Plastic Tasting Water

najsmith

najsmith

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 Jun 2005
Messages
246
Location
Surrey, England
Visit site
Ok - So my Trapper 500 water tank finaly split and I used the opportunity to replace all the hoses with food grade hose. A new deck fitting (the old one broke!) an inline aquafilter and serviced both galley gusher foot pumps.

Due to the small space and original config, I installed a 75ltr plastimo flexable water tank, and whatever I do the water tastes horid - like liquid plastic. It's been in situ since early spring and doesn't seem to be improving.

I have tried:
- Aqua tabs
- Starbrite water treatment
- Aqua pure treatment

Flushed the system through and after the chlorine tast has it just tastes so plasticy. What can I do?

I just want to get onboard a the w/e and make a cuppa without having to carry jerry can's of fresh water onboard.

Can anybody help?
 
Had similar on a previous boat and used Miltons sterilising solution for babies bottles etc and it worked very well but it did need doing again at the start of the next season
 
I had the same problem and I stuck one of those silver/carbon filters in line with the galley sink. Brilliant! great tasting water the whole season with the added benefit of the silver killing some of the bugs
 
No the tank that I had was a Vetus one, I would imagine that they are of a similar material though.
One idea, I was told to make sure that sunlight was not getting to the tank so I painted the locker black to stop light coming in through the GRP and it did seem to help.
 
Know it well ... bought new elextric kettle - exactly same - tried everything .... completely filled x times boiled .... rinsed .... boiled .... rinsed etc. etc.

Even soap and water .... still that horrid plastic taste.
 
we suffered like this for years - and then we put an in line filter in the supply line AND bought a Brita water filter. Thereafter perfect water for cups of tea - it worked for us!

rob
 
I have in front of me the PBO report carried out by Pat Manley. If you are talking ONLY about taste, not safety, then what you need is a charcoal filter. 'Aquafilter' was not mentioned in the report though maybe the name has changed? Check that your Aquafilter has charcoal, if so, then replace the cartridge and you should be OK. If the Aquafilter is not charcoal you need to replace it with a filter that is. The report shows the Nature Pure to be head and shoulders better than the others for safety and taste. I have one (the General Ecology Seagull 1V) and it is truly excellent, though it is the most expensive and can provide safe drinking water from any fresh water source (not salt or brackish). You could safely drink Ganges water...and these filters are used by the military and medical aid workers for this purpose around the world.
 
I fitted a carbon filter i bought from a supermarket! cost £15 for the holder and £2.50 for the filter and each replacement,befor i had a small whael filter which cost far more the filter body once in place is easy to change the filters which you have to do every few months or 15000 liters!!!

The activated carbon and silver takes out all the pestercides bad tastes and some bugs given that you fill with dockside water it will be perfet to make your water tast fine even takes out the clorine!!

I drink French wine mostly and that tasts alright and no worries about bugs!!!
 
I bought a replacement liner for a Plastimo flexi tank a few months ago. The original outer cover had instructions to treat the tank with a white vinegar solution followed by flushing the system. Can't remember the exact instructions, but will check next time on board if you like.
 
We had the same problem when we put in a new Plastimo tank 3 or 4 years ago. I suspect that we may have made matters worse by adding more chemicals to try to resolve the problem. After a few months it seemed to sort itself out; it's certainly OK now.
 
I used one of the cleaner/sterilzer powders for fermetation buckets from my local home brew shop. It worked a treat. I think it cost about £3.00 for enough for 10 treatments. Only ever needed one treatment.
 
wrt the White Vinegar treatment - that would be helpful - let me know what you find :-)

Thanks all for your contributions.

I don't have a pressurised water system on board but already have an inline filter Whale Filter which does not change the taste - as it says it will.

Am a bit unsure if the Aqua Filta would (a) be suitable for footpumped water systems and (b) actually improve the taste... Not wishing to sound untrusting, but is another £35 and tank drain just to find out /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Any Other fans of Aqua Filta who use flexible plastic water tanks...?
 
Dont have one of these now but when we did we used an in-line carbon filter and made sure tank was kept fairly full to keep the sides away from each other - leaving it almost empty always matters worse.
Now we have a rigid tank and conversely we keep this one fairly empty when not in use to prevent bugs growing...water tastes better from the rigid tank.
 
I had that problem years ago. New "Aircushion" flexible tanks. Turned out to be nothing to do with the tanks - the problem was with the cheap coil flat hose I had also started using. Since then I've always tasted the water coming out of hosepipes before filling up.

Hope this helps someone if not yourself!
 
Checked my Plastimo flexitank today. The label on the outer cover says 'Before first use and at beginning of each season, fill the tank with water and 5% vinegar, then flush thoroughly'. I did that, plus my drinking water line incorporates an Aquasource filter (Whale). Between the two, my water has been fine this year.HTH.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top