Fresh water maintenance - hot water tank off?

[Gregg]

I want to recommission the fresh water system on my Hunter 290 according to Peggie's Reference Library. But why make sure the hot water tank is off? Do I have to bypass the hot water heater somehow? I won't be plugged into shore power for a while, but will heating the solution via the engine be a problem? How then do the hot water lines get cleaned out?

 

[Steve Dion]

Why wouldn't you treat the water heater?

Gregg:I am just curious why you do not want to treat the water heater. Water is stored in there just like the rest of your water system. Critters can grow anywhere in the system. Your tank is only going to have the bleach solution in it for 8-24 hours. When you are ready to flush the system, you just turn on the hot water side and flush the fresh water through it just like the cold water side.PS: Remember Legionaires Disease. It was from hot water heaters (yes it was from hot water that was NOT hot enough, so the bacteria grew in the tanks and multiplied). This is probably not the case on the boat. The water is usually TOO hot, but you get my idea.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

The bleach solution will damage the

the heating element and the anode in the tank if it's hot. Why would you leave the solution in the system while you run the engine? It should only remain in the system overnight. Surely you can do without hot water that long.