Water Smells In Freshwater Tank:

[ROBERTH]

Just to add....It depends on what Grady was using 2 pints to 50 gallons for? If to flush, yes that is a very strong solution.
If to drink, that would kill you!

I just pour in about a cup or two in my 30 gallon to sanitize the tank, then rinse. Any strong solution is sufficient but does not need to be overkill. I definately would not pour an entire gallon in the tank....

Drinking water chlorine levels are what I had researched to find out what ratio would support protecting the water in the summer months and still be drinkable. Since I have a 30 gallon tank, I have a small measuring cup in the boat that I use to measure out after refill the 1.5 oz and it must be about right as there is a very faint smell of bleach in the water. It reminds me of the same smell test I do on my city water.

If anyone has checked the levels of city water typically and finds different, I am all ears.

 

[ROBERTH]

FYI....regarding the amount of bleach to water for safe drinking (Which they say is for emergency purposes) would be 8 drops per fluid ounce, which comes out to about 1/2oz per 37 gallons. So the amount I put in is too much based on what I found today. That is with the 6% sodium hypochlorite solution. If using the concentrated 8.25%, it is 6 drops per gallon.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Pouring a capful or two of bleach (or water additive) into the tank is a WHOLE lot less time consuming than continually buying/lugging gallons and gallons of distilled water!

If you keep the water clean and treated, there's really no reason it can't be drank. There are LOT'S and LOT'S of us folks with cruisers and RV's that drink the water, make ice from it, cook with it... Not to knock anyone that doesn't want to - but it IS totally, and safely, doable.

Idk... as the one member mentioned it says in the manual not to drink the water and since I just purchased the boat, I believe it also had at least two previous owners before, I'm not sure I'd want to risk that. Also, how does one always keep the water clean and treated, especially if it sits all winter or rarely gets used? I'd have to imagine drinking water even with only a cap full of bleach would still be very, very bad for you.

 

[nuclear]

Idk... as the one member mentioned it says in the manual not to drink the water and since I just purchased the boat, I believe it also had at least two previous owners before, I'm not sure I'd want to risk that. Also, how does one always keep the water clean and treated, especially if it sits all winter or rarely gets used? I'd have to imagine drinking water even with only a cap full of bleach would still be very, very bad for you.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/pdf/make-water-safe-H.pdf

Or for an even more detailed chart:

https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water

 

[DennisG01]

Idk... as the one member mentioned it says in the manual not to drink the water and since I just purchased the boat, I believe it also had at least two previous owners before, I'm not sure I'd want to risk that. Also, how does one always keep the water clean and treated, especially if it sits all winter or rarely gets used? I'd have to imagine drinking water even with only a cap full of bleach would still be very, very bad for you.

It's perfectly safe. I have no idea what that "Great Grady" app is that was mentioned above and wouldn't give any credit to an "unknown". Rather than go off internet heresay, I prefer to stick with my experiences as a lifelong boater and recommendations from reputable sources.

As far as "sitting all winter"... that is NOT how the system is intended to be used. Letting that happen is "user error". See the posts above and what some os wrote in regards to that.

 

[magicalbill]

User error indeed. I hadn't even thought about it in Florida due to year round use. Too late, I put it away in Northern Michigan without treating the water.

Thanks again to all the replies and I will fix/treat the water when I have access to the boat in the spring.

As far as drinking it, I have not and will not. It may be safe, but I'll use bottled water anyway. I brush teeth back at the stern spigot sometimes....

 

[family affair]

FWIW, I pulled the tank out of our 248. It was well neglected from the previous owner and had some significant funk. Sloshing hot water and bleach was amazingly effective to remove everything from the walls of what appeared to be a polyethylene tank.

I think the 10% bleach suggestion from Grady is only for cleaning purposes, not storage. That much bleach exposure would do water system damage in little time.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/pdf/make-water-safe-H.pdf

Or for an even more detailed chart:

https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water

I could see using it for an emergency situation but would rather not use it to drink out of when I've got several cases of bottle water on board. Others may, and I'm sure do, think very differently.