Can I drink my tank water 2

[paulsmith]

I posted this last week but there seemed to be a tech problem that connected the question to the wrong text so here we go again.
I have a ten gallon ss water tank its refilled around once a month and has an inline filter as fitted in caravan supplies etc. Is it safe to make cold drinks ( it smells and tastes fine) or should I buy cheap bottled water. or can I use the clean plastic bottled water bottles for tap water and if so how long is it safe to keep it.I don't like the idea of adding chemical purifiers to my drinking water if possible. any thoughts?
Paul

 

[ashanta]

Paul,

I tend to use my onboard tank water for tea and coffee and for washing up even though I have a filter system like you. I otherwise have bottled water on board, beer and pop.
Regards.

Peter.

 

[l'escargot]

I wouldn't worry about drinking it from the tank. I have a similar sized fibreglass tank (without a filter) and at the start of each season I add milton to the remaining water and flush it through a couple of times.

The main concern is the quality of the water going in - communal marina hoses and water laying in the pipes in the sun or none food grade hoses - have your own hose and let the water run (or let someone else fill up) first if you don't know that the water supply is in regular use.

All water is a few million years old and has been through several other sets of kidneys before it reaches you - as long as it tastes ok it should be fine.

 

[sailorman]

i have an s/s tank around 200lts c/w whale filter.
left part full over winter & its still ok to drink

 

[pjohnson]

I too have a SS tank with an inline filter and the wife seems OK. I do however put a sterilising agent in now and again.

 

[webcraft]

I can't understand what the problem is . . . we were drinking water from our plastic tank yesteday that had been in there for five months at least. It tastes a little plasticky, but basicly OK.

It's only water - what do you think is going to happen to it? Everyone is so paranoid these days that their immune systems never get any exercise.

I wish I had set up a water bottling plant when this mad craze for drinking bottled water first started . . .

- Nick

 

[bonny]

We've always drunk the water from our tank and never had a problem.
If it's been in there a while I usually pump it out and re-fill.

With an in-line filer (caravan style), they tend to contain carbon & silver which purifies the water killing bacteria. To remain effective it should be changed annually.

Apparently silver has a purifying effect. I've been told that simply putting water in a silver jug and leaving it a few hours, the silver kills the bacteria. Can't remember where I heard it, or how true it is, but apparently that's why the victorians had silver water jugs.

 

[MedMan]

If you start with a totally clean tank and only ever introduce top-quality drinking water (which will have been chemically treated at the water works) and it never sits there for more than a month, it should be perfectly safe to drink. However, as others have mentioned, achieving that ideal is far from easy. Certainly, you should never, ever use a marina pontoon hose to fill your tanks. They get dropped into the sea, peed on by dogs and sit in the sun all day long at perfect incubation temperatures. Use your own hose and run plenty of water through it before filling your drinking water tank. This ensures the warm water from the above-ground plastic pipes has been run off first. We have two tanks, a large flexible one for washing and a smaller stainless one for drinking water. We always fill the flexible tank first.

If we have any doubt about the quality of water we have taken on or if the tank has sat unused for more than a few weeks, we chlorinate it with aquatabs. The filter removes all traces of the chlorine leaving it clear and taste-free. I understand they use a very similar system in the production of many types of bottled water!