Fresh Water Tank maintenance

[Traveler 45C]

What are the proper maintenance procedures to keep the Fresh Water tanks clean? My water has started to smell real bad.

Thanks in advance,

Greg

[BEC53]

I've shocked my tank with chlorine bleach for a few days and then run all of that water out and filled with fresh. Seemed to fix the smell and also flushed some black slime out of the lines.

[hATTISFACTION]

I use bleach also when a shock is needed. However if you put in one small capfull on every fill up it should be fine.
Check also to see if anyone has installed a filter in the system. My last hatteras had one and my current Hatteras has two installed. If the filters get filled the taste gets bad quickly.

[skammtoo]

It sounds silly, but put a bottle (large size) of cheap vodka in the tank. It's tasteless but the alcohol keeps all of the organisms that cause taste and odor away.

Also, the crew is always very happy and relaxed.

K >D

[Traveler 45C]

Thanks All.

My tank holds 180 gals. How much bleach should I use to shock and how much on a routine basis?

Greg

[jkp1]

The alcohol in a jug of vodka diluted with 180 gallons of fresh water will provide a great substrate (food) for any bacteria present in your tank. Many folks do not realize that organisms will consume low concentration alcohol as if it were sugar water. If disinfection is your goal, stick with bleach.

I have heard of Vodka used for winterizing, but it would be cheaper to use non-toxic antifreeze at $2.95/g and save the liquor for your drinks.:rollin

[jkp1]

for the initial shock. With tank half full, add bleach, then top off. Confirm there are no filters in line. Turn on a distant faucet and confirm odor of chlorine. It should smell a tad stronger than swimming pool water. If you need to add more, do so. When you get a good whiff of chlorine, run all faucets until you detect it at each location. Top off tank and let sit at least 24 hours. The chlorine needs contact time to do its magic.

Drain tank, you will likely see black crud flush out. This is normal as it's dead bacteria sluffed off from tank sides & lines. If you see lots of black crud, repeat shock. This is needed because the free chlorine concentration will exhaust itself as it reacts with organics. Also, bacteria grows in layers, and the first shock may not get the bottom layer.

Refill tank and add a few ounces of bleach for maintenance.

Now the bad news, your odors probably came from your source water. Iron Sulfide bacteria is common in well water, not harmful to drink, but gives off hydrogen sulfide gas when allowed to sit. If you think you just picked up a tank of buggy water in your travels - you're in luck. If it's present where you dock, you'll need to add chlorine at each top off or install an activated carbon filter. The filter will improve odor & taste, but you may need to change the cartridge frequently.

[Traveler 45C]

Thanks so much.

Greg

[George]

NO, NO, NO, sorry to disagree with all of you with bleach and vodka. StarBrite makes an excellent product for cleaning your fresh water tank, as do many other companies who make it for RV's. You add 1 gallon to 100 gallon tank. Take your boat for a ride in 2 ft chop to mix well, and then drain through all of your plumbing, sinks, shower, head, ice makers, let stand for a day or two, drain completly, refil, drain refil and go. The stuff works incredibally well.

[jkp1]

the product you refer to - Starbrite Aqua Clean contains Quaternary Ammonium as its active ingrediant - a very toxic material. You would need 4 gallons at $15/g of this stuff to flush a 180 gallon tank twice. Then be darn sure you get every bit out of your system because you do not want your family ingesting this stuff. Not to mention what it will do to the environment when pumped overboard. You absolutely would not want to use this as an ongoing preventitive measure.

Compare this to a couple bucks for a gallon of sodium hypochlorite (bleach), a fairly rapid conversion from chlorine to non-toxic chloride and the ability to use this as a preventitive. Good ole' bleach wins from a cost, safety and environmental stand point.