peggy, i mean peggie, our boat doesn't have an electric water pump for the onboard water system, so every time i read about having to fill up the tank, treat the water, drain the tank, and refill the tank, it makes me tired... i've used a par boy (?) hand pump to pump the tank, but it is slow and the pump leaks. any suggestions about a fast, efficient way to get the water (30 gallons in my case) out of the tank? for the past couple of years, i scrub the tank, add water and bleach, pump it through the lines, and use that water ONLY to wash dishes because the bleach mix is pretty powerful. we bring our drinking water on board from home in 5 gallon collapseable containers right now. thanks, tom ehmke
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress
With a 30 gallon water supply...
You might want to consider adding an electric pump. They aren't expensive (I paid $90 for 2.8 gpm ShurFlo at WM--which is prob'ly bigger than you need), they don't take up much room, and they draw very little current. Stop adding bleach to every fill 'cuz it doesn't do any good after 24 hours, but still remains corrosive. It's ok to recommission the system with bleach, but it should be completely flushed out of the system as part of that recommissioning.
You might want to consider adding an electric pump. They aren't expensive (I paid $90 for 2.8 gpm ShurFlo at WM--which is prob'ly bigger than you need), they don't take up much room, and they draw very little current. Stop adding bleach to every fill 'cuz it doesn't do any good after 24 hours, but still remains corrosive. It's ok to recommission the system with bleach, but it should be completely flushed out of the system as part of that recommissioning.
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Tom Ehmke
water tank
i don't add bleach every time i top off the water tank with water brought from home. whatever i add dilutes whatever remains in the tank. i smell the chlorine in the water long after the dose i put in at the beginning of the season, and it feels soft and lathers easily. what causes that if the bleach is gone in 24 hrs? i kind of like the "kiss" way of doing things so i probably won't add a pump. for the last three years i've taken dockage without water or electricity, again the "kiss" way of doing things. i go to the boat to sail the boat. it works that way for me, so i look for alternative ways of doing some things. is there a high volume hand pump, kind of like a bilge pump that i could rig for this and perhaps use also for an emergency bilge pump ?
i don't add bleach every time i top off the water tank with water brought from home. whatever i add dilutes whatever remains in the tank. i smell the chlorine in the water long after the dose i put in at the beginning of the season, and it feels soft and lathers easily. what causes that if the bleach is gone in 24 hrs? i kind of like the "kiss" way of doing things so i probably won't add a pump. for the last three years i've taken dockage without water or electricity, again the "kiss" way of doing things. i go to the boat to sail the boat. it works that way for me, so i look for alternative ways of doing some things. is there a high volume hand pump, kind of like a bilge pump that i could rig for this and perhaps use also for an emergency bilge pump ?
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Peggie Hall/HeadMistress
Chlorine is a compound...
A scientist could explain this in more technical terms...but imagine coffee in which caffeine evaporates after 24 hours. It would still look like coffee, smell like coffee, and taste like coffee, irritate your stomach like coffee...but the caffeine jolt would be gone. That's what happens in bleach: after 24 hours it still smells like bleach, tastes like bleach, is still as highly corrosive and caustic as bleach...but the properties in it that kill bacteria are gone. So by leaving it in your tank, you're accomplishing nothing that you want to accomplish, but you are damaging the rubber and neoprene parts in your pump...and not doing your hoses any good either.
A scientist could explain this in more technical terms...but imagine coffee in which caffeine evaporates after 24 hours. It would still look like coffee, smell like coffee, and taste like coffee, irritate your stomach like coffee...but the caffeine jolt would be gone. That's what happens in bleach: after 24 hours it still smells like bleach, tastes like bleach, is still as highly corrosive and caustic as bleach...but the properties in it that kill bacteria are gone. So by leaving it in your tank, you're accomplishing nothing that you want to accomplish, but you are damaging the rubber and neoprene parts in your pump...and not doing your hoses any good either.
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Jim Ewing
Try a foot pump
We have a foot pump mounted at the sink for pumping salt water in for washing up. It has very good volume compared to a small hand pump. I don't see any reason you couldn't use the same pump and spigot for your application. West Marine (and probably every place else) carries them. Jim "Prospect"
We have a foot pump mounted at the sink for pumping salt water in for washing up. It has very good volume compared to a small hand pump. I don't see any reason you couldn't use the same pump and spigot for your application. West Marine (and probably every place else) carries them. Jim "Prospect"
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Tom Ehmke
foot pump
Jim, Thanks for the idea. I also reread the latest issue of Practical Sailor and from a picture of how they tested manual (bilge) pumps discovered that I could simply mount a small pump on a board with an inlet hose (to drop into the tank) and an outlet hose (to drop into the bilge).Their Best Buy small pump, a Whale Urchin, will pump 18 gal. per min. for a price of $53. I'll check and compare that with the price of a foot pump in WM as you suggested. Thanks Tom
Jim, Thanks for the idea. I also reread the latest issue of Practical Sailor and from a picture of how they tested manual (bilge) pumps discovered that I could simply mount a small pump on a board with an inlet hose (to drop into the tank) and an outlet hose (to drop into the bilge).Their Best Buy small pump, a Whale Urchin, will pump 18 gal. per min. for a price of $53. I'll check and compare that with the price of a foot pump in WM as you suggested. Thanks Tom
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George
Foot Pump
If you decide on a foot pump, just for the convenience of having have one, as well as for a faily quick tank emptying, I recommend the Whale Gusher MKIII. It works on both strokes, and I can empty both of my water tanks pretty quickly. If I'm in a real hurry, I have one in the head and one in the galley, so I just need to borrow someone elses's foot for a bit!
If you decide on a foot pump, just for the convenience of having have one, as well as for a faily quick tank emptying, I recommend the Whale Gusher MKIII. It works on both strokes, and I can empty both of my water tanks pretty quickly. If I'm in a real hurry, I have one in the head and one in the galley, so I just need to borrow someone elses's foot for a bit!
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Tom Ehmke
pump it!!
Thanks to everyone who replied with suggestions about how to manually pump the water tank. I'll probably go with the foot pump so that my hands are free to do something else...like plug the dike when IT happens. Tom
Thanks to everyone who replied with suggestions about how to manually pump the water tank. I'll probably go with the foot pump so that my hands are free to do something else...like plug the dike when IT happens. Tom
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