water tank cleaning

[Witchwood]

Any ideas how I can clean the inside bladder of a Plastimo flexible water tank? Just removed from boat today and suspect the water's been in the tank for some time as plenty of brown bits were pumped out when emptying.

Thanks,
Witchwood

 

[neil1967]

Milton sterilising fluid - used for baby bottles etc. Just done mine

Neil

 

[Deleted member 36384]

After cleaning fit an inline filter that captures all the crud. For example: -

http://www.purewateronline.co.uk/

or

http://www.uk-water-filters.co.uk/caravan_boat_water_filters.html

 

[Humblebee]

Hot water

These tank liners can be awkward to clean when cold. I used to try to rub around the inside with a cloth on a bit of stick but didn't have much success. Now I use hot water with a sterilising agent eg Milton or Puriclean, sold at chandlers and caravan dealers.
Thing is, with hot water the tank becomes much more flexible and the sides can be rubbed against each other, cleaning off any adhering growth.
Also, when replacing the inner bladder, pouring in a bit of hot water lets you roll it up and slide it easily through the small opening in the exterior skin.

 

[JohnTH]

Big ships, and me, use chlorine, much cheaper than Milton.

73s de

Johnth

 

[VicS]

See http://www.milton-tm.com/caravanning_and_camping.html for details of concentrations of Milton to use for sterilising and drinking water treatment.

As presumably you only have small boat not a whacking great ship you wont need much so cost is not a great issue. However if you happen to have any thin domestic bleach (eg one of the supermarkets own brands) you can use that for tank cleaning.
Milton is 2% hypochlorite, domestic bleaches are about 5% so reduce the concentration accordingly.

For drinking water treatment I would stick with Milton ... I know that will not contain any constituents or impurities that I might prefer not to drink.

I dose my initial fill with Milton and sometimes subsequent top ups.

 

[Plevier]

If you find the chlorine taste and smell as vile as I do (it's worst in tea!) you can use a hydrogen peroxide based treatment such as Elsil instead. This also contains a silver complex to keep the water fresh for several weeks or months after the initial treatment. It's tasteless.

 

[VicS]

If you find the chlorine taste and smell as vile as I do (it's worst in tea!)

I agree about the tea but if you do not exceed the dose for treating water with Milton you wont have any problem.

 

[DogWatch]

Any ideas how I can clean the inside bladder of a Plastimo flexible water tank? Just removed from boat today and suspect the water's been in the tank for some time as plenty of brown bits were pumped out when emptying.

Thanks,
Witchwood

I did exactly the same, with a tank left with a few gallons in for at least 9 years, the other tank had also become rather whiffy. Milton is good for running maintenance, but is not strong enough for a shock treatment which is what you need now.

Like pool maintenance, once you lose the water you either shock it or change it, small doses may mask for a single fill but any bacteria will soon come back...

...my tanks have been crystal now for 4 and 3 years respectively.

I used puriclean granules (available at all good caravan shops), they suggest doses of a tsp per gallon, I threw this out of the window. I poured in half of one of the small containers into each tank which I laid on it's back on the patio. I then filled the tank like a pillow and left for 2 hours, it fizzed and foamed out of the bag holes, this was fine, in fact good fun. A couple of rinses and back to the boat. (oh, my tanks are 100L to give a sense of scale, but my advice is pour in as much as you dare you wont harm the tank).

I also changed the water pipes which were not food grade and the heads pump, the galley pump was not changed until the original pump died over a year after cleaning, luckily the pump was dry during lay up and had not become contaminated. My new pumps are closer to the bags and will probably not be so fortunate if it happens again, I should have thought about that before I moved them... ho hum!

easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

 

[wenger230]

Water tank cleaning at regular interval is important for the health of mankind. Water from water tank is used for bathing, brushing, washing and even for cooking. Not cleaning the tanks in regular intervals sometimes leads to compromising on the health of habitants.

water tank