Do you drink the water from your tank?

[Gordonmc]

My boat has under-sole fibreglass water tanks. It laid abandoned for seven years before I did the rebuild and despite flushing the tanks through with bleach a few times I wouldn't drink the water without boiling.
So, plastic bottles for me. When they are empty I row ashore and fill them from the burn.
I don't like chlorinated water in the cratur.

 

[prv]

the styrene leaching from the fibreglass tanks found in most types of boats

I know fibreglass tanks exist, but I wouldn't say they're found in "most types of boats". The vast majority of the tanks I've seen have been either roto-moulded polyethylene or stainless.

Pete

 

[aslabend]

My boat (46 years old) has a fiberglass tank under the cabin sole but it's inspection hatch is easily reachable and the tank is pumped empty twice a year and cleaned with a mild bleach solution, rinsed and refilled. If I'm cruising I'll just fill the tank up and drink it, if I'm just sailing the odd weekend over a summer I'll chuck a couple of puritabs in but I'm sure it would be ok without them. I have a charcoal filter to take the taste of the puritabs away. Never noticed a styrene taste from the fiberglass. I thought most tap water in the uk has chlorine added to keep it pure from plant to tap so sitting in a cleanish tank should mean it'd never be dangerous to drink.

 

[Sybarite]

My boat (46 years old) has a fiberglass tank under the cabin sole but it's inspection hatch is easily reachable and the tank is pumped empty twice a year and cleaned with a mild bleach solution, rinsed and refilled. If I'm cruising I'll just fill the tank up and drink it, if I'm just sailing the odd weekend over a summer I'll chuck a couple of puritabs in but I'm sure it would be ok without them. I have a charcoal filter to take the taste of the puritabs away. Never noticed a styrene taste from the fiberglass. I thought most tap water in the uk has chlorine added to keep it pure from plant to tap so sitting in a cleanish tank should mean it'd never be dangerous to drink.

Bacteria thrive in stagnant water especially if there is air as well.

 

[aslabend]

Bacteria thrive in stagnant water especially if there is air as well.

Well, they might in your tank

Seriously though, it's up to the owner to decide based on what their tank and system is like and how it's used. Knowing my luck I'll probably get cholera at the weekend after this thread.

 

[rosewood]

Ive got a fifty year old 40 gallon galvanised water tank. no filters or anything. water tastes nicer than at home

 

[Sailfree]

I have 500ltrs on board in 3 tanks.

I empty and sterilise with Milton start of each season I also shower on board to maximise tank recycling but i am thinking of fitting a filter to Galley tap only (SWMBO now filters tap water at home - I only drink coffee and alcohol at home!!).

What filter would you recommend .

Personally i believe if you are not exposed to germs you have no immunity to them - little is good!!

 

[MissFitz]

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.

Slightly off-topic, but I genuinely don't understand this attitude - why would you want to a) make washing up & b) reduce water consumption?

 

[FWB]

What filter would you recommend .

Seagull IV

 

[KellysEye]

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

We did the same.

 

[cliveshelton]

Here's the science

I have to add a little (simple) science to this thread in the hope of putting some minds at rest and helping others to make their own decisions. It's one of my pet subjects and I have experience from 20+ years as a Public Analyst.

1) Tap water in developed countries. It is reasonable to expect well flushed water from a mains tap to contain less than 100 bugs per ml. That's the law (in the EU), and from the analysis of 100's of thousands of samples in my professional life it is usually achieved. These few bugs are benign and do no harm to anyone. Marina hoses of course are a different matter. Hose ends can always be contaminated by dirty marina water and debris. Those bugs will not be benign and could easily be the source of tummy upsets. Careful attention to clean technique when filling is therefore important. Using a water sterilants/inhibitors is also recommended so that any bugs introduced into tanks are discouraged from multiplying. They can cause slime in tanks over time and that is not desirable for all sorts of reasons.

2) Tap water elsewhere. Do not drink without treatment. We have all suffered from Dehli-belly and it is usually due t faecal bugs in the water.

3) Bottled water. When bottled, this water is required to be the same quality as tap water (more or less). It is rarely absolutely sterile. However it sits in the bottle and nothing prevents the bugs multiplying. Over time on the shop shelves they do just that. There can be up to many Millions of bugs per ml. By the time it is consumed. I have seen results like that many times. They are benign bugs usually but the notion that bottled water us purer than tap water is false. If you prefer the taste, however, that's fine.

4) Water tanks. Modern boats should be fitted with plastic or stainless tanks which do not leach their contents into the water. Suppliers should have checked that the material is suitable for storing water without harmful substances migrating into the water. The pipes between tank and tap should be of similar quality. I would not personally drink water from a tank made from uncontrolled polymer. Any odour of styrene (mentioned by some) is a great worry. It is a known carcinogen.

5) Water filters. Unnecessary to filter out bugs in my opinion if the water tanks are treated carefully when filled. If however you prefer the taste of filtered water then that is a valid reason for using them. Replace according to makers recommendations because they can sometimes be a source of bugs after a while. The bugs can grow inside some simple filters and contaminate otherwise clean water. Filters with silver inhibitors work better but should still be maintained and replaced when recommended.

6) Teints. These are most commonly due to reaction of chlorine based sterilants/inhibitors with tank and pipe fittings, gaskets and oil residues. If you detect a teint, replace fittings and flush through with clean water and stop using chlorine (or bleach).

Hope this helps.

 

[prv]

I have to add a little (simple) science to this thread in the hope of putting some minds at rest and helping others to make their own decisions. It's one of my pet subjects and I have experience from 20+ years as a Public Analyst.
[...]
Hope this helps.

It does - thanks. Seems to confirm that my approach - filling a plastic tank with Southampton tap-water from a well-flushed hose, piping it to the tap with food-grade hoses without any filter etc, and dosing the tank occasionally with puriclean - is as good as any.

Pete

 

[affinite]

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.

There are limited or no facilities for responsible plastic bottle disposal on the Greek Islands (they end up burnt or tipped into landfill or even into the sea) so its a point of principle for us to try and avoid bottled if the local water is potable. Charcoal filter and annual tank disinfect has so far been fine for us.

 

[Poignard]

Some people (such as the Old Guvnor and me) are lucky enough to be able to drink water out of tanks, old water bottles with algae in them, mountain streams etc with no ill effects but we have a friend whose stomach is upset by the slightest change from her own food and water. She has a long list of things she can't eat or drink (although my red wine does not seem to appear in the list :ambivalence and is forever fussing.

If she drank the water out of our uncleaned and uninspected tank it would probably kill her.

 

[iangrant]

Only mixed with rum

 

[duncan99210]

We usually use the water out of the tanks BUT the locally available water in the Greek Islands often has a nasty taste and is undrinkable even when used to make coffee or tea. That's after it been through a filter in an attempt to improve the taste. So we are often forced down the bottled water route for drinking.

 

[charles_reed]

If she drank the water out of our uncleaned and uninspected tank it would probably kill her.

If she ever knew ;-)

Seriously, there is no potable water on some Greek islands, on one all the island use 3 taps for cooking water, but locals recommend you don't try drinking it. That has little to do with bugs - it has to do with the taste.
Hence I use a charcoal filter on the galley tap which gets rid of most taints (interesting some peoples' spelling). I do buy bottled water, mainly to be able to cool it in the fridge, and collapse them so they take up the least room in my rubbish.
Most of the tank water is boiled before being consumed (tea or coffee) which is a good thing because at the end-of-season tank-clean the amount of brown muck one gets out is about 80ml of mud.
I don't used hypochlorite "purifiers" too hit & miss and the effective concentrations need to be so high that the water inevitably tastes foul for long after - I use silver chelates (which I've only found on sale outside the UK).
I'd agree that water in the UK, France, Netherlands and Germany are quite safe to drink and chuckle @ the poseurs who have to drink bottled water - however in parts of Portugal. Spain, Italy, Greece and much of N Africa there are risks in drinking untreated mains water, despite Directive 2000/60/EC.

 

[Poignard]

If she ever knew ;-)

.

Good point!

Reminds me of being in a bulk carrier which was crossing the Great Lakes. The evaporator was out of action for some reason and we were getting short of fresh water, so we had to top up the tanks with lake water.

The pilot on one of the lakes seemed to be either very thirsty or a health freak because he kept drinking glasses of water from the mini-kitchen tap on the bridge. The Old Man, a mischievous Scot, asked him, as a matter of interest, whether the lake water was OK to drink. "Hell no" replied the pilot "nobody in their right mind would drink that ****! It's full of f-----g chemicals.".

The Old Man said nothing. I had a coughing fit and had to go out on the bridge wing.

 

[Blueboatman]

As kids we all used to get runny tummy from drinking French and Spanish tap water . But you got over it in a couple of days and then carried on drinking the local water.

When in Rome......

Have we gained something and lost something I wonder , health wise ?

 

[wully1]

Tank water for me, charcoal filtered.

Tanks emptied over winter and filled with a dose of Milton.

I plan on replacing this boats tank with plastic next winter, currently aluminium which is not at all good.