Water Tanks

[Sunsoup]

Hi all you boating folk, Been looking at boats and some have steel, plastic or stainless steel water tanks. Could you please advise what is the best and is the water safe to drink from the tap; or must all water be boiled first. My understanding is that once the water has left the treatment plant ie into a container then the water will start to turn bad after a while. Is it a case of that one will top up weekly so as to keep water fresh, or does one use a water filter.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Sunsoup

[Tuscan]

We have a stainless tank, no rust. If you fill up regularly the water should be fine, we use a Brita water jug for drinking water.

[Titus]

I have a water filter on my boat, I change the filter when needed

and its fine to drink from the tap, I don't live on the boat and

only fill up with water when needed, we've never had a problem

with the quality of water.

 

Dave

[ditchcrawler]

Hi all you boating folk, Been looking at boats and some have steel, plastic or stainless steel water tanks. Could you please advise what is the best and is the water safe to drink from the tap; or must all water be boiled first. My understanding is that once the water has left the treatment plant ie into a container then the water will start to turn bad after a while. Is it a case of that one will top up weekly so as to keep water fresh, or does one use a water filter.

 

Thanks in advance.

This boat and our previous shared one have stainless tanks, we drink the water with no filters or boiling, we normally fill up twice a week but a part tank can lay there for a month or more when we are not on board.

I worked Offshore for 20 years, there the water was loaded into tanks on a boat in Lowestoft or Gt Yarmouth, spent at least a day getting out to the gas field, maybe 3 days later when it got to our platform, pumped the water up into steel tanks and we drank that with no problem. The boat would only visit once a week and less if the weather was bad. I never heard of anyone suffering any ill effects from it.

[mango]

Hi all you boating folk, Been looking at boats and some have steel, plastic or stainless steel water tanks. Could you please advise what is the best and is the water safe to drink from the tap; or must all water be boiled first. My understanding is that once the water has left the treatment plant ie into a container then the water will start to turn bad after a while. Is it a case of that one will top up weekly so as to keep water fresh, or does one use a water filter.

 

Thanks in advance.

Drinking water is chlorinated to ensure that bacteria and other microorganisms are not a risk. If the water is left for an extended period, particularly if the tank is drained over winter, there may not be enough chlorine left to do its job, so yes – it can 'turn bad'. Personally I prefer to rinse the tank than to use chemical treatments. Water filters are OK if they are changed frequently but they get coated with biofilms (slime containing bugs). With luck that will make the flow rate too low to be usable but bacteria can grow through filters and contaminate water. Filters could do more harm than good.

[sueb]

We've got a plastic tank as did our first boat. Our first boat had a clear tank so we could see the level. We thought this a good idea so ordered a plastic tank for our next boat and it came a solid blue. When the first one split we mended it successfully with gaffer tape. Another plus. We have never used a filter or boiled water just to drink. Water is old when it comes out of the ground

[Doug Scullery]

Could you please advise what is the best and is the water safe to drink from the tap; or must all water be boiled first.

 

We have an integral steel tank (which means the hull sides are the tank sides, and we have to black it like you do the outside of the hull), which is best in terms of capacity but requires more maintenance than stainless or plastic tanks. We always drink straight from the tap and have never had any problems with that. The only person I know who has become sick from the water on their boat was storing spring water in plastic barrels, it is my understanding that spring water shouldn't be stored without treatment of some kind because the water being still gives the harmless quantities of bacteria the chance to breed and become harmful quantities. I have been told that the movement of a boat sloshing the water in your tank around helps to keep it fresh, but I can't remember who told me that so I've no idea how true it is.

[mango]

We have an integral steel tank (which means the hull sides are the tank sides, and we have to black it like you do the outside of the hull), which is best in terms of capacity but requires more maintenance than stainless or plastic tanks. We always drink straight from the tap and have never had any problems with that. The only person I know who has become sick from the water on their boat was storing spring water in plastic barrels, it is my understanding that spring water shouldn't be stored without treatment of some kind because the water being still gives the harmless quantities of bacteria the chance to breed and become harmful quantities. I have been told that the movement of a boat sloshing the water in your tank around helps to keep it fresh, but I can't remember who told me that so I've no idea how true it is.

Spring water is not chlorinated and there is a risk of faecal contamination. I would be wary of spring water and more concerned if it had been stored.

 

Bottled water can contain high numbers of bacteria: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7763038/Bottled-water-contains-more-bacteria-than-tap-water.html

Fortunately, the vast majority of bacteria are harmless but some are nasty. We carry Escherichia coli in our bowels but if that gets into our food or drinking water it can make us very sick.

 

I can think of no reason why having water sloshing around in a tank would do anything other than drive chlorine out of solution, possibly allowing proliferation of harmful bugs. Was any explanation given?

[Robbo]

Good quality plastic tanks are best. Intergral tanks will give you more water storage but come at a price of needing maintenance, stainless steel tanks are expensive and not worth the price.

[dor]

I have a water filter on my boat, I change the filter when needed

and its fine to drink from the tap, I don't live on the boat and

only fill up with water when needed, we've never had a problem

with the quality of water.

 

Same for me. Our current boat has a SS tank. The filter on the line to the tap gets changed once a year if I remember, but I usually can't remember so it hasn't been changed for at least three years. No problem with taste of the water or any side effects.

 

The last boat had an integral tank. The tank needed cleaning and painting when we got it. 6 years later it still needed cleaning and painting but I could never face going down the hatch to do it and failed to convince my smaller and more lithesome wife to do it either. I occasionally looked down the filler pipe and whilst there were some strange rusticle growths visible I never saw anything actually swimming in there.

 

Again it had a ceramic filter inline which I changed twice in the six years (basically because the flow got too low).

 

I think we worry too much about bugs and things in this country. The more you keep trying to sanitize things, the harder it will hit you when you do meet a bug.

[Joshua]

We have two (connected) large Stainless Steel tanks and we live on board. We keep them topped up by filling every 2 or 3 weeks. We drink the water from the tap. Never had any tummy troubles except after eating too much chocolate and once when I drank too much whisky. Our dog will only drink the water under sufferance, much preferring canal water, he hates high canal banks.

 

 

[nb Innisfree]

We have integral and plastic but on balance my vote goes to integral, but only the bow sort which you can easily climb into and maintain. Ok it's a bit of a faff emptying it once a year and cleaning and patching up the coating but it's reassuring to know it's all clean and tickety boo.

[ditchcrawler]

Drinking water is chlorinated to ensure that bacteria and other microorganisms are not a risk. If the water is left for an extended period, particularly if the tank is drained over winter, there may not be enough chlorine left to do its job, so yes – it can 'turn bad'. Personally I prefer to rinse the tank than to use chemical treatments. Water filters are OK if they are changed frequently but they get coated with biofilms (slime containing bugs). With luck that will make the flow rate too low to be usable but bacteria can grow through filters and contaminate water. Filters could do more harm than good.

I am glad someone else has made that point about filters

[mango]

I am glad someone else has made that point about filters

Many of us are aware of bugs growing in silicone bathroom sealant and washing machine door seals. Growing through a filter is easy for bugs.

[Doug Scullery]

I can think of no reason why having water sloshing around in a tank would do anything other than drive chlorine out of solution, possibly allowing proliferation of harmful bugs. Was any explanation given?

 

I can't remember the specifics but I think the logic was: Moving water=fresh Still water=stagnant therefore some movement of the tank is a good thing. I believe I was fairly skeptical at the time.

[Doorman]

Spring water is not chlorinated and there is a risk of faecal contamination. I would be wary of spring water and more concerned if it had been stored.

 

Especially if it's marketed by the company calling it Evian. An anagram for the word Naive.

 

A good description of the people who buy it.

 

Our dog will only drink the water under sufferance, much preferring canal water, he hates high canal banks.

 

Is he a Labrador by chance? Our Paddy is just the same.

[Old git]

Good quality plastic tanks are best. Intergral tanks will give you more water storage but come at a price of needing maintenance, stainless steel tanks are expensive and not worth the price.

 

i have seen a few plastic tanks rupture from knocks/old age/brittle joints.........Never seen it happen to a stainless steel one welded by a coded welder, and i have lived with a steel integral for years, the painting was a pain.

How deep are your pockets is where it rests quite often

My new pair will have stainless tanks as they are with me till I am finally to old to get on board !

 

Old Git

[Robbo]

i have seen a few plastic tanks rupture from knocks/old age/brittle joints.........Never seen it happen to a stainless steel one welded by a coded welder, and i have lived with a steel integral for years, the painting was a pain.

How deep are your pockets is where it rests quite often

My new pair will have stainless tanks as they are with me till I am finally to old to get on board !

 

And I've seen and heard of SS tanks that have rusted and leaked, but this doesn't mean that the SS tank was of decent grade and welding.

 

A decent plastic tank (and there is different types of plastic) will last longer than a life time and cost a hell of a lot less than a decent SS tank that's at least 316 grade, etc...

[Smelly]

i have seen a few plastic tanks rupture from knocks/old age/brittle joints.........Never seen it happen to a stainless steel one welded by a coded welder, and i have lived with a steel integral for years, the painting was a pain.

How deep are your pockets is where it rests quite often

My new pair will have stainless tanks as they are with me till I am finally to old to get on board !

 

Old Git

 

How do you know whether the tank in a boat is welded by a coded welder? Mike's the third SS tank I've known split and if money allows I'll be replacing with plastic.

[Grace and Favour]

We've a stainless tank under the bed - - use Milton in it once a year and it's never done me any ha- aaaaaarrrrgh....................................................

[CHUGALONG HIRE COMPANY]

We've a stainless tank under the bed - - use Milton in it once a year and it's never done me any ha- aaaaaarrrrgh....................................................

 

Crackers!

[Joshua]

 

Is he a Labrador by chance? Our Paddy is just the same.

 

Crossbreed Mutt, given away at a French flea market, probably a ‘gun shy reject’. I say that because typical of French hunting dogs, he has no brains whatsoever and never tires of chasing his nose.

 

 

 

 

[Doorman]

Crackers!

 

Yeah, but he's in good company with me around!

 

I'm awarding him a greenie for making me chuckle

Edited January 24, 2013 by Doorman

[Doorman]

I think we worry too much about bugs and things in this country. The more you keep trying to sanitize things, the harder it will hit you when you do meet a bug.

 

What about meeting this one?

 

 

(sorry Dave)

[pophops]

We keep our drinking water separate from other water by using an office water dispenser bottle. This stands in a cupboard under the sink and is fitted with a small 12v submersible electric pump. The water is pumped up to a permanently-open 'filtered water' type tap which is mounted over the sink by pressing a button. We keep a spare bottle which can easily be sterilized and refilled at water points. This way we can refill with perfectly fresh drinking water as often as we like. It works for us.