Remove antifreeze from water tank

[CercaTrova]

I purchased a Monk 36 three years ago. The marina does most of the various annual maintenance work for me. So they winterize the water tanks with pink antifreeze. I pump out the antifreeze in the spring by using the water pump and letting it go down the drain. I refill the tank with water numerous times but the taste is still terrible. Is there something I should be doing to help getting rid of the taste?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. First thing, when winterizing, drain tank, leave empty and open, disconnect lines and fill the lines with anti-freeze OR cheap vodka if you don't mind the taste of vodka.
Only thing I've found to get rid of the taste of pink AF is keep flushing. Others may have better solutions.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. Not much that I can think of except keep flushing it. I had not hard the vodka trick but it is worth a shot. The fix is to put bypass valves on the water tank. Then when you winterize turn off the valves to the water heater and use the antifreeze on the rest of the system. Then pull the drain plug on the water heater and let the water drain out. Then replace the plug so you don’t forget to put it back in in the spring.

 

[jgwinks]

I don't put the AF in the tank, I disconnect the tank and let it drain into the bilge. I have a drain plug so it ends up on the ground. Then I let the water pump draw AF direct from the jug as I go around turning the faucets on and off. No AF ever gets into the tank and it only takes one rinse to get the pink stuff out of the lines. Many tanks will not drain completely and if there's AF in there it takes forever to get it all out. I learned that with my last sailboat, one of the tanks would hold about 1/2 gallon below the drain point. If that's just water it will freeze, but there's lots of room for expansion so it won't hurt anything.

 

[dhays]

I had not hard the vodka trick but it is worth a shot.

...or two or three shots.

 

[firehoser75]

Agree with the others....... empty the water tank and bypass the hotwater tank and drain it. Put the pink AF only into the water lines and fixtures. In the spring, condition the entire FW system using Peggy Hall's (Head Mistress) process using a mild bleach solution (as long as your water tank is not metal). Rinse well.

 

[Bacchus]

RVers and boaters all deal with this and they make / sell a 3cway valve to easily add pink AF to the water system between the FW tankband the pump. Here is the kit you can add...

Amazon.com

To bypass the water heater they make / sell a similar kit with a pair of 3 way valves and the bypass hose. Just measure the length you'll need as they come w/ different length bypass hoses.

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-35953-Supreme-Permanent-Gallon/dp/B000BQUJL8/ref=asc_df_B000BQUJL8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693330410595&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3085130297727823156&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1022735&hvtargid=pla-450784307265&mcid=49b5c95fceb7300bb9f3b4e888e9e0a1&gad_source=1&th=1

 

[alormaria]

I drain the water and blow the lines and tanks with compressed air.

 

[Comodave]

You might try removing the drain plug now and let the tank drain into the bilge. Then run the water pump and let the water flush out of the tank into the bilge for a while. That may flush the tank quicker.

 

[rslifkin]

If there's a taste problem, the antifreeze concentration was likely too low and allowed stuff to grow in the system. For now, flush it with a few hundred gallons of water, bleach shock the system, and then flush it again.

In future years, if you winterize with antifreeze, use the glycol only stuff and not the alcohol blended cheap stuff. On top of that, use at least the purple -60* stuff for the water system unless you're entirely sure you've got every drop of water out of the lines and tank to avoid dilution. The goal is to keep the entire system above a 25% glycol concentration so nothing grows. Following that guideline I've always been able to just flush the system in the spring and have no taste / smell issues.

 

[mvweebles]

I had someone put 40 gals of diesel into my water tanks. I tried rinsing, simple green, alcohol, everything. Only thing that worked was a commercial hot water pressure washer (commercial units have diesel-powered water heaters that super-heat the water). Importantly, I have stainless steel tanks.

You might also try putting a charcoal filter inline. They remove a lot of bad-taste impurities.

Good luck - Peter

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. rs. VERY important to use Propylene glycol and NOT ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol can cause severe complications, such as kidney failure, permeant nerve damage, and, in some cases, death. BIG difference!!!!

 

[rslifkin]

Greetings,
Mr. rs. VERY important to use Propylene glycol and NOT ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol can cause severe complications, such as kidney failure, permeant nerve damage, and, in some cases, death. BIG difference!!!!

Very good point! Fortunately I've never seen anything sold as "winterizing" or "marine/RV" antifreeze that's anything other than propylene glycol or a cheap propylene glycol / alcohol blend.

 

[Irish Rambler]

In moderate winters down to minus 10.
When we leave our boat we drain our water tanks until the pump begins to run dry, open all the domestic water taps and leave them open, take shower head of the hook and lay it on the floor leave the tap open. Run the pump for a few minutes to clear any pockets of water.
Place an electrical heater in the engine room at the next level above frost setting.
If you have a bad taste in the water then add Milton (baby bottle sterilising solution) to your tanks when you refill, pump it through all your taps and shower to flush the lines and kill any bacteria. You may find a very faint taste of Milton but its not harmful.
As a preventive measure and to protect against bacteria, once a month during your cruising season, , disolve 2 large spoonfuls of Bi-Carbonate of Soda per 100 gallons in HOT water, mix thoroughly until its all disolved and add it slowly as you refill your tanks. There is no aftertaste with this method so just use the water as normal.

 

[ranger58sb]

I drain the water and blow the lines and tanks with compressed air.

Ditto.

-Chris