Stewproud
New member
Have drunk from the tank for 10 years, no problems. I use an inline charcoal filter, Jabsco Aqua Filter, and always pop in a few Aquatabs when filling from shore.
Drinking water
- Thread starter Cheeky Girl
- Start date
lw395
Well-known member
Yes we use it for washing up, washing ourselves, cleaning the boat, so we do get through a reasonable amount.
The eber gives us HW, so we don't need to use gas for that sort of thing and don't stint with it.
Portsmouth tap water isn't very nice to start with, so filling a few bottles with tap water from somewhere where it tastes better is quite a nice thing to do.
I've had a lot of foul tea and coffee on other peoples' boats....
A bit of care of the main ingredient is no great effort!
Ian_Edwards
Well-known member
I sterilise the tanks each spring using the recommendation made by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This was the most authoritative independent recommendation I could find.
I remove all the filter, then simply buy some thin bleach from the supermarket, last time it cost 79p for 2L from Tesco, add it the the tank to give a 0.5% concentration, so for my 400L tanks 2L gives 0.5%. Fill the tanks, making sure that the overflow pipes are treated as well. Run some treated water through all the taps, until you can smell the chlorine and then top-up the tanks.
Leave for at least 12 hours, I usually leave it overnight, then drain the tanks and flush with fresh water. I generally flush at least twice to get rid of the smell of Chlorine.
This process seems to clear any black mould which can form on the inside of pipes and tanks.
I also run all the freshwater used on the boat through a 10 micro carbon filter, and the water to the galley tap through a Seagull submicron filter.
The filtration I use may be "over the top", but we had a bad case of food poisoning, for want of a better description, 3 seasons ago, which we put down to a contaminated fill of water on the West Coast of Scotland. My guess is that the water had come straight of the hill, with little or no filtering.
I remove all the filter, then simply buy some thin bleach from the supermarket, last time it cost 79p for 2L from Tesco, add it the the tank to give a 0.5% concentration, so for my 400L tanks 2L gives 0.5%. Fill the tanks, making sure that the overflow pipes are treated as well. Run some treated water through all the taps, until you can smell the chlorine and then top-up the tanks.
Leave for at least 12 hours, I usually leave it overnight, then drain the tanks and flush with fresh water. I generally flush at least twice to get rid of the smell of Chlorine.
This process seems to clear any black mould which can form on the inside of pipes and tanks.
I also run all the freshwater used on the boat through a 10 micro carbon filter, and the water to the galley tap through a Seagull submicron filter.
The filtration I use may be "over the top", but we had a bad case of food poisoning, for want of a better description, 3 seasons ago, which we put down to a contaminated fill of water on the West Coast of Scotland. My guess is that the water had come straight of the hill, with little or no filtering.
johnalison
Well-known member
We have drink from the tank for nearly half a century, only treating with Milton at the beginning of the season. On our current boat we are deliberately wasteful to keep the though-flow, and spend as long as we care to in the shower. I have fitted a charcoal filter at the galley.
michael_w
Well-known member
Yes
No
Yes
Never use bleach, sterilizer etc. Makes the coffee taste of swimming pools.
Light-proof tanks and plumbing stops the growth of algae.
No
Yes
Never use bleach, sterilizer etc. Makes the coffee taste of swimming pools.
Light-proof tanks and plumbing stops the growth of algae.
Baggywrinkle
Well-known member
Yes, I drink from the tanks - no sterilising .... but ......
Use fresh water for showers and washing up ... so tanks are flushed through every 3-4 days.
Alternate between forward/rear tank so water never sits in a tank for long.
Always fill using own hose from taps designated as drinking water - and let the water run for a few minutes before filling tanks.
Empty hose before putting it back in the locker.
Empty tanks at the end of holiday/weekend so she always sits with empty water tanks.
I think the most important thing is to never let water sit in tanks and always fill from a reliable source. This has worked for us in Croatia for 10 years so far.
I was once on a TA exercise where someone filled a bottle from a hose without flushing it first - spent 3 days in a bath tub, covered with a blanket and with a high temperature, unable to control any of his sphincters and sick as a dog.
Use fresh water for showers and washing up ... so tanks are flushed through every 3-4 days.
Alternate between forward/rear tank so water never sits in a tank for long.
Always fill using own hose from taps designated as drinking water - and let the water run for a few minutes before filling tanks.
Empty hose before putting it back in the locker.
Empty tanks at the end of holiday/weekend so she always sits with empty water tanks.
I think the most important thing is to never let water sit in tanks and always fill from a reliable source. This has worked for us in Croatia for 10 years so far.
I was once on a TA exercise where someone filled a bottle from a hose without flushing it first - spent 3 days in a bath tub, covered with a blanket and with a high temperature, unable to control any of his sphincters and sick as a dog.
Hydrozoan
Well-known member
Disinfect (SS) tank and pipework once a year, use tablets routinely - but at a reduced level when throughput is high.
Rappey
Well-known member
Would in not make a difference what your tank is made from or coated with and location ?
Some are deep in keels so constant temp, others are subject to the hot and cold of the weather.
Mine is in keel, no filters and it's not tasted funny yet over a period of 27 yrs.
Some are deep in keels so constant temp, others are subject to the hot and cold of the weather.
Mine is in keel, no filters and it's not tasted funny yet over a period of 27 yrs.
Fr J Hackett
Well-known member
Yes
No (did use aqua tabs once)
Yes General Ecology Seagull1V dedicated tap for drinking at the galley
No (did use aqua tabs once)
Yes General Ecology Seagull1V dedicated tap for drinking at the galley
Minchsailor
Well-known member
Always drink from the tank - a stainless one. But use a separate foot pumped supply, not the pressurised supply, and it has a charcoal filter, but never changed it since i bought the boat 8 years ago.
colind3782
Well-known member
I dose the tank with Aqua Clean when I fill it
prv
Well-known member
As you can see, habits vary.
Our previous boat had a flexible plastic bag tank, which made the water taste plasticky so I generally didn’t drink it. The current boat has a rigid plastic tank and the water tastes the same as out of my kitchen tap. I replaced the plumbing hoses when we bought the boat, and I clean the system each year with powdered cleaner, and I’m happy to drink it.
The tank is on the small side so we get through it quickly. No filters, and we don’t dose the water when topping up. I do run the filling hose for some time before directing it into the tank, so we’re taking on fresh water from the mains and not stuff that’s been sitting in the sun on the pontoon.
Pete
Our previous boat had a flexible plastic bag tank, which made the water taste plasticky so I generally didn’t drink it. The current boat has a rigid plastic tank and the water tastes the same as out of my kitchen tap. I replaced the plumbing hoses when we bought the boat, and I clean the system each year with powdered cleaner, and I’m happy to drink it.
The tank is on the small side so we get through it quickly. No filters, and we don’t dose the water when topping up. I do run the filling hose for some time before directing it into the tank, so we’re taking on fresh water from the mains and not stuff that’s been sitting in the sun on the pontoon.
Pete
johnalison
Well-known member
Marina water supplies are almost always safe to drink, at least in waters available to the UK. The main reason to run the hose before use is to avoid Legionaires' disease, at least for boats with showers. I did make one serious error, when I filled the tank in Poland at a new marina and overlooked a small sign in Polish and German that it was not drinking-water. The tea tasted terrible.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
Stainless tanks, one under the forward berth, one under the saloon sole. No filters, no chemicals, used for everything, including drinking straight from the tanks. Throughput is high, tanks need filling every 7-10 days, but used to drink straight from the taps on previous boats where they were only used weekends and needed filling every month or so.
Momac
Well-known member
Each year we buy a couple of 5 litre bottles of water from the supermarket - then through the year refill those bottles from a mains supply.
The tank and pipes get at least a full flush tanks worth flush with fresh water in the spring.
The tank and pipes get at least a full flush tanks worth flush with fresh water in the spring.
Graham376
Well-known member
Pasarell
Well-known member
We live aboard in Greece. Tek Tanks for fresh water and every fill gets an Aqua Tab Mega Tablet added. Drinking water goes through a General Ecology filter to a dedicated tap. Water has no taste, makes excellent tea and coffee, and we drink a lot neat as well. Generally fill about once a week and if we ever get out this year we will be mostly filling from the newly fitted water maker
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Yes. Although I've been on boats where I wouldn't.
I normally boil and add instant coffee.
No. Although I do have a hob mount espresso thingy.
greeny
Well-known member
All this depends on the quality of the water you put in in the first place does it not. My habits change depending on where the water came from, whether or not I treat the water at filling and the through put in the system at the given time. Therefore, for me, there is no single answer to any of the questions.
graham
Well-known member
Have