Do you carry Water Purification tablets ?

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Refueler

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With so many more people sailing to all sorts of locations and in many different areas - do any carry water purification tabs ? Do you use them ?

I only ask because my house has natural well water and I know I cannot use it in boat tank - as it would stand too long. It's fine for domestic use ... drinking, cooking, washing etc. as it doesn't become stagnant.
Presently for boat use - I have combination of bought still water and town water from my office - plus top ups from marina / stop-overs while out.

I have got hold of Water Purification tabs and the thought crossed my mind as to whethere anyone else used them. This would simplify my water replenishment in not having to carry containers in the car etc.
 
Evadne's water tanks are 46 years old and stainless steel, I usually throw a couple of 'puritabs' in when I first fill up for the season, but never drink the water. It's fine for tea and washing up, the only down side is it does smell a bit "chloriney" for the first few days.
 
We've no choice really. Once the summer gets going the tank water soons gets stagnent if we don't use purification tablets. You could drink it if desperate but it makes awful tea. We carry a seperate container and fill it before each day sail with fresh water.
 
Nigel,
we use Aquatabs at the beginning of each season.
They taint the first 2 tanks of water with a slightly bleachy taste, but after that its fine. We have no slime or mould in our system after 5 seasons of checking the Jabsco Inline Filters.
I usually break them into 4 pieces and put them down the filler neck as I fill up for the first time in a season.

Info here.
http://www.aquatabs.com/index.cfm?area=content&action=contentselect&menuid=218
 
I started this summer to chuck one Milton tablet into the main water tank when I knew I was going to be aay for over a couple of weeks.

When I get back, the water tastes very slightly of chlorine, but you have to be looking for the taste to find it. Tank size 200 galls, and nearly full.

Seems to be a reasonable precaution in this hot weather against fermenting bugs.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Nigel,
we use Aquatabs at the beginning of each season.
They taint the first 2 tanks of water with a slightly bleachy taste, but after that its fine. We have no slime or mould in our system after 5 seasons of checking the Jabsco Inline Filters.
I usually break them into 4 pieces and put them down the filler neck as I fill up for the first time in a season.

Info here.
http://www.aquatabs.com/index.cfm?area=content&action=contentselect&menuid=218

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to admit that I'm considering dropping a load into the well !!

I bought a box of Nato issue tabs ....

Nato Issue Puritabs

Yep - 960 of 'em !!

The boat tank - I usually dose with a drop of plain bleach at start of season ... we can't get tabs or Milton out here. Couple of tank fulls and it's fine. It also cleans pipes by emptying via the hand pump tap.

When over in Archipelago - some of the islandsa have incredible spring water ... ice cold and clear - but it's natural as mine - so thought it best to have some tabs ... My thoughts are not to add 1 tab per litre as needed for real purification - but at much lower dose rate where taste is not so tainted.

Any thoughts on how far reduced dosage could go ??
 
Having spent a fair ammount of my youth on a farm with a water supply drawn from the field drain system I think I am immune to most water borne things. I give the water tanks a very occarional treatment but so far have never had any problems.
 
Hi Nigel, hope all's well with you. With the heat out here I fill and empty the tank twice at the start of the season, or if she hasn't been used for a while. I then use the correct dose of West Marine's bog standard drinking water purification tablets (can't remember the brand - like alkaselsers- blue and yellow pack) This gives a slight chlorine taint for a day or two, but perfectly palatable, there after I use half the recommended dose. West Marine also do a 'drinking water freshener' which if the taint of chlorine or plastic bothers you , you can use to completely remove the taint. We used to use it, but found the water cleared itself of taint after a couple of days so stopped bothering with it. We use our water for drinking, cooking, washing etc and have suffered no health problems for the 41/2 years we've been doing so.Can't imagine why anyone would want to spend all that money on bottled water for routine use.Page 331 of current WestMarine catalogue, but sure you'd be able to obtain same elsewhere.
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
I put a dose of Milton in each tank at the beginning of the season and then flush through. I also hav a Jabsco inline filter for the cold water. If I have been away for awhile I may flush the tanks through to be on the safe side. Seems to work ok and water tastes fine.

James
 
Yep! We empty the s/s water at the end of each season and chuck in a couple of Puritabs or Aquatabs along with a gallon of water. Next day we pump out through the taps until the tank's empty i.e. below outlet spigot, to keep everything pure.

Each time we chuck in 5 or 10 gallons of fresh water during the season we add a couple tablets. Of course this is well below the recommended ratio on the tablets box, but that's fine because we don't use water that fast and there's plenty of time for the weaker sterilisation process to work.

The water tastes exactly as from out taps at home i.e. great, and perfect for drinking. We wouldn't dream of buying bottled water in it's place!
 
Not quite an answer to your question but I do understand the problem.

When we were Medway based we used occasionally to top up our tanks from a natural spring on the Kent landing at Harty Ferry (don't know if you still can). We had a filter fitted on the galley pump and the water that ran through that always tasted fine. But as the season wore on, the unfiltered water would taste increasingly vile if left for a couple of weeks or so.

Of course this was because the water was unchlorinated and therefore a harbour for bugs.

If we'd dosed it properly whenever we topped up, we wouldn't have had this problem, and I expect the same would work for you.
 
We had awful tasting water from our tank. No amount of puritabs etc could get rid of the taste. We have a flexible tank which we replaced and all the piping.

Whilst at the boat show my other half was enamoured with the General Ecology water filter which i dismissed as expensive and no better than the jabsco i had put in a couple of months earlier. Anyway, she bought the filter out of her own pocket and i have to say that it is THE best thing on the boat, we have a load of toys and the filter is the product i rave about.

There have been a couple of threads on here and the liveaboard forums about the filters and everyone seems to love them. Never have any problems with foul tasting water anymore, in fact it tastes better than the water out of the Britta filter at home, the filter also claims to remove nearly all bugs. I have never had any health problems from drinking the tank water (sometimes it has not been replaced for a couple of months)
http://www.generalecologyeurope.com/naturepure.html

ours is teed into the main cold water feed, so we got the filter and the tee piece only, you can however rig it to a seperate tap.

No Connection etc, Just very very happy
 
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Hi, We stick in a couple of puritabs in each time we fill up and feed the galley water through a Jabsco in-line filter to get rid of the taste - works very well - drink it without any worries.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yes, should have mentioned we have a Jabsco filter too! Leave the water completely 'taste' free!
 
Never. I dislike the taste of swimming pools!

I clean my tanks out when laying up and leave them bone dry and ventilated over the winter. The carbon filter gets replaced annually.

The secret for keeping water sweet is to avoid light at all costs.
 
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