small filter, looks like a tube of silicone, you know what i mean which is called AQUA SOURCE,i think. This must have been on the boat from new as it hasn't been used till we bought it which means its about 30 months old.

Do these under sink filters get rid of chlorine taste and would a replacement do the trick.

 

Thanks fro your help

 

lois

I don't know the Aqua Source filter (I looked up Aqua Source on Google and all I could find were references to tropical fish) but we've got a Tapmate Springlear under-sink filter, and that gets rid of the chlorine taste and smell just fine.

[MAIZEE]

Thank you for your help, havn't been back to the boat today so unable to check the name but good to know we can get rid of the chlorine taste.

 

LOIS

[nb Innisfree]

This inofo may be usefull. When I did homebrew some years ago I used to sterilise everything with ordinary household bleach (the thin type not the thick type as this has thickeners added) I had then problems with chlorine taint no matter how much I rinsed. I discovered that sodium metabisulphate (available in powder form, or, winemakers Camden tablets) and chlorine (bleach) chemically neutralise each other, so a quick rinse with sodium metabisulphate leaves everything with a neutral smell. Only prob is if MB is left in contact with polypropylene for a length of time it can weaken it. So rinse well. No prob with stainless.

Edited February 23, 2009 by nb Innisfree