Nasty Funk in Cockpit Shower Tank

[OldCarolina]

So ... I replaced the freshwater pump and was trying out the cockpit shower. I ran the hose for a minute or so to put some water into what I thought was an empty tank.

When running the shower/pump, the water filter got clogged after about a minute and the shower sputtered to a drizzle. I cleaned the filter and repeated this over and over.

Well, the previous owner of the boat left about 1/4 tank of water in there when the original pump failed and I looked underneath and its green with algae or whatever thrives in a stagnate freshwater tank.

Is there anyway I can clean this tank without taking it out of the boat?

I was thinking of putting bleach (or something that would break it down) in there and then filling it up it up to the top with freshwater and then maybe taking it for a ride to mix things around. But how could I empty the tank?

I have the old pump which works if you bypass the pressure switch and I was considering hooking that up without a filter and pumping it out.

I would love to hear some other suggestions as I've never dealt with this before.

Thanks,

SJ

 

[HMBJack]

The sump for the shower can not remove all of the water. So you will always have some amount of water there. I like never take a shower on board so I removed the unit and instead use the pump and float as an extra bilge pump which is always handy. I can reinstall the sump in about 20 minutes. If I ever do take a shower, I could allow the soapy gray water to flush my bilge or plug the drain in the floor and sop out the water with a sponge. No green moldy smelly water in my bilge!

 

[OldCarolina]

Well this is a 10 gallon tank on an Escape 209 with the recessed hose in the stern. More for washdown than a soapy shower. I just need to clean it out so that it will work as intended.

I'm going to put in some bleach, and fill it 80%, agitate it and see what happens.

 

[Strikezone]

I add a little Clorox to my freshwater tank every spring and flush it after leaving it for a while. I then refill the tank with freshwater and empty it. Clean the filter and put some fresh water in.

You should be good after that.

 

[OldCarolina]

Thanks for the reply Strikezone. I think I'm good.

I put a few cups of Clorox into the tank and then filled it with water. After a 45 mile cruise around the Harbor and out to the Jettys etc, when I got back to the dock, I immediately flushed the tank with the old pump and no filter to get clogged. I then replaced it with a little less Clorox and filled the tank and hooked the new pump/filter up and I'm back in business.

It works like a charm and no clogged filter. I also learned that if screw the filter in as far as it will go, until the input of the pump almost touches the screen in the filter, it gives maximum output pressure.