Water Tank question

[patrick]

RichH,

I do not understand your post.What are you saying is BS specifically?As to your statement:" So ..... what does one do with municipal water that has a dosage loading of 0.5 to 1ppm chlorine in it already as a 'typical' specified background? Most surface supplied municipal water in the USA is so treated. "I do not understand what you are saying. Depending on the testing and treatment methods, 1 PPM of "chlorine" is not going to destroy your aluminum tank. Municipal water is not alkaline enough to do that.As to:" ASTM methods are a 'testing' standard not a bio standard. "ASTM does have some biological test methods as I recall. Coliform? Isn't that an ASTM standard test?As to:" So .... why hasnt the NSF standards met whats going on in federal specs./guidelines for all municpal (surface) water systems: such a filtation to 1 micrometer absolute to affect a ~100% titre reduction of ALL chlorine resistant organisms. Is it that the RV folks doent know how to read? "I simply do not understand what you are asking / saying.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Me neither

but from the layman perspective. Thanks Patrick. Those last two were keepers.

 

[Ed Hanley14076]

Tank water taste

Before I quit drinking the water in my steel tank, I used baking soda to improve the taste. Does that have any place in the chemistry related above?

 

[patrick]

Ed

I wouldn't think that sodium bicarbonate would be a problem in either steel or aluminum tanks. It is a natural buffer - that is it keeps the pH from going too high (alkaline) or low (acidic). I do not know what other use or problems it might have. Whatever else happens with chlorox treatment in a steel tank, iron chloride salts are soluble as I understand. I doubt that they are very toxic either. I am not sure about that, though.Aluminum is far more reactive and the salts are not soluble. There are theories that aluminum is a causal factor in some diseases like alzheimers but other experts disagree. Let them argue. I do not care to become statistical datum for either side. Not that they would notice.Please keep in mind that I am not the expert on this subject. I have just had a bad experience with my own tank and with the bad information given to me (or not) by some of those who write books or "standard methods" and then call themselves experts. What I have learned, I have posted here at one time or another. This has been a very frustrating four year education for me and I now have a plastic tank.The problem on my boat started with some small particles floating in the water. They became more and more visible. I added a filter and asked about what these things might be. No one had a good answer except that it might be "bad" water from somewhere. I started to routinely look at the water before I put it in an empty tank. Good water went in and bad water came out. I asked about that and got no definitive answer here.My aluminum tank finally got so badly filled with the salt residue, it almost completely blocked the outlet of the tank. The deposits were covering several square feet of the inside of my tank. Some of the residue was shaken loose during a lively sail into 8 to 10 foot seas with a partially filled water tank. I thought I had a bad water pump. It would run for long periods of time when I was not using water. I ultimately replaced it. The new one was likewise sucking air into the inlet side of the plumbing. There were no leaks.It is clear to me that the so called "shock treatment" is not a good idea for aluminum tanks or for their owners. It is probably not a good thing for other metals like steel, copper, or stainsless steel but I have not looked into that. I am sure that there are more replacement tanks sold as a result though.RE: aluminum tanks - The idea that it is ok once a year is wrong. The idea that it is ok for a few hours is likewise ridiculous. The idea that the corrosive property of the chlorox is somehow magically not a factor is simply preposterous.