Cat 25 fresh water problems

[Ted Derivan]

I purchased a 1980 Catalina 25 in July. The seller had not used the water since the previous season (fall 99)He did winterize it with some kind of red antifreeze. After I filled the tank from the dock, I had a lot of red water coming out of the sinks (2). These are manual pump sinks so it took a while to get it out. The color is no longer red but there are black flakes of stuff that comes out. It is worse after the boat sits at the dock for a while. Is there any way to drain the water out of the tank and lines? I would also like to put a larger inspection hole in the tank (maybe four or five inches in diameter), any ideas on how to do this?

 

[Jeff Taylor]

Water Problem's solved

Bacteria can easily grow in water when your tank sits. there are 5 on my boat. Twice a season I add 1 cup of bleach to the water tank and let it sit over night. I also run the bleach mix through the faucets and let it stay in the line overnight. My inspection ports are made by Whale and are 6" so they allow my hand, arm and a new "toilet" style brush to reach in and scrub. It's important to flood the tank so the water is also on the top of the tank to kill any bacteria. I also use a small 110volt waterbed pump to pump the tank dry. I then wipe it dry. I've taken a house type waterfiter frome HOME DEPOT and put garden fose fitting on each end. Evertime I fill tanks the water must go through the filter. After you fill the tanks with fresh water run water through the line to clear them and them clean your faucet strainer with and old toothbrush to remopve any sediment. You can also install an inline strainer before your waterpump which can remove any particles.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

The system needs recommissioning.

You'll find complete instructions in the article titled "Fresh Water Maintenance" in the Reference Library in the Head Mistress forum.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Jeff, your filters are removing unpleasant...

taste and smell, but neither the filters nor the amount of bleach you're using are solving the real problem. Unless you're adding enough bleach to equal a cup (8 oz) per 10 gallons of water--not just a cupful per tank--you aren't putting enough chlorine in the system to kill any "critters." Unless you're filling from a well, bacteria isn't the issue--municipal water supplies have already removed it, and unless the water supply becomes poluted before it ever gets to the boat, it's not likely that any will grow in the onboard system. What does grow in it are molds and fungi that thrive in DAMP dark places--the plumbing, not in the water in the tank. Unless you get the solution into the plumbing--and a strong enough solution to kill all the critters, you might as well not bother, because 90% of foul water taste and odor are due to those molds and fungi that grow in hoses, not in the tank. So at least 90% of the benefit you're experiencing is due to filtering, not from all the effort you're putting into cleaning the tank. You might want to read the same article I recommended to Ted.

 

[Dennis Thomas]

Draining the tank

I owned a 79 model of the 25’ for 13 years. It had a “white plastic” fresh water tank under the starboard bench in the main saloon. There was a fitting on the stern end of the tank where the hoses attached. I disconnected the hose at that point and drained the tank into the bilge. I was able to tilt the tank just enough to slosh the bottom water around while rinsing with fresh water. Rinsing the hoses out is the hard part. You can’t be sure that all of the water is drained from the hoses unless you follow the hoses to both sinks checking for any low spots. You need to hand pump a lot of fresh water trough to be sure you have displaced all of the stagnant water that may be growing something. I had an electric bilge pump and draining the tank into the bilge gave it a workout! However, a side benefit of doing this was that I was able to clean out the sand and mud that always washed in from old mud dabber nests. I always figured that it was better that they were washed into the bilge while I was there to clear the strainer rather than while I was away and a leak started.