Drinking water odors

[hmurmur]

I had a family emergency and we had to leave the water tanks full for several weeks. I put water freshener in the tanks when I fill them. Now one of the tanks has a foul smell. I suspect mold. I have drained the tank. Any suggestions on how to eradicate the mold?

How much bleach can I use in the drinking water to get rid of the mold in the tank? I assume I add bleach to the the water, let sit for a few days, then drain and repeat.

Looking forward to your thoughts and experience.

 

[Bill Murray]

recondition your tanks properly....

search the site for Peggy Hall's recipe for spring re-conditioning of your water tanks the right way. The formula uses specific amounts of bleach and then follow up with vinegar. Bleach is very caustic and needs to be properly neutralized with an acidic formula (vinegar). This formula really works -- -- better yet buy her book -- the last word on water and holding tank systems.

I had a family emergency and we had to leave the water tanks full for several weeks. I put water freshener in the tanks when I fill them. Now one of the tanks has a foul smell. I suspect mold. I have drained the tank. Any suggestions on how to eradicate the mold?

How much bleach can I use in the drinking water to get rid of the mold in the tank? I assume I add bleach to the the water, let sit for a few days, then drain and repeat.

Looking forward to your thoughts and experience.

 

[zeehag]

i fill mine partially and use a liter of clorox like product then drain. i rinse and then re- fill part way an add a gallon of vinegar. the clorox bleaches the stuff and the voinegar actually changes its pH so they wont re-grow immediately. i also filter twice my water coming into my tanks. i let the vinegar sit in the tanks and lines a couple of hours.
isnt just the tanks that are prone to molds and algae--the hoses also stink. the standing water in the hoses develop a stink so you must run the water through the lines until that stink leaves. takes a couple of gallons. i leave some of the treated water in the hoses when i treat the tanks. also clean your vent hoses occasionally as the slime mold and other molds will settle in those.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Fresh Water System Recommissioning 101 http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5836.0.html

 

[alexco38]

Drinking water

I never drink the tank water. Use bottled / jug water when we go out. Tank water is for washing only. Rinsed the dishes with bottled / jug water afterwards. Only fill the tank at the start of a voyage. Never let it sit there for no reason.

Strange as it seems. When at home would you put water in a jug, let it sit for a week or two and then drink form it? Boat tank is not the same as municipal water.

 

[thinwater]

Not a simple topic, and much misinformation of limited information. I just submitted a series of 4 articles to Practical Sailor.

1. You really need to filter the water you load at the hose end. Though the municipal is safe, I bet there are substantial amounts of algae and bacteria living in the hose. While these are not pathenogenic, they put sludge in your tank and give bugs plenty to eat. You can't sanitize a tank, even with bleach, if there is ANY measurable sludge in it. Just like dishes, they must be washed before sanitizing. Keep the sludge out.

Put a filter on the inlet while you're at it. Bugs are flying in. It's in the plumbing code (16 mesh), but most boat makers skip them. Go figure.

2. If you are going to leave the boat for more than a week, treat with a chemical that gives a longer lasting chlorine residual than bleach. There are tabs, using a different chemistry (EPA and WHO recognized) that lasted for months instead of days in our testing. Huge difference.

3. Filter before the tap, and not just some granulated carbon filter; with non-chlorinated water, they grow far more bacteria than they remove. Get something NSF 53 rated. As a side benefit, any carbon filter will remove all of the chlorine.

4. And at the end of the season, winterize with the right concentration (weak glycol or vodka ferments something awful) or sanitize the system with tabs, and then drain and dry the tank. You wouldn't put the dishes away dirty and wet, would you?

---

With a good system design, there is simply no reason not to drink tank water, and no reason that it cannot be as fresh, safe, and pure as bottled water. It's just about getting the chemistry right. Carrying more than spare water in bottles is wasteful of effort, resources, space, weight, and money. No upside.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

When at home would you put water in a jug, let it sit for a week or two and then drink form it?

How is that different from bottled water???

Filtering the water coming in removes all the chemicals that prevent it from "turning." Recommission the fresh water system according to the directions at the link in Stu's post at least once a season and your water will be as safe and as good -tasting as water out of a faucet on land. If that doesn't suit you, filter the water at the faucet. I have always drunk the water out of my tanks.

 

[thinwater]

When at home would you put water in a jug, let it sit for a week or two and then drink form it?

How is that different from bottled water???

Filtering the water coming in removes all the chemicals that prevent it from "turning." Recommission the fresh water system according to the directions at the link in Stu's post at least once a season and your water will be as safe and as good -tasting as water out of a faucet on land. If that doesn't suit you, filter the water at the faucet. I have always drunk the water out of my tanks.

Bottled water with a "drink-by date." Haven't seen that!

Regarding filtration of fill water removing chemicals (chlorine) that prevent water from turning:
a. I did not suggest carbon filtration, only particle (sludge) removal. You are quite right--the chlorine is beneficial to storage. However, I did test a number of hose-end carbon filters at normal (7 gpm) fill rates and found they only removed about 20% of the chlorine. To reach their rated removal efficiency, they must be slowed to 1 gpm (in the fine print of the NSF reports), which is consistent with industry standard carbon chlorine removal rates (flow vs pounds). In other words, they don't do exactly what they imply they do, which we should expect of advertising by now! Acording to NSF, in order to claim "chlorine reduction" a filter is only required to remove >20%. To claim chlorine removal, they must remove >95%. And most filters are only NSF rated for structure and non-leaching (no lead etc), so any claims they make are just claims.
b. Yes, a particle-only filter is theoretically better. 1 micron if you like, but 10 micron is OK.
c. The little bit of chlorine in municiple water will dissipate with a day. If there are ANY solids in the tank, it won't prevent turning, and a little supplemental treatment is needed if the boat is to be left for any time with water in the tanks. But this is variable and depends on sanitation.

Not hard to keep fresh. Just a few basics.

 

[Stu Jackson]

1. With a good system design, there is simply no reason not to drink tank water, and no reason that it cannot be as fresh, safe, and pure as bottled water. It's just about getting the chemistry right.

2. Carrying more than spare water in bottles is wasteful of effort, resources, space, weight, and money. No upside.

1. I agree. I find it is another reason to use the boat more often: keep that water movin' through the tanks! :dance:

2. I agree, although I do carry some bottled water because when I wake up first I use it to make coffee so the pump doesn't wake The Admiral.

 

[thinwater]

1. I agree. I find it is another reason to use the boat more often: keep that water movin' through the tanks! :dance:

2. I agree, although I do carry some bottled water because when I wake up first I use it to make coffee so the pump doesn't wake The Admiral.

Yeah, I tend to refill some bottles for a number of reasons:
a. Leave one in the head (that faucet is not filtered).
b. To place in the fridge.
c. To keep in holders around the boat (we use bicycle water bottle holders--they hold many sizes, clamp to rails well, and seem more secure than most boat store stuff. The aluminum Blackburn mountain bike style are my favorite.)
d. And breakfast!

 

[CarlN]

I first banned bottled water from the boat for environmental reasons (I just couldn't deal with the optics of burning petroleum to truck water around) - but it's also noticeably reduced the effort and cost of provisioning. To make this edict stick with my wife and guests I had to make the tank water taste "better than bottled".

As others did, I practice careful tank "hygiene" and use a high quality water filter. If I'm in a marina and the tank water is a week old, I'll empty the tank before filling with fresh just to get rid of any water that's starting to go.

When guests arrive, I always show them the impressively complicated watermaker (even if I just filled the tank with municipal water) and say that I think watermaker water is the purest water I've ever tasted (which it is). No one has ever asked if the water all came from the watermaker.

I put a "T" in the filtered drinking water hose and ran it to a stainless 2 liter water filter housing in the fridge (there's no filter in this housing). The stainless gives good heat transfer to chill the water. From there another hose goes to a spigot outside the fridge - so we always have cold filtered drinking water without losing the cold from opening the door. If there was more room in the fridge, I'd install another one for beer

We also keep a Sodastream aboard and always keep two quarts of sparkling water in the fridge.

Thinwater -- What product do like best for longer chlorine protection?

Carl

 

[Terry Cox]

Recommissioning Fresh Water Tanks

When we first purchased Belle-Vie in 2002, after she had been sitting for awhile, we used Peggie Hall's recommissioning procedure that follows below. Ever since then the water from our tanks has always been fresh tasting and odor free. We alternate our tanks in order to keep the water somewhat fresh. Keeping our boat in a cooler climate helps, too.

I use a PUR brand sink spout water filter for all drinking water. I keep a few water bottles full of this filtered water in the fridge at all times for coffee and cooking. Everything else we use straight from the tanks.

Peggie Hall's Procedure that she published some years ago:

1. Prepare a chlorine solution using one gallon of water and 1/2 cup (4 oz) Clorox or Purex household bleach (5% sodium Hypochlorite solution ). With tank empty, pour chlorine solution into tank. Use one gallon of solution for each 5 gallons of tank capacity.

2. Complete filling of tank with fresh water. Open each faucet and drain cock until air has been released and the entire system is filled. Do not turn off the pump; it must remain on to keep the system pressurized and the solution in the lines

3. Allow to stand for at least three hours, but no longer than 24 hours.

4 Drain through every faucet on the boat (and if you haven't done this in a while, it's a good idea to remove any diffusion screens from the faucets, because what's likely to come out will clog them). Fill the tank again with fresh water only, drain again through every faucet on the boat. 

5. To remove excess chlorine taste or odor which might remain, prepare a solution of one quart white vinegar to five gallons water and allow this solution to agitate in tank for several days by vehicle motion.

6. Drain tank again through every faucet, and flush the lines again by filling the tank 1/4-1/2 full and again flushing with potable water.

 

[Daveinet]

Having owned a motorhome for a lot of years, I a little experience in this area. When I first bought the coach, the water was horrible. My first trip, I used a half gallon of bleach. Only filled the tank half way (about 20 gallons), so the water could slosh around. We mainly used the water for the toilet. The next time I filled almost full, and used about a qt of bleach. Used that up, and the third time about a pt of bleach for 50 gallons. Finally after the third time, the bleach/water had circulated through the system enough to be totally cleaned out. I've never had a problem since. RVs are worse than boats, because they often sit for months at a time. I have not ever had a problem, even having the tank half full of water for more than a month at a time.

 

[dziedzicmj]

Another question about the longer lasting (slower release) chlorine protection: How does it affect the plumbing (the water pump, the connectors etc.)? In short, can one use these solutions on a continuous basis? Unfortunately, it happens that we don't sail for a couple of weeks and the tank tends to stink after that.

 

[thinwater]

Thinwater -- What product do like best for longer chlorine protection?

Another question about the longer lasting (slower release) chlorine protection: How does it affect the plumbing (the water pump, the connectors etc.)?

Aquamega tabs, or any product based on dichloroisocyanurinate. This is commonly used to stabilize swimming pool chlorine. The manfacturer's dose recommendation is VERY conservative, and based upon your water, you made need 1/2 to 1/8 what is recommended; just enough that it is detectible by the most sensitive nose or a test kit (pool or pet store). Expect the residual to last for a month instead of a few days. Of course, this all depends on the source water and whether the tanks are clean; there is no substitute for good housekeeping.

The most vulnerable material is aluminum. However, Aqua tabs are far less aggressive to aluminum than bleach or chloramine solutions at equivalent Cl residual due to inhibiting action of the isocyanurinate (about 5x less corrosive--I did side-by-side testing). Of course, over chlorination is not good for many materials over the long run, including neoprene and buty rubber; we see this sort of deterioration in household water closets all the time from treated water. No free lunch.

 

[Calif. Ted]

I put water freshener in the tanks when I fill them.

water freshener ? What might that be ? And what does it taste like?