Domestic water tanks

[halb]

I am after advice on getting rid of smell/taste from my domestic water tanks, I have tried Aquafresh and copious amounts of Milton, without sucess
The tanks are of GRP some 30 years old and have also been scurbbed out, has anyone else had this problem, did they cure it, if so how? painting, replacing or, perhaps inserting flexible liners.
Any and all advice will be welcome
Jon

 

[vyv_cox]

In my experience it's the hoses that taste. My boat is a little younger than yours and the water had begun to taste very stale and 'chemical'. I scrubbed the tank, adding another inspection tank to enable me to scrub the far end. Results were a slight improvement. After a season during which we added a General Ecology Seagull IV filter, with some further improvement, we replaced the hoses, not a minor task on a Sadler 34. This made a startling difference to the taste of the water, not surprising when we saw the state of the old hoses.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

+1 - and the state of the hoses on our 1977 CW - Yeuck. All hoses replaced - not much taste but still just there.

 

[Georgio]

It could be that the GRP tank has osmosis and that can make the water taste off. I have replaced the GRP tank with a S-steel tank (it's a major job) but now have fresh tasting water even if not topped up for weeks.

 

[Rossynant]

GRP - the resins, poly or epoxy - are made with quite toxic aromatic chemicals, better not to drink them in long run really. Well, plastics of all kinds are now in use, so people are poisoning themselves bit by bit anyway, but steel tanks are the only healthy kind possible...
Soft pipes should be changed every few years really - and be carefull what kind of plastic they are. Should be food approved.
On GRP it's possible to coat the insides with wax, or some of oil varnishes (natural!) - heard this is effective.
Theoretically there are some paints "approved for food and water" but I happen to know what's in some of them so it's not a solution IMHO.

PS but then some paint approved for food industry may be better then what you have now. Plus for drink water: filter - the kind with activated carbon and silver.

 

[richardh10]

I am planning on replacing the water hoses, but what sort of hose should I use, and where should I get it from? A chandlers?

Cheers

 

[vyv_cox]

Caravan shop. The blue and red ones for cold and hot water are well made, double skinned for strength (outer) and absence of taste (inner).

 

[richardh10]

Caravan shop. The blue and red ones for cold and hot water are well made, double skinned for strength (outer) and absence of taste (inner).

Of course! The good old caravan shop.
Thanks

 

[VicMallows]

I agree with all the comments about s/s tanks and new hoses. However if you need a 'quick fix' I would suggest trying VWP Cleanser, widely used by home brewers. Fill the system with correct strength solution, preferably using warm water. Leave for at least 24 hours. As the pipes tend to be the worst offenders, ideally pump a few litres through each outlet every few hours, either recirculating or topping up the tank with new mixture. After draining off thoroughly rinse two or three times.

(just ask a home brewer how much crud it removes from bottles which have not been treated for a time!).


Edit: I believe in the past someone identified a similar product used commercially by pubs which if you can source it may well be cheaper.

 

[WoodyP]

It depends on how much water you want to drink. For us, bottled water is the solution. I tried cleaning out the tanks, and changing the pipes but it still tasted. For a long trip then bottled water may not be an option, but for most of us on short cruises it works.
Cheers,G,

 

[VicS]

I agree with all the comments about s/s tanks and new hoses. However if you need a 'quick fix' I would suggest trying VWP Cleanser, widely used by home brewers. Fill the system with correct strength solution, preferably using warm water. Leave for at least 24 hours. As the pipes tend to be the worst offenders, ideally pump a few litres through each outlet every few hours, either recirculating or topping up the tank with new mixture. After draining off thoroughly rinse two or three times.

(just ask a home brewer how much crud it removes from bottles which have not been treated for a time!).


Edit: I believe in the past someone identified a similar product used commercially by pubs which if you can source it may well be cheaper.

VWP cleanser I think is a chlorine based cleaner. If so then no advantage is likely over using Milton solution.

The products used for in pubs for cleaning beer lines are ....... beer line cleaners! Some of those are chlorine based products.

 

[VicMallows]

VWP cleanser I think is a chlorine based cleaner. If so then no advantage is likely over using Milton solution.

Agree it is chlorine based, with surfactants.

I am certainly not a chemist and cannot explain why ......but empirically I know it will lift old gunge off a container which plain bleach will leave completely untouched.