Do you drink the water from your tank?

[Sybarite]

We do but only after it's boiled in tea or in coffee. Otherwise it's bottled water.

As a precaution we always fill the tank to the brim at evry opportunity so that there is as little air as possible.

 

[syfuga]

I suppose it depends upon the tank, but yes, of course you do...

Fit a filter in the supply to the cold (if you have hot) tap. If you are of a nervous disposition, put some of the water purifying tablets in.

But we have never had a problem from the UK through to Turkey and back with water..

 

[Poignard]

Yes we do, and have been so doing since we bought the boat in 1997. Never had the slightest ill-effect on either of us. It has only had French, British and Guernsey water in it.

 

[JumbleDuck]

We do but only after it's boiled in tea or in coffee. Otherwise it's bottled water.

As a precaution we always fill the tank to the brim at evry opportunity so that there is as little air as possible.

Yup, I drink the water from my tanks. Tastes fine, hasn't killed me yet. Puriclean every few years and a Whale activated carbon filter between the foot pump and the galley tap. Maybe I'd be less confident if i was filling up with French tap water ...

 

[Hadenough]

We do but only after it's boiled in tea or in coffee. Otherwise it's bottled water.

As a precaution we always fill the tank to the brim at evry opportunity so that there is as little air as possible.

So what harm does the air do? As soon as you start draining it the tank is drawing in air through the vent!

 

[dunedin]

SWMBO banned it, so all bottled water now.
Not had any issues but at best it could have been lying in the tank for many months as not possible to fully empty without a lot of work

 

[Kelpie]

Never had a problem with it. Flush through a bit of Milton each spring and only ever had UK/Eire tap water in it. When we're stocking up from a burn we use plastic bottles. It's a 40yr old plastic tank. No filters etc.

 

[johnalison]

We have a stainless steel tank of 250l. I have fitted a filter before the cold tap and the water is ok for drinking, though we usually bottle up some water to put in the fridge to drink during the day. I have set the cost of the filter off against that of bottled water and the effort of carting the ridiculous stuff around after complaints from the first mate.

 

[Hadenough]

This obsession with bottled water really amuses me especially the "least 2lts per day". I used to chair monthly meetings of 20 / 30 people and got so fed up with bods literally guzzling from their "sports bottles" that I announced at the start of each meeting that mobile phones were to be turned off and that any bottled water consumed must be dispensed to the glasses provided. I reckon it halved the water consumption.

 

[capnsensible]

We do but only after it's boiled in tea or in coffee. Otherwise it's bottled water.

Spot on. For anyone who has never taken the lid off a tank on a yacht....... Eurgh.

Would never drink straight from the tank. Slime ville.

:disgust:

 

[Tim Good]

Plastic bottles are the devil and damaging our oceans significantly. It should be, as mariners, our duty to drink from our tanks. Most societies in the world would laugh at us turning our noses up at such a a thing. Get it down you I say.

 

[jerrytug]

Plastic bottles are the devil and damaging our oceans significantly. It should be, as mariners, our duty to drink from our tanks. Most societies in the world would laugh at us turning our noses up at such a a thing. Get it down you I say.

Spot on, and if a bit of algae or other nourishing green slime was harmful, we would all be sick as dogs, all the time.
What is undrinkable is water with a taint of polyester, that is vile.
A light essence of diesel is fine, and harmless, and I have often drunk water from ships' FW tanks which was red with rust, I believe it acts as a tonic.
What can spread diseases is contamination with number twos, that's the killer!

 

[Searush]

Always drink from the tank and never sterilised it either. I plan to live to 100, so a steady influx of bacteria is essential to keep my anti-bodies on their toes. What is even more dodgy is that I actually put it in my malt too.

Always done the same with caravans & motorhomes too. If you need to drink bottled water, maybe you shouldn't leave home?

 

[rotrax]

SWMBO banned it, so all bottled water now.
Not had any issues but at best it could have been lying in the tank for many months as not possible to fully empty without a lot of work

You obviously have not seen the-IIRC- Volvic bottled water advertisment then.

"Filtered through natural volcanic rock and stored in natural underground caverns and aquifers for millions of years........................................."

EU rules mean they have to put a sell by date on it!

 

[Allan]

A couple of times a year I try to use most of the water in my tank. When i refill it I add two Milton tablets.
Allan

 

[VicS]

SWMBO banned it, so all bottled water now.
Not had any issues but at best it could have been lying in the tank for many months as not possible to fully empty without a lot of work

You obviously have not seen the-IIRC- Volvic bottled water advertisment then.

"Filtered through natural volcanic rock and stored in natural underground caverns and aquifers for millions of years........................................."

EU rules mean they have to put a sell by date on it!

Nor seen the research into leaching of antimony from the plastic (PET) that the bottles are made of.

 

[Blueboatman]

I run the hose until cold when filling
And sometimes add a capful of bleach to 350l

I look for visual impurities in my glass but that's about it

In the tropics I used to remove clean and bleach a bladder tank every 6 weeks or so as it would give runny tummy indications of impurity, possibly from iffy sources..

The re-use plastic water bottles are a good idea though to bulk out the fridges thermal mass

 

[Marmalade]

Tank water is for washing / showering, washing up, cooking ie boiling and occasionally filling the kettle for boiling.

Bottled water for drinking... although don't need the fancy natural mineral water - cheapo spring water from supermarket eg Tesco value water 2litres for 17p

 

[prv]

Another tank drinker here. If it tasted off then I might be more circumspect, but it doesn't, it looks crystal-clear and tastes fresh and clean exactly like the water from my kitchen tap at home. Tank is rigid polyethylene, hoses are food-grade replaced last year as a precaution. I give the system a strong dose of puriclean in the spring, again as a precaution, then flush it until the chlorine taste is gone. The tank is relatively small for a modern boat with a pressure pump, so there's quite a rapid turnover during the season.

Pete

 

[sailorgirl]

Yup we do but then again last time we filled them from a tap was early February so every drop is now from the watermaker. Used to rinse the tanks once per season with Milton when in the UK and still have a charcoal filter on the galley hand pump which improved the flavour of our former marina's water somewhat.