What ??? in your Fresh water tank

[seadaddler]

What do you add into your fresh water tank to keep it clean and safe and free free of mold and mildew or any other bad things.
I don't drink the water from our fresh water tank but do use it to wash everything and shower and we bring jugs and bottle water for drinking and making coffee but still just want to keep my tank clean here in Hot Florida.
I do add some bleach in every tank of water we use but what else can be used with out spending $$$$$$$.
Nick

 

[navigator97]

For some years I have used Spring Fresh F.W. TREATMENT in the tank every spring. (Some times used Camco Fresh Water Dewinterizer). They come in gallon containers for about $25. For a 50 Gallon Tank, use 1/2 Gal. Drain everythinf out of the tank and half fill the tank with fresh water, put in the 1/2 Gal. of treaatment, and ther fill the tank with fresh water. Run all fawcetts one at at time so that you get good flow out of each for about 30 seconds. After all fawcetts have had flow, shut all off and let system sit for 1/2 hour or so. Then drain the tank thru all fawcetts until empty. Fill with fresh water and then drain thru all fawcetts to flush sytem. Repeat the flushing step. After last drain, fill with pottable fresh water. I then add (half way thru the fill) a bottle of an addtive (I think it is called Aqua Fresh - or some name to that effect). The water is good enough to wash up an brush teeth. I have even drank it at times. No odors - no problems. Jusst my take on it.

 

[Jim Seamans]

Hey Nick

Joan and I have been using Clorox for the last 10 years. It keeps the water tank clean. About two cap fulls/tank full. We haven't had a problem ever....

 

[Ken13559]

I do annual rinsing of tank with plain Clorox. Mix it to about 600ppm in tank full of fresh water and let it soak for several hours before refreshing the full tank.
I don't drink straight from tank. Use it to make coffee or boil before drinking if need to.

 

[seadaddler]

Thanks

Hi Jim
I also add clorox into the fresh water tank every time I need to refill the tank and that's all I have been doing since new and have not had a problem hear Florida but some times i think I should do more for the all year round that we keep our boat in the water.
I just thought I would ask from other boaters.
Nick

 

[Stu Jackson]

Here's Peggie's recommendation:

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

 

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi]

Seadaddler: follow Peggy's recommendation. It doesn't take that long. Biggest pain about it is flushing out the Chlorox. Get your tank nearly empty and run water in the tank at close to the speed out of all your outlets. Water pump if standard is 2.8 gpm. flush at least twice this way or until the chlorine taste is gone and you are good for at least a year in our neck of the woods. In Florida, I'd probably do it twice a year. The water you put in from the PGI supply has the correct amount of chlorine already, so putting in a capfull doesn't do much except increase you own chlorine intake.

 

[med2463]

Seadaddler: follow Peggy's recommendation. It doesn't take that long. Biggest pain about it is flushing out the Chlorox. Get your tank nearly empty and run water in the tank at close to the speed out of all your outlets. Water pump if standard is 2.8 gpm. flush at least twice this way or until the chlorine taste is gone and you are good for at least a year in our neck of the woods. In Florida, I'd probably do it twice a year. The water you put in from the PGI supply has the correct amount of chlorine already, so putting in a capfull doesn't do much except increase you own chlorine intake.

We also follow Peggy's recommendation except for one change. At the beginning of the season I put chlorine in the water tanks and let it sit for one day. Then I run all faucets until water tanks are empty. This also cleans the water lines. Then fill water tanks again. We drink from the tanks but have a filter on the galley faucet.

 

[FourPoints]

I have been using Aqua Clean Tabs in my fresh water tank, adding one or two tabs every fill up. The interior of my tank looks and smells clean, and the water never has a bad taste (not that I really drink it, but I do brush my teeth with it, and sometimes cook with it).
http://www.hopkins-carter.com/aqcltamflpso.html

The exact chemical (Sodium dichloroisocyanurate) they use is also used by some municipal water services to clean city water, and is safe as an alternative routine water treatment according to the NIH http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16387550

While this is still a chlorine based treatment, I feel it is a safer and easier option than using bleach, and from what I've read it is also more effective.