Cockpit Fresh Water Systems ? Holding Tank Systems ?

[McBobKC]

Enjoying my new GW Freedom 235, NEW to Salt Water Boating with these added systems…..

Boat came with the Fresh Water System filled

1) How often to folks endeavor to drain and refill their Fresh Water Supply ? Monthly ? Quarterly ?

2) Does anyone add a Cup or Pint of chlorine bleach to their Fresh Water System to retard tank growth ?

3) Florida Based - when away for 1 to 4 months, should you leave the system empty, or pumped as dry as practical ?

THEN

With regard to the Holding Tank ?

1) I plan to leave it pumped out

2) I bought a gallon of Mint treatment to add to the system

3) What else should I be doing when I’m going to be away for meaningful amounts of time

FORTUNATELY, SW Florida Based, with regard to BOTH Fresh Water and Holding Tank Systems, freeze / break is not a concern

Appreciate Thoughts / Suggestions / Recommendations

 

[DennisG01]

Whether you treat the water or not depends on how quickly you use it. But, I would suspect that you have a rather small tank... maybe 10g? In that case, a capful or two of bleach is all you need. A cup of bleach is WAY too much! 1/4 to 1/2 cup is what you'd use a full system flush. If you'll be away for a good while, I'd pump it dry. There are other "water freshener" things you could buy, as well, if you prefer.

I don't know what "mint" treatment is.

How you treat the black tank may depend on what type of system you have. For example, I used to have a Vacuflush with a 28g holding tank. I never needed any chemicals in there - but that system also had a built-in charcoal filter system in-line with the vent. I'd probably look more towards something like Noflex or Carters Poopy Powder - lot's of cruiser owners swear by that - and I still had my cruiser I'd probably think about using it.

 

[Beyond A Wake]

I get RV water treatment from Walmart and use that in Fresh water tank. I do run it "dry" once in 2 months and tend to keep it on the full side in normal use.
For the Vacuflush system I also use camper RV, stuff from Walmart and add some through the toilet flush. The entire head is as far as possible only for emergencies avoiding to use it all cost. When it gets used I usually flush twice for every use and add water and then I pump out the next time I'm offshore.
On previous boats where head(s) did get used frequently I did fill black water tank up to 50% and then I pumped out at pump out stations. Fresh water lakes do not allow macerators so pump out at station is only alternative.

DO NOT US WATER FOR DRINKING or even cooking.

 

[McBobKC]

Noted / Appreciated

And, I am smart enough to NOT use the Fresh Water System for drinking or cooking

 

[seasick]

A few points to think about. Adding a small amount of bleach, perhaps half cup to a full fresh water tank ( 10 or 12 gallons perhaps) will slow down growth). Regardless your tank will grow thigs if the water if stale for a longish time. How long depends on the quality of the water you filled it with and how hot the water gets. The hotter the ambient, the faster algae will grow.Keep in mind that bleach can damage your clothes. The bleach will age over time especially if the tank and water gets warm.
I find that sticking a nozzle of a garden hose connected to a decent source of water, sticking it into the deck fill for the water tank, and letting it run while the tank overflows works well on my boats to flush out the gunk
Another consideration is if you fill the tank but dont use the water very much, that will affect to a small degree you fuel efficiency since you are carrying extra weight. Then again you may need to keep the tank full to maintain hull balance.

 

[DennisG01]

For what it's worth... we always drank our fresh water and used it for cooking. I kept up on keeping it, well, fresh! It all depends on the effort one wants to put into keeping it that way - I found it really wasn't all that hard as long as I kept up with it.

Water tends to go bad faster in the hot water tank - so I was even more proactive with that.

 

[drbatts]

My boat is up north, so the tanks are emptied and filled with antifreeze from Dec until April. When the boat is launched in the spring, I pump out the antifreeze and flush the tanks with water. With the freshwater system I then fill the tank and add about a cup of bleach and flush it through all faucets. I will let that solution sit overnight and then flush again with fresh water. When I fill the freshwater tank I routinely add a couple of caps of bleach to it. I have done this for years and the water stays fresh. For me the bleach has worked better than other additives. I use the boat and the fresh water a lot of the summer, so really don't run into any foul water issues. I also use an inline carbon filter for RV's when filling the tank.
For the holding tank I flush it out with fresh water early in the season and when I fill with fuel at the gas dock. Otherwise, I add the little dissolving packets for RV's(walmart) and pump it out when it gets full, or in prepping the boat for overnight trips. My head is also fresh water which helps.