Black Water

[johno38]

Hi you lot anyone had this, flushed the antifreeze out of the fresh water tank filled it back up two weeks later it's as black as ink!!??

[Alan de Enfield]

You didn't put standard anti-freeze in your drinking water tank did you ?

 

Contamination with a little a one thousandth of a litre of Antifreeze (1 ml) in 1000 litres of water can cause 'problems'

 

Example 1ppm can cause respiratory problems

Edited May 9, 2015 by Alan de Enfield

[Taslim]

Hi you lot anyone had this, flushed the antifreeze out of the fresh water tank filled it back up two weeks later it's as black as ink!!??

May be we have a terminology problem here.

 

By 'fresh water tank' do you mean domestic pottable water (in which case not the place for antifreeze IMO) or engine cooling using a heat exchanger to raw water system?

[johno38]

It's non toxic for use in pottable fresh water systems ice boats motor homes ect.

[Up-Side-Down]

Integral water tank or otherwise?

[b0atman]

so safe for fish or did you pump it into containers for disposal else where.

Why not empty system ?

[bottle]

example of anti-freeze the OP is using.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Winter-Antifreeze-Gallon-drinking-system/dp/B00652ZPZM

[Mac of Cygnet]

I think the manufacturers are the best people to consult on this. Please let us know what they say. I'm intrigued!

[Gordias]

Data sheet:

http://www.kelloggmarine.com/msds/cac-camco/CAC_30787,30788_MSDS.pdf

 

Seems to be 60% propylene glycol with pink dye. You probably consumed some today:

http://www.takepart.com/photos/food-and-drinks-contain-anti-freeze

 

What's your tank made of? Seems unlikely to be anything propylene glycol would react with.

 

Interesting environmental effects:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol#Environmental

[ditchcrawler]

Data sheet:

http://www.kelloggmarine.com/msds/cac-camco/CAC_30787,30788_MSDS.pdf

 

Seems to be 60% propylene glycol with pink dye. You probably consumed some today:

http://www.takepart.com/photos/food-and-drinks-contain-anti-freeze

 

What's your tank made of? Seems unlikely to be anything propylene glycol would react with.

 

Interesting environmental effects:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol#Environmental

So what if your dog craps in the cut

Propylene glycol is an approved food additive for dog food under the category of animal feed and is generally recognized as safe for dogs,^[41] with an LD₅₀ of 9 mL/kg. The LD₅₀is higher for most laboratory animals (20 mL/kg).^[42] However, it is prohibited for use in food for cats due to links to Heinz body anemia.^[43]

[mango]

You didn't put standard anti-freeze in your drinking water tank did you ?

 

Contamination with a little a one thousandth of a litre of Antifreeze (1 ml) in 1000 litres of water can cause 'problems'

 

Example 1ppm can cause respiratory problems

Is there an authoritative source of this information, please?

[valrene9600]

Is this common?, putting anti freeze, albeit for water systems, into your fresh water tank. Being a liveaboard not had a frozen tank even after leaving boat frozen in for 2 weeks a few years back.

Do marina moorers do this to the freshwater tank. Seems extreme when draining down tank and pipes is easy enough.

[Gordias]

Is there an authoritative source of this information, please?

 

FWIW, this stuff is used for antifreeze (and the mechanism is the same as propylene glycol), and is poisonous (about 2g 60g/55ml each to kill 50% of adult males if you got a lot of them together to test it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

 

You couldn't drink the stuff the OP was using either, but it's a lot less toxic than ethylene glycol.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Gordias

[Alan de Enfield]

Is there an authoritative source of this information, please?

 

Depends who you class as authoritative - we were told about it on a course about toxic substances - I have found this :-

 

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=12&po=10

 

Edit -

 

Remember the 1985 Austrian wine scandal with millions of bottles adulterated with antifreeze - one batch contained 48 grams per litre. 40 grams is fatal

 

..........to reach the lethal dose of approximately 40 grams. However, in one record-setting wine (a 1981 Welschriesling Beerenauslese from Burgenland) 48 grams per litre was detected, which meant that the consumption of a single bottle could have been lethal. Also, long-term consumption of DEG is known to damage the kidney, liver and brain

Edited May 9, 2015 by Alan de Enfield

[Arthur Marshall]

My drinking water tank is the front part of the bows and has never frozen even when the canal's rock solid. The pipes have though.

[johno38]

Hi thanks for the replays first time I have used it I was away for a month during winter it's obviously a winterizing product think it was called star brite supposed to help keep seals and pumps in good order, steel tank not sure why its black flush it out again today will have to see how it gos this time.

Not used as drinking water!!

[ditchcrawler]

 

FWIW, this stuff is used for antifreeze (and the mechanism is the same as propylene glycol), and is poisonous (about 2g each to kill 50% of adult males if you got a lot of them together to test it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

 

You couldn't drink the stuff the OP was using either, but it's a lot less toxic than ethylene glycol.

But you can make animal feed with it

[Gordias]

But you can make animal feed with it

 

It's ok at (very) approx 1g per kg (1/1000) for various uses.

 

BTW that "2g per person" was a (rather stupid) mistake. LD50 is quoted at 0.786g, so 60-ish grams per person. I updated my post with better numbers.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Gordias

[Chewbacka]

During the winter I empty out the water tank and pipes but I do put a cupful of this stuff into the toilet to protect the blades and motor. I reckon that a 5L tub should last 10+ years. It does say it is safe for drinking water, but I wouldn't drink it. Waste of money, or better safe than sorry? - not quite sure.