Water taste and purity

[tross]

I'm sure we have been over this many times over but I would like to gauge the reaction to this idea.

I only have a small 50ltr flexible tank with two outlets - one to the heads which has a non-return valve inline and to the galley sink via a electric pump and a inline filter. Last year I renewed everything and on the whole it was OK. This year I have cleaned it twice or more with Aquapur and Milton tablets etc. Each time I flush it many times until there is no taste or smell - I even use aqua sol to keep it fresh . But and you know what is coming next, the bad taste and smell returns within a week. Is the bad taste coming from the pipes rather than the tank - yes I draw the cleaning fluid up the pipe but this makes no difference.

Thoughts have ranged far and wide for a solution then I had a thought. What about silver. I know it is an old trick when coins where made of silver, they used to drop coins in the water to keep it fresh and free from bacteria and the slime that bacteria feeds off. How about running some silver wire inside the pipes to keep them fresh and a small coil in the tank?

You can get 10mtrs for less than all the chemicals I keep using. Or, what about pure copper wires as a cheaper alternative? H
Any thoughts from Chemists or Health officials

Tross

 

[Hypocacculus]

I've certainly read that keeping water in copper containers helps kill off enteric microbes, but whether it will kill all the microbes that might infest your tank is unlikely. You might want to research what surface area is necessary to be effective.

It probably won't solve the horrible taste though. We've got an inline water filter which removes off flavours quite effectively but is not rated to remove microbes. However, it will also remove the flavour of water sterilising tablets. We have one of those small foot pump operated taps for drinking water. Water for any other reason comes through the main tap which bypasses the filter.

 

[maby]

I think it must be something specific to your installation - we just drop some AquaSol in on every filling and it stays ok for a year or more - in fact we just got round to cleaning the tanks last weekend, but that was more down to the time since the last cleaning than any bad taste. We do have one of those Jabsco cartridge filters under the sink, but I've never really believed that they had much effect. My wife puts the tap water through a Brita filter jug before drinking, but that is more to remove the chlorine flavour of the AquaSol than anything else - I generally drink directly from the tap. My bet would be on the pipework - we did have similar problems in a boat several years ago and replacing pipes seemed to help.

 

[prv]

I think it must be something specific to your installation - we just drop some AquaSol in on ever filling and it stays ok for a year or more

Our system is similar. I give it a dose of Puriclean each spring on general principles, but I'm not sure that's strictly necessary. The rest of the time it comes out tasting just like the tap water at home; we don't have any kind of filter etc. We do have a relatively small tank, so we're always refilling with fresh, it doesn't get to sit there too long.

When we bought the boat I didn't like the look of the hoses, so I replaced them all with Force 4's "food grade" red and blue stuff. You might try doing the same to get rid of your problem?

Pete

 

[MASH]

It probably only takes a minute quantity of mould spores or whatever they are to be lurking in a pipe thread or hose connection to grow and contaminate the new water supply. I imagine only completely dismantling the entire system and cleaning everything would solve that. There has to be an easier way!

 

[Hypocacculus]

If you have a build up of slime in your tank, it won't be removed by simple flushing. You might kill anything living on it briefly, but it will very swiftly become re-colonised. Is there any way you can get inside your tank and mechanically scrub it?

 

[NOHOH]

Why are you using your fresh water to flush the heads?.....or have I misunderstood your post. Try disconnecting and blocking off the supply to the heads.....Clean your tank and pipework out thoroughly and see if the problem recurs...In the meantime you can flush the heads using buckets of seawater.

Bacteria are very good at `hiding` surviving and multiplying. Try using something a little stronger to clean out your system.....and leave it in your system longer......until everything living inside it is thoroughly dead

 

[maby]

Why are you using your fresh water to flush the heads?.....or have I misunderstood your post. Try disconnecting and blocking off the supply to the heads.....Clean your tank and pipework out thoroughly and see if the problem recurs...In the meantime you can flush the heads using buckets of seawater.

Bacteria are very good at `hiding` surviving and multiplying. Try using something a little stronger to clean out your system.....and leave it in your system longer......until everything living inside it is thoroughly dead

I have to say that I did wonder about that. I know that some people do use fresh water to flush the heads - supposedly it helps eliminate the foul smell you get on the first flush after the boat has been left unused for a while.

 

[prv]

Why are you using your fresh water to flush the heads?

I think he means the heads compartment, and the sink to be found there, rather than the crapper itself.

See this recent thread http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?400862-Head-or-Heads&p=4817790#post4817790

Pete

 

[Hadenough]

I was told by someone, can't remember who, to introduce a section of copper pipe into the flexible plastic plumbing to keep the water fresh. Easily done, we have several short sections introduced as joints. Seems to work for us.

 

[Avocet]

Sorry for the slight thread drift, but Avocet is on a swinging mooring now, and all the water has to come to the boat in the tender. The water tank holds 14 gallons. Our water usage is very small because we only really day sail and we bring separate drinking water, so it's only really used for washing up. We initially (boat had been laid up 8 years with the water tank empty) filled it and put 14 gallons worth of purifying tablets in there, then emptied it. Did that twice. Now it has been filled and the charcoal filter changed. The water is likely to be in there for most of the season. Is that likely to be a problem? Should it be dosed with tablets every so often once it's in there?

 

[maby]

Sorry for the slight thread drift, but Avocet is on a swinging mooring now, and all the water has to come to the boat in the tender. The water tank holds 14 gallons. Our water usage is very small because we only really day sail and we bring separate drinking water, so it's only really used for washing up. We initially (boat had been laid up 8 years with the water tank empty) filled it and put 14 gallons worth of purifying tablets in there, then emptied it. Did that twice. Now it has been filled and the charcoal filter changed. The water is likely to be in there for most of the season. Is that likely to be a problem? Should it be dosed with tablets every so often once it's in there?

Personally, I put purifier in on every fill. We used to use the tablets, but have now switched to the liquid AquaSol - it seems to have less impact on the flavour of the water. I'm always horrified by the colour of the water that comes out of the hoses on the pontoons for the first minute or so after they have not been used for a few days - fluorescent green! I see no reason why the same should not happen to the water from the same source after it has been sitting in your tanks for a week or so.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Part of my "winterizing" routine is to empty the fresh water tank and system. As it then stands empty for several months, anything that depends on being wet will get killed off, and even things that are OK if it stays damp will be discouraged by the plentiful presence of air (oxygen is bad for the majority of bugs). I keep meaning to take off the top of the water tank and give it a clean, but the water quality is actually fine with just a regular dosing with the purification tablets; I've never seen any sign of green water or slime coming out of the taps, and the only unpleasant taste is the chlorine taste from the purifying tablets - though I keep that down by keeping the dosage small.

 

[tross]

If you have a build up of slime in your tank, it won't be removed by simple flushing. You might kill anything living on it briefly, but it will very swiftly become re-colonised. Is there any way you can get inside your tank and mechanically scrub it?

Its a plastimo flexible tank - I have learnt to my cost the if you bend these too tight the plastic cracks and then leaks. I only replaced this tank last year.

 

[Hypocacculus]

As it then stands empty for several months, anything that depends on being wet will get killed off, ....... (oxygen is bad for the majority of bugs)

PEDANT ALERT... but this is far from being true. Many bugs that live in water have drying out strategies, usually in the form of spores. Oxygen is also either essential to the life of many "bugs" or is optional, or is not toxic to them; There is huge variation although it is fair to say that many bugs causing nasty niffs are anaerobic. Some of these things are amazingly tough and as soon as you fill the tank up with water, they'll be ready to go again.

 

[tross]

I was told by someone, can't remember who, to introduce a section of copper pipe into the flexible plastic plumbing to keep the water fresh. Easily done, we have several short sections introduced as joints. Seems to work for us.

Hmm! I will give that a go and report back

 

[maby]

... and the only unpleasant taste is the chlorine taste from the purifying tablets - though I keep that down by keeping the dosage small.

Brita jug!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

PEDANT ALERT... but this is far from being true. Many bugs that live in water have drying out strategies, usually in the form of spores. Oxygen is also either essential to the life of many "bugs" or is optional, or is not toxic to them; There is huge variation although it is fair to say that many bugs causing nasty niffs are anaerobic. Some of these things are amazingly tough and as soon as you fill the tank up with water, they'll be ready to go again.

Thanks! I am not a microbiologist. However, my experience is that having the tank empty for several months does seem to keep problems down.

 

[prv]

Its a plastimo flexible tank - I have learnt to my cost the if you bend these too tight the plastic cracks and then leaks. I only replaced this tank last year.

How about the hoses, though?

(For what it's worth, the Plastimo bladder on Kindred Spirit always tasted a little plasticky. The polyethylene rigid tank on Ariam is completely taste-free.

Pete

 

[chuzzlewit]

See what Wikipedia has to say about legionnaires' disease. I play it safe and keep drinking water in a plastic milk bottle and change it daily.