Hunter 31 - flushing fresh water system

[Lee C - H31]

I recently acquired a 1985 Hunter 31. I need to flush the fresh water system and understand draining the system, using a bleach/water combination to clean, and then flush with clean water, perhaps several times. My question is regarding discharging the water. Does it have to go to the holding tank? I ran water in the galley sink and head sink today and didn't see any signs of discharge, and assume it is going to the holding tank. If I flush the current water, then the bleach water mix, then a cycle or two of clean water seems I will be pumping the holding tank several times.

 

[Danu]

On my83 the sinks drain via thru hulls below the water line. Only the head uses the holding tank

 

[dsaniti]

My Hunter 30T sinks drain through the hull above the water line. Only the head uses the holding tank.
I would also recommend if it has been a while to use this bleach solution in the water supply lines and setup a closed loop water to circulate this bleach solution and then clean water solution. Disconnect the line from the water tank and place an adapter on it to a clear hose (any kind as this is only temporary). Place this hose in one of the sinks. I would use the galley sink as it's deeper and has more water flow. Then plug the sink drain. Flush the water lines as empty as possible before starting this. Place the bleach solution into the sink and turn on the faucet adding more solution as necessary until the system is circulating ok. Let it run for a hour then flush and repeat with clean water. You can do the same for the bathroom sink as well. This will clean all of the fresh water lines.
For the fresh water tank I would full 2/3 full with a bleach solution and leave in for several hours to a few days. just ensure the boat gets some movement to splash the solution around. I guess you could use the same procedure above for the holding tank as well.

Just my comments of the day.
Dan

 

[Lee C - H31]

Thanks for your responses. I had thought the discharge would be overboard but could see any signs of it in the water outside when a ran and drained some water. However, I didn't drain much water at the time. It hasn't discharged above the waterline.

 

[Lee C - H31]

So now I know. I did a bleach shock treatment on the water system yesterday. The discharge was clearly on the starboard side about 5 feet back from the bow.