Drinking water

[cuthound]

5 hours ago, tree monkey said:

 Oh are dead rats bad? 

Blast better get that sorted then

Are you sure?

Even the long dead ones jammed in the corners?

A dead pigeon in a water tank made Fred Dibnah really ill once and he didn't drink the water, merely dropped his flat cap in it.

[Dave Payne]

17 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

How do you know it was the water, and not something you ate?

 

I dont think so, never drunk from my tank, then one day i had ran out of bottled so drank from the tank and had a bad belly all day, only had breakfast which was toast.

[Peter-Bullfinch]

In days of old the problem was solved by just drinking beer.

We drink the water straight from our 30 odd year stainless tank and have found no ill  effects. I think my wife did put a bit of Milton in a few times at the start of the season in some years.  We had to use bottled water for drinks because of the tainted taste. This resulted in flushing the tank. No more Milton now. Mind you I do pop the showerhead in extremely hot water if we leave the boat for a few weeks. So far we haven't suffered from Legionaires disease yet  either.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Dave Payne said:

 

I dont think so, never drunk from my tank, then one day i had ran out of bottled so drank from the tank and had a bad belly all day, only had breakfast which was toast.

Then you have a problem with your potable water system that needs fixing. Fortunately, it's a very simple system and fixing it requires much less skill and technical knowledge than most things that can go wrong in a boat.

[Rickent]

Just to clarify, I know the water from my tank is perfectly safe to drink. The only reason I don't drink it is because I am not keen on the taste. I only use it for tea or coffee which I find tastes fine.

Just personal preference really.

[mross]

PBO did a good article http://www.pbo.co.uk/gear/boat-water-tank-treatments-tested-20504

[Dave Payne]

17 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Then you have a problem with your potable water system that needs fixing. Fortunately, it's a very simple system and fixing it requires much less skill and technical knowledge than most things that can go wrong in a boat.

Have been staring at the tank access hatch for two years now, building up the courage to open and climb in...

 

Some day.

[Sea Dog]

5 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Have been staring at the tank access hatch for two years now, building up the courage to open and climb in...

 

Some day.

Now that I can understand! Bottled water it is then!

[Richard10002]

41 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Have been staring at the tank access hatch for two years now, building up the courage to open and climb in...

 

Some day.

+1

but 4 years

[MtB]

On 05/05/2017 at 16:31, Rickent said:

Just to clarify, I know the water from my tank is perfectly safe to drink. The only reason I don't drink it is because I am not keen on the taste. I only use it for tea or coffee which I find tastes fine.

Just personal preference really.

 

But the taste is dependent on the tap you use to fill it. Water taste varies from area to area. The taste you don't like is the taste of the water supply to the last tap you used to fill the tank.  A clean tank neither adds to nor changes the taste of the water it contains.

[mross]

If the fresh water tank is found to be rusty the atmosphere could be low in oxygen, so be careful.  Also, some paints give off toxic solvents, so working inside a tank does have hazards, all avoidable.  Unfortunately, at sea, men die every year working in enclosed spaces.  Fresh air has 21% Oxygen and concentrations of less than this lead to loss of judgement and confusion.  It does not take the levels to drop much before loss of consciousness and even death.  An easy way to ventilate a take is to use a vacuum cleaner to continuously suck air from the lower part of the tank.  This will be replaced by fresh, outside air.

Edited May 5, 2017 by mross

[mross]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Now that I can understand! Bottled water it is then!

Just don't drink it neat.

[nb Innisfree]

Water stored in a vented tank will gas off chlorine so tap water can smell slightly of chlorine and seem 'fresher'. Also tank water is often warmer than tap water so smells different which affects the taste. 

[Harpur Hill]

A few years ago I used to sail with a retired GP and his wife. The tap water often had a strong sulphurous unpleasant smell, we only ever used it to make tea and put into whisky.

The doc's wife was a very refined lady whose long vowels were interminable, (I'm from the north so I notice these things) one day she took me totally by surprise by declaring "This water smells like somebody's farted".

The doc died aged 97 so I guess it didn't harm him too much.

I don't think the water tank had ever been cleaned or disinfected in about 20 years.

Lou

 

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[X Alan W]

On 05/05/2017 at 16:08, cuthound said:

A dead pigeon in a water tank made Fred Dibnah really ill once and he didn't drink the water, merely dropped his flat cap in it.

I thought Fred was more into the brackish brown liquid served in pint glasses from houses with a sign out side, although I did see him fill the kettle at the Dorset steam fair from the traction engines water tank whether it was for a brew or for washing himself before his night in the beer tent I know not.

[1agos]

I don't think there's any problem drinking from the tap on your boat especially as its well used.

We have a stainless steel tank and use sterilizing tablets at each fill, but for added protection I fitted one of these http://www.purewateronline.co.uk/700008-X-1B-Seagull-R-IV-Basic.html.

Richard Parry drank canal water after it was filtered through it at one of the shows.

A bit expensive - got a discount on it a few years ago at the Crick show, but if there's 12 owners chipping in on your shared boat it might be worthwhile.