Potable Water

I have plastic water tanks and am wondering how folks treat the potable water to keep it fresh. What do you folks use to treat their tanks from a day to day? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks JD

I was a full time liveaboard for over 17 years......I just used the water and refilled the tanks using a "whole house filter" with charcoal cartridges. Never had bad water with that method.

I typically fill my tanks with treated city water. Once in a while I will add a tablespoon or so of chlorine bleach (unscented) to each tank if the water seems suspect.


I only use my own personal "drinking water approved" hose that's used for nothing else and kept hidden on the boat so others can't borrow it to rinse out their holding tanks. I let the water run for a few minutes before filling the tanks.


I've never had a problem with bad or "stale" water.

WesK said:

I typically fill my tanks with treated city water. Once in a while I will add a tablespoon or so of chlorine bleach (unscented) to each tank if the water seems suspect.


I only use my own personal "drinking water approved" hose that's used for nothing else and kept hidden on the boat so others can't borrow it to rinse out their holding tanks. I let the water run for a few minutes before filling the tanks.


I've never had a problem with bad or "stale" water.

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+1

1. Always let the water run long enough before filling the tank to purge all the water that's been sitting in the dock supply line and your hose. The water will no longer be warm when it starts coming directly from the main.

2. USE your water...replenish and refill often.

3. Recommission the system at least annually or when it starts to taste a little "funky" using the directions I've posted here several times and have also included in my books.

That will keep your water tasting and smelling as good as any that comes out of a faucet on land. If that doesn't suit you, put a faucet filter on the galley sink. You don't need filtered water to shower, brush your teeth wash dishes or flush the toilet. Just remember that a filter is not a substitute for maintenance.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

Any recommendations other than bleach?
I have stainless tanks and am concerned about bleach removing the coating on the stainless

Bleach is chlorine and is what the water company uses to treat your water. You won't be using enough to harm the water tanks.

One possible consideration with (white) plastic (polyethylene) tanks is light transmission. Enough light may enable the growth of algae on the inner walls. If this could be a concern might be worth covering tank sides that are exposed to light.

Panacea123 said:

Any recommendations other than bleach?
I have stainless tanks and am concerned about bleach removing the coating on the stainless

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Using Peggie's recommendations as Wes said, the amount of bleach used for maintenance (if even required) isn't enough to cause a problem. The amount of bleach used for yearly commissioning is not in the tanks long enough to create corrosion problems.

Water sitting in tanks, especially occasional use boats, will acquire organisms. They come on the air, thru the vents as the tanks heat and cool with daily temperature changes. If you're not using treated city water, or if the water sits in the tanks, you need to treat it or suffer the consequences.
Inexpensive filters sets can be found on Amazon, Ebay and other places that remove chlorine, organic chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, and hundreds of other man-made chemicals found in tap water creating better tasting water in the process. Common sets usually include a 1-5 micron filter and GAC & CTO filters.
In my system, I use these filters both before the RO membranes and after the tanks. I add chlorine when making water (no dock water since 2011) and use a cheap pool test kit to keep chlorine at a very low level. I have great tasting water, dishes and glasses are cleaner, and laundry comes out better.

We just use the hose attached to the dock - let it run - then fill our plastic tanks.
We liveaboard, so the water is used but can be as much as 12 weeks between fills.
No filters, no chemical, no dramas.

When at the dock, we filter all water before it goes into the tanks. We use a combination filter; particulate and carbon. Away from the dock, we use the watermaker. We turn the water over enough that we have never had to "shock" the system with chemicals. Like Simi 60, we've never had any problems. I think the key is starting with a clean system, using/turning over the water and know what goes into the tanks.

I carry 300 gallons with full tanks. Used for laundry, showers, dishes and fresh water flush toilets. I am a traveling live aboard. With three people on board it lasts about a week. When I'm solo it lasts three weeks. Have a new water maker on board and have yet to use it. I use only bottled water for drinking. Only problem I've ever had was taking water in Apalachacola where the city water had a rotten egg smell. Apparently there is no issue with it and the town all use it regularly without issue. I pumped out the entire load at the next port, flushed the tanks and refilled with clean Tarpon City water.

McGillicuddy said:

.............. I use only bottled water for drinking. ..............

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Once we empty a bottle of "bottled water", we refill it from our boat's water system, screw the cap on and put it back in the refrigerator.

WesK said:

Once we empty a bottle of "bottled water", we refill it from our boat's water system, screw the cap on and put it back in the refrigerator.

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WesK said:

Once we empty a bottle of "bottled water", we refill it from our boat's water system, screw the cap on and put it back in the refrigerator.

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I do the same. My wife is a bit paranoid and will only drink bottled water on the boat. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me as she has no problem cooking with our boats water, using it for coffee etc but she likes to drink bottles water. I think it is an extravagant waste of money and resources. We have a filter on our galley sink. Our water tastes great. I don't get it. However, I lug cases of bottle water to the boat for all the time.

Our Tolly has two, plastic, 40 yr. old water tanks = Total 77 gallons.

They are completely in the dark.

I add 1/2 cup Clorox bleach in each tank every third time I refill. They are about 50% down at each refill.

Have no problem of clean looking, good smelling and good tasting water. Do rinse mouth for brushing, wash dishes and shower. Do not drink it.

Always bring good supply of home tap water in good containers for drinking.

As our current life style mandates long weekends and not long trips aboard boat the drinking water we transport is plenty enough.

When our lives get more time for duration boating I plan to fully flush the tanks and put filters for drinking water out of both tanks.

Art said:

Our Tolly has two, plastic, 40 yr. old water tanks = Total 77 gallons.

They are completely in the dark.

I add 1/2 cup Clorox bleach in each tank every third time I refill. They are about 50% down at each refill.

Have no problem of clean looking, good smelling and good tasting water. Do rinse mouth for brushing, wash dishes and shower. Do not drink it.

Always bring good supply of home tap water in good containers for drinking.

As our current life style mandates long weekends and not long trips aboard boat the drinking water we transport is plenty enough.

When our lives get more time for duration boating I plan to fully flush the tanks and put filters for drinking water out of both tanks.

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1/2 cup in each tank
I have put half of that one day to clean the tanks (total 70 gal) and water was smelling like a pool! I needed 2 or 3 complete flush to get rid of the chlorine taste!
Maybe what you use is not the same concentration though.

L.

I fill my tanks with tap water. Our tap water already has chlorine. I don't add anything else. My 35 year old tanks tanks are fibreglass; the original pipes are copper. The original water pump is still operational. No UV chlorinators, no triple charcoal filters.

I open the tap, I fill a glass and drink it. It tastes great.
If I put it in a trendy bottle, people can't tell the difference from something that costs $3/litre.

You have to admire companies like Coca Cola, and Puratap who have made millions by convincing people that tap water is not fit for drinking. or not.

WesK said:

I typically fill my tanks with treated city water. Once in a while I will add a tablespoon or so of chlorine bleach (unscented) to each tank if the water seems suspect.


I only use my own personal "drinking water approved" hose that's used for nothing else and kept hidden on the boat so others can't borrow it to rinse out their holding tanks. I let the water run for a few minutes before filling the tanks.


I've never had a problem with bad or "stale" water.

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+1
We have been living aboard almost 10 yrs and use the water in our tank every day for everything. All water coming aboard comes via a specific white hose, through a charcoal and particulate filter, and a water softener.

Lou_tribal said:

1/2 cup in each tank
I have put half of that one day to clean the tanks (total 70 gal) and water was smelling like a pool! I needed 2 or 3 complete flush to get rid of the chlorine taste!
Maybe what you use is not the same concentration though.

L.

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1/2 cup = 8 table spoons -: into 38.5 gals per tank = 1 table spoon per approximately 14 gals at the rate of putting in the Clorox every third water fill up.

1 tbs Clorox per 14 gals water keeps tanks clean and teeth white! - LOL

Art said:

1/2 cup = 8 table spoons -: into 38.5 gals per tank = 1 table spoon per approximately 14 gals at the rate of putting in the Clorox every third water fill up.

1 tbs Clorox per 14 gals water keeps tanks clean and teeth white! - LOL

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Not sure how it compares, but I use 1 tsp per 50 gallons of municipality water if I don't expect to go through the water quickly. It seems to me you are using about 15 times the amount that I am.

For a yearly commissioning if the water has been sitting for a bit, then I'll use 1 quart/50 gallons to disinfect the system. This gets rinsed out after a few hours soak at least a couple of times.

dhays said:

Not sure how it compares, but I use 1 tsp per 50 gallons of municipality water if I don't expect to go through the water quickly. It seems to me you are using about 15 times the amount that I am.

For a yearly commissioning if the water has been sitting for a bit, then I'll use 1 quart/50 gallons to disinfect the system. This gets rinsed out after a few hours soak at least a couple of times.

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Water at our dock is known to be: Not Recommended For Drinking Purposes. Which we don't! Soooo, in our case I feel 1 tbs per 14 gals water works fine to keep our system clean enough.

dhays said:

I do the same. My wife is a bit paranoid and will only drink bottled water on the boat. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me as she has no problem cooking with our boats water, using it for coffee etc but she likes to drink bottles water. I think it is an extravagant waste of money and resources. We have a filter on our galley sink. Our water tastes great. I don't get it. However, I lug cases of bottle water to the boat for all the time.

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Funny thing is, when I was growing up there was no "bottled water". We drank what came out of the faucet. In school we drank from the water fountain.

Then, companies figured out that if they put that same water in plastic bottles, people would buy it.

So now people are paying for water that would be nearly free and filling our landfills with tons of unnecessary plastic waste.

And, as a tax on ignorance, some states and local governments have added a tax on these water bottles.

Get more for the water than gasoline!

Crazy world.

Lets municipalities get away with substandard tap water, all the "right kind" of citizens aren't drinking it.

Same with allowing private schools causes poor public education, employer-based health insurance delays single-payer, etc.

dhays said:

I do the same. My wife is a bit paranoid and will only drink bottled water on the boat. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me as she has no problem cooking with our boats water, using it for coffee etc but she likes to drink bottles water. I think it is an extravagant waste of money and resources. We have a filter on our galley sink. Our water tastes great. I don't get it. However, I lug cases of bottle water to the boat for all the time.

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Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a paranoid wife!
I also refill them with water from the sample tube on my water maker when fresh water flushing. It brings the TDS down to 20ppm same as most bottled water. Works for her.

We use refillable, good quality, one gallon plastic bottles we fill at home [local water is pristine!] That way no plastic waste.

My wife grew up on a farm with water from a shallow well. She is as healthy as anyone else her age. We had city water when we first got married and then moved out to where we had our own (deep) well.

We now have city water again and it meets government standards. Our marina has the same city water.

We use the town water. It is not chlorinated as it is from an aquifer but tested regularly.
We carry 100 gallons but we do use it, maybe not as much as years before but it does not just sit.
ALL water goes through two filters, one a spun polypropylene 5 mic and then through a ceramic filter of ~ 0.5 mic. for giardia and cryptosporidium parasites.

These parasites are not in the town water but can be picked up when we have to fill the tanks on our travels from somewhat questionable sources.

I use those filters always. Even though they substantially slow the filling rate their use has cut down substantially on the fine silt that is always present in any water source.

I drain my tanks every year , winterizing, and used to see signs of sediment as the water neared the end. Now no cloudiness since the sediment is blocked from entering.

We used to get cloudiness from a rough trip but no more. My wife has quit complaining about the water.

The previous source was darn good water also, actually better, but even the municipal piping collects sediment as do your hoses.

I use a standard, but very good quality garden hose initially, then the filters, then a short RV, white approved for potable water, hose for the final run to the tanks. Those last hoses and filters periodically get dosed with a shot of hydrogen peroxide between filter changes.

After dewinterizing the boat and refilling the tanks for the seasons use I do use a small quantity of bleach. About 2 tbls. of it in each of the two 50 g tanks.

C lectric said:

.........
I use a standard, but very good quality garden hose initially, then the filters, then a short RV, white approved for potable water, hose for the final run to the tanks. Those last hoses and filters periodically get dosed with a shot of hydrogen peroxide between filter changes...........

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Replace that "very good quality garden hose " with a drinking water hose and you'll be in good shape. A "garden hose" can leach chemicals into the water that your filter may not remove.