Jobs_a_ good_ un
Well-Known Member
Do they affect ones digestive system
any body use sterilising tablets for water on boat
- Thread starter Jobs_a_ good_ un
- Start date
pessimist
Well-Known Member
Try "Milton" or similar (much cheaper), but make sure your filter will remove the tase.
Medskipper
Well-Known Member
I have used them for fifteen years now and never had a problem! they do give the water a slight swimming pool taste though! but I only treat the water at the beginning of the season.
I was talking to a boat owner about this the other week and he says he just puts a thimble full of bleach into the tank! says its the same thing, the tablets certainly makes the water taste a bit like bleach smells! he reckons mixed with such a lot of water it cannot harm you!
Regards Barry
I was talking to a boat owner about this the other week and he says he just puts a thimble full of bleach into the tank! says its the same thing, the tablets certainly makes the water taste a bit like bleach smells! he reckons mixed with such a lot of water it cannot harm you!
Regards Barry
Freebee
Well-Known Member
I used the tablets on water in Africa and you have to be careful about dosing the tablets to volume of water, else you can get digestive upset to say the least.
BrendanS
Well-Known Member
I'd be careful with the bleach scenario. In the US, you can buy bleach which is pure (like Milton, but much stronger) however, in the UK, the bleach you buy in supermarkets contains all sorts of added chemicals like brighteners, anionic surfactants etc etc, which you really don't want to be ingesting. Stick with Milton or sterilising tablets
Kawasaki
Well-Known Member
Keep taking the tablets, sorry got to go!!!
Captain Coochie
Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with bleach ! Forbsie swears by it ..... when he runs out of meths /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
alanporter
Well-Known Member
As a retired Navy medical officer I have a rudimentary knowledge of these matters. For drinking water you can add Milton (which is 1% chlorine), 12 mls to each 20 litres of water. This is safe to drink for normal healthy people. To get rid of the chlorine smell and taste, add a similar amount of white vinegar twenty four hours later.
If you suspect that your tanks are contaminated, you should first superchlorinate them by adding 50 mls of Milton to each 20 litres and leave for twenty four hours before flushing thoroughly with water.
If you don't want to go the chlorine/Milton route, you can use hydrogen peroxide to sterilize your water.
Add 12 mls of 27% hydrogen peroxide to each 20 litres of water. The extra atom of oxygen evaporates away over several hours, and there is no taste problem. This is not quite as good as chlorine in killing "bugs", but is perfectly adequate in the UK and North America.
If you suspect that your tanks are contaminated, you should first superchlorinate them by adding 50 mls of Milton to each 20 litres and leave for twenty four hours before flushing thoroughly with water.
If you don't want to go the chlorine/Milton route, you can use hydrogen peroxide to sterilize your water.
Add 12 mls of 27% hydrogen peroxide to each 20 litres of water. The extra atom of oxygen evaporates away over several hours, and there is no taste problem. This is not quite as good as chlorine in killing "bugs", but is perfectly adequate in the UK and North America.
tcm
...
typical brit
the tapwater in france is at least as good quality as in the uk. Also, food, wine, child care, education, supermarkets, motorways, trains, airports, weather, scenery, healthcare, manners, youth behaviour, museums, preservation of historical buildings and sdtandards of driving are all better too.
you don't need sterilising stuff for french water
the tapwater in france is at least as good quality as in the uk. Also, food, wine, child care, education, supermarkets, motorways, trains, airports, weather, scenery, healthcare, manners, youth behaviour, museums, preservation of historical buildings and sdtandards of driving are all better too.
you don't need sterilising stuff for french water
TigaWave
Well-Known Member
Never needed to....clean the tanks once a season and if they're in regular use no problem.
Europe/Venezuala/Caribbean all have good water.
Europe/Venezuala/Caribbean all have good water.
ccscott49
Well-Known Member
Re: typical brit
Airports?? Been to CD2 many times? OK maybe better than heathrow, but pretty poor airport! It also has a tendency to fall down!
Airports?? Been to CD2 many times? OK maybe better than heathrow, but pretty poor airport! It also has a tendency to fall down!
ccscott49
Well-Known Member
Re: typical brit
Did my tanks once, then found out the slight staining of the water and nasty taste, was due to a rusting away pressure water pump! Repalced that, never treated my tanks or the water since, UK, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy. Guts in good shape on the inside, If a little large on the outside!
Did my tanks once, then found out the slight staining of the water and nasty taste, was due to a rusting away pressure water pump! Repalced that, never treated my tanks or the water since, UK, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy. Guts in good shape on the inside, If a little large on the outside!
jerryat
Well-Known Member
Hi Sami,
I add just two Puritabs to our tanks at the END of each season after as much water as possible has been pumped out. I know this effectively makes a slightly 'stronger' solution, but if you fill the tanks at the beginning of the new season, then pump them out completely before re-filling, you'll get no dubious taste at all.
By the way, the 'strong' solution should be pumped to each tap/outlet at lay-up to ensure that no bugs survive in the pipework over-winter.
Been doing this for around 30 years and never had a chlorine type after-taste.
Hope this helps
Cheers Jerry
I add just two Puritabs to our tanks at the END of each season after as much water as possible has been pumped out. I know this effectively makes a slightly 'stronger' solution, but if you fill the tanks at the beginning of the new season, then pump them out completely before re-filling, you'll get no dubious taste at all.
By the way, the 'strong' solution should be pumped to each tap/outlet at lay-up to ensure that no bugs survive in the pipework over-winter.
Been doing this for around 30 years and never had a chlorine type after-taste.
Hope this helps
Cheers Jerry
HeadMistress
Well-Known Member
Brendan, while I agree that you wouldn't want to add even a small amount of bleach with additives to your potable water, it shouldn't be a problem when used for an annual recommissioning "shock treatment" because it's completely flushed out of the whole system after only a few hours.
In most developed nations the municipal water supply from which water tanks are filled is already safe, so there's no need to purify it...but fresh water systems do develop a "funky" taste and odor. Although most people think only in terms of the tank, the plumbing is actually the source of most foul water, because the molds, mildew, fungi and bacteria which cause it thrive in damp dark places, not under water. Many people—-and even some boat manufacturers—-believe that keeping the tanks empty reduce the problem, but an empty water tank only provides another damp dark home for those “critters"...which aren't likely to make you sick, but can certainly ruin the taste of good scotch, tea and coffee.
There are all kinds of products sold that claim to keep onboard water fresh, but all that’s really necessary is an annual or in especially warm climates, semi-annual recommissioning of the entire system—-tank and plumbing.
Here's what's recommended in the US:
"The following recommendations conform to section 10.8 in the A-1 192 code covering electrical, plumbing, and heating of recreational vehicles. The solution is approved and recommended by competent health officials. It may be used in a new system, a used one that has not been used for a period of time, or one that may have been contaminated.
Before beginning, turn off hot water heater at the breaker; do not turn it on again until the entire recommissioning is complete.
Icemakers should be left running to allow cleaning out of the water feed line; however the first two buckets of ice—the bucket generated during recommissioning and the first bucketful afterward--should be discarded.
1. Prepare a chlorine solution using one gallon of water and 1/2 cup (4 oz) Clorox or Purex household bleach (5% sodium Hypochlorite solution). With tank empty, pour chlorine solution into tank. Use one gallon of solution for each 5 gallons of tank capacity. (A much easier way to calculate the correct solution: use 1 liter of bleach for each 50 gal. tank capacity...I don't know what that translates to if you opt to use Milton's instead of bleach).
2. Complete filling of tank with fresh water. Open each faucet and drain cock until air has been released and the entire system is filled. Do not turn off the pump; it must remain on to keep the system pressurized and the solution in the lines.
3. Allow to stand for at least three hours, but no longer than 24 hours.
4 Drain through every faucet on the boat (and if you haven't done this in a while, it's a good idea to remove any diffusion screens from the faucets, because what's likely to come out will clog them). Fill the tank again with fresh water only, drain again through every faucet on the boat.
5. To remove excess chlorine taste or odor which might remain, prepare a solution of one quart white vinegar to five gallons water and allow this solution to agitate in tank for several days by vehicle motion.
6. Drain tank again through every faucet, and flush the lines again by fill the tank 1/4-1/2 full and again flushing with potable water.
To keep the water system cleaner longer, USE your fresh water...keep water flowing through system. The "critters" that cause water to become "funky" only start to grow in hoses that aren't being used. So before filling the tank each time, always let the dock water run for at least 15 minutes first...the same critters that like the lines on your boat LOVE the dock supply line and your hose that sit in the warm sun, and you certainly don't want to transfer water that's been sitting in the dock supply line to your boat's system. So let the water run long enough to flush out all the water that's been standing in them so that what goes into your boat is coming straight from the water main.
An annual or semi-annual recommissioning according to the above directions is all that should be necessary to keep your water tasting and smelling as good as anything that comes out of any faucet on land. If you need to improve on that, install a water filter. Just remember that a filter is not a substitute for system maintenance, and that filters require regular inspection and cleaning or replacement.
In most developed nations the municipal water supply from which water tanks are filled is already safe, so there's no need to purify it...but fresh water systems do develop a "funky" taste and odor. Although most people think only in terms of the tank, the plumbing is actually the source of most foul water, because the molds, mildew, fungi and bacteria which cause it thrive in damp dark places, not under water. Many people—-and even some boat manufacturers—-believe that keeping the tanks empty reduce the problem, but an empty water tank only provides another damp dark home for those “critters"...which aren't likely to make you sick, but can certainly ruin the taste of good scotch, tea and coffee.
There are all kinds of products sold that claim to keep onboard water fresh, but all that’s really necessary is an annual or in especially warm climates, semi-annual recommissioning of the entire system—-tank and plumbing.
Here's what's recommended in the US:
"The following recommendations conform to section 10.8 in the A-1 192 code covering electrical, plumbing, and heating of recreational vehicles. The solution is approved and recommended by competent health officials. It may be used in a new system, a used one that has not been used for a period of time, or one that may have been contaminated.
Before beginning, turn off hot water heater at the breaker; do not turn it on again until the entire recommissioning is complete.
Icemakers should be left running to allow cleaning out of the water feed line; however the first two buckets of ice—the bucket generated during recommissioning and the first bucketful afterward--should be discarded.
1. Prepare a chlorine solution using one gallon of water and 1/2 cup (4 oz) Clorox or Purex household bleach (5% sodium Hypochlorite solution). With tank empty, pour chlorine solution into tank. Use one gallon of solution for each 5 gallons of tank capacity. (A much easier way to calculate the correct solution: use 1 liter of bleach for each 50 gal. tank capacity...I don't know what that translates to if you opt to use Milton's instead of bleach).
2. Complete filling of tank with fresh water. Open each faucet and drain cock until air has been released and the entire system is filled. Do not turn off the pump; it must remain on to keep the system pressurized and the solution in the lines.
3. Allow to stand for at least three hours, but no longer than 24 hours.
4 Drain through every faucet on the boat (and if you haven't done this in a while, it's a good idea to remove any diffusion screens from the faucets, because what's likely to come out will clog them). Fill the tank again with fresh water only, drain again through every faucet on the boat.
5. To remove excess chlorine taste or odor which might remain, prepare a solution of one quart white vinegar to five gallons water and allow this solution to agitate in tank for several days by vehicle motion.
6. Drain tank again through every faucet, and flush the lines again by fill the tank 1/4-1/2 full and again flushing with potable water.
To keep the water system cleaner longer, USE your fresh water...keep water flowing through system. The "critters" that cause water to become "funky" only start to grow in hoses that aren't being used. So before filling the tank each time, always let the dock water run for at least 15 minutes first...the same critters that like the lines on your boat LOVE the dock supply line and your hose that sit in the warm sun, and you certainly don't want to transfer water that's been sitting in the dock supply line to your boat's system. So let the water run long enough to flush out all the water that's been standing in them so that what goes into your boat is coming straight from the water main.
An annual or semi-annual recommissioning according to the above directions is all that should be necessary to keep your water tasting and smelling as good as anything that comes out of any faucet on land. If you need to improve on that, install a water filter. Just remember that a filter is not a substitute for system maintenance, and that filters require regular inspection and cleaning or replacement.
Forbsie
Well-Known Member
I'll let you know that I haven't taken bleach for ages....and the meths I have is only the best single malt, always in stock until one drunken mate helps me finish one bottle and you give the other one away to visiting assisting forumites. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Yours sincerely
Duncan D'Sorderley
Yours sincerely
Duncan D'Sorderley
jfm
Well-Known Member
Never used em. Unless I'm staying out at anchor I insist on much water waste. People need to take long showers, flush the loo for ages (which is good for your vacuum and macerator pumps and toilet plumbing, Headmistress says), run the tap while brushing teeth and kids must use the transom shower as a toy. Aim to get back into the marina at night with the water tank gauge almost on empty. Then fill up and the water is always <24hours old fresh
HeadMistress
Well-Known Member
If drinking water that's been sitting in a clean fresh water system concerns you, think about how long your next drink of bottled water has been in that bottle--AFTER having had all the purifying chemicals filtered out of it! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Kawasaki
Well-Known Member
No problem , Tea boil the kettle ,Coffee, boil the kettle wash undies boil the kettle. Teachers Grants Bells 1 part water 7 parts you know what. Except for Lapfhroaig(spelling?) needs no water, not a connissuers (spelling?) tipple my Scottish friends tell me, but I like it,s Peaty taste and aroma. A bit like the undies before the kettle I suppose. Been using water tabs from swindleries for years with no ill effect, but do drain and flush the system once a year. Got paranoid on spelling tonight for some reason, was a thread hereabouts ealier today about grammer and spellin got ter watch yer self on furom! Was on the boat today ("fettling like yer do") took a swig out of what I thought was a cordial YYUCH was some cleaning fluid I,d made earlier /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Bottle of Teachers 1/4 way down now trying to cleanse the pallet, Almost there /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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