Installing a Water Bladder Into a Fouled Water Tank on a Boat

[@jacobwilson4952]

Super helpful. Was having a water leak in my plastic tank under my aft cabin. I would essentially have to gut the room to replace it. Decided to cut a piece off the tank and put in a bladder

[@lyndajohnson343]

We put a filter between our foot pump and faucet worked great.it was real easy to install, got rid of all bad taste.

[@SailorJames]

Oh great to know !

[@AXISMEDIATV]

Although my system is pressurized- I def recommend a filter- I put one inline an then another small under sink one leading to the drinking faucet- works to get rid of tank water taste!

[@SailorJames]

All the boats I have been on with foot pumps and filters the water barely trickles out

[@Poeticwizard]

I so appreciate future Fred's comments! Love you brother!

[@SailorJames]

I should have inserted like a wiggle video effect for maximum future feel

[@AXISMEDIATV]

serious upgrade- hope the mad dash to leaving is going well-

[@freeholdtacticalmed]

I’ve got this to do in 2 weeks. Thanks.

[@SailorJames]

Now that we are using the tank everyday there is no plastic taste at all

[@johnhaywood6358]

Thank you for sharing. Good fix!

[@Steveok]

👍Nice job👍

[@phillipobrien7365]

We had sink drain fittings that used to "pop off" the threads if you even went a little too tight. Originally they were PVC which was quite rigid, then they changed to a softer plastic which was too soft and flexible for pipe threads.

[@jamieminton172]

OK... I had to stop and ask about the back story as to your experience drinking kiddy pool water. There has to be cheap liquor involved some how. ;)

[@SailorJames]

A girl never tells her secrets 😂😂😂

[@Cudbeorht]

Late to this party. I installed a Plastimo bladder a few years ago. It lasted about a year before rupturing. I'm a live aboard in Ireland and my guess is the cold climate makes the bladder less pliable, so any wrinkles could cause it to split.

[@mikenagy938]

I have a sneaking suspicion that ALL water tanks get colonized on a boat and if you have ever taken off water pipes supplying city water this applies as well. My fiberglass tanks on my Nicholson 32 we're colonized with some kind of weird jellies but by scrubbing them with a scotch Brite and lots of bleach I got rid of them. Had to do this a couple times a year though. Good video, now I am wondering if a bladder is made for leaking diesel tanks.

[@jimmyabdoojimmydoo7645]

Thanks for the vid! Regarding the taste I was wondering if you used a proper drinking water hose or just an ordinary garden hose which is proven to be unhealthy and plastic tasting. I used the proper drinking water hose to fill the bladders and it made the water in our Roberts 34 taste much purer. I also added a filter and purifier chemical to help it last.

[@davidblundell6637]

Thanks for your video. I'm thinking of doing this on my boat. A year later do you have any regrets? Thanks Dave

[@SailorJames]

I only used it for maybe six months before installing a larger built in tank , the strange taste goes away after about a month , it’s a great option

[@-humveehoove-6106]

If you hook a pump up does it have a breather hole or does it collapse itself ?

[@TheNeds]

thx for the video i put the exact same in my front v-berth. just wondering with the exit connection on the top and not on the corner are you able to use all the water or is there unusable water?

[@ryanhorlyck]

Good information. Im thinking of replacing my main 65G/250L FW tank with a bladder. The old fiberglass tank has got to go. How do you clean the inside of the bladder ? Any pressure problems once you get near the bottom of the bladder? thx

[@camsail]

FYi if you didn't want an inline filter for whatever reason, you can exploit hiking filters. A large chunk of them have gravity feed versions so you can fill a bladder of tap water, the hose runs to the filter then to another bladder and you just let gravity do the work for you. That would save you a lot of money on buying filtered water as it filters to the same level of quality as bottled water. It's also a closed system so it can't spill. Sawyer, Lifestraw, Platypus, Katadyn; all have an option at various price points that have good merit(outdoor gear lab has a good real review of the products). These don't filter viruses, but will remove all the usual gunk like bacteria. Carbon filters are what take the taste out of the water (none of those mentioned above do that) but you can find various ones that will do the carbon exchange to remove the taste, that's how those Brita filters work, but they are wasteful so not ideal on a boat, but if that got you(your crew) off a bottle/shore filter water kick, it will save on weight and trash you have to carry on passages.

[@SailorJames]

That’s a great tip thanks !

[@tednottodd]

I’m curious about your comment that the filters don’t work with a foot pump. We have an inline filter right before our foot pump (same brand as you I believe) and everything seems to be fine. Granted I don’t think we ran more than a few gallons through it after I installed the filter, we are on the hard for another month, but everything worked. Maybe you meant you don’t get good filter action. The filter we have is about the size of a refrigerator filter. SV Flekk

[@SailorJames]

That’s great to hear, the boats I have been on with filters installed only allowed the water to trickle out, do you know what type of filter you guys used ?

[@tednottodd]

It is the Aqua Source filter sold by Defender Marine. I will say though our sink faucet is one of those smaller tube type. Maybe 1/4” or so. It’s not one of the more kitchen styles you have. Once it goes through the whale foot pump though I’m not sure it isn’t valves down anyway. The filters weren’t cheap, but it kind of an area that we were willing to spend some money if it makes the water taste better. We actually have the reverse problem as most. We are on well water at home and the taste of “city” water is off to us from all the crap they put in it.

[@tvonzweck]

Nice job. I've got a "special shaped" forward h20 tank with minor spider web cracks at the top flange, that would require a custom bladder if I went that route. One mfg quoted a minimum of $1200. So, I'll do the repairs. Question: the boat graveyard in one of your previous vlogs... can you please share with me (actually for a friend) the name and location? One of the guys that you met at Minnie's with me was told to replace his Lewmar binnacle before going offshore. Any ideas on other places to maybe hunt down a used Edson 400? Thank you James!

[@randyhilton6629]

Did you add vinegar and water to the tank? It helps some.

[@Neilhuny]

15:40

[@keeldragger]

Timely. I have a leak in my 40 gal stbd water tank under the settee. Going to have to cut into some furniture to pull it out. I thought about using a bladder but will probably go with stainless. I wonder if the nitrile based Nauta, etc. bladders have less smell/taste vs. the PVC-based plastimo bladders. Big difference on costs but haven't researched in depth. As a side note, I looked at a Panda 40 and the owner had replaced his diesel fuel tank with an aircraft-grade fuel bladder. $6851 for the custom-built bladder!

[@SailorJames]

Now that we have been using it every day the taste is completely gone , crazy about the cost of that custom bladder 😳

[@From_Refugee_To_Yacht_Owner]

@@SailorJames salty price !

[@kkots]

Informative video, thx for posting. I’ve been Contemplating doing something very similar with my water tanks...I noticed you have a Furuno Radar. If I may ask what model/year and are you happy with it? Thx!

[@SailorJames]

My Radar is the super old school mono screen type, can’t recall the model (1621?) It gets the job done by showing me large shapes. If money were no obstacle I would have a modern Furuno MFD with radar so I could overlay it on a chart and the modern radars draw a lot less power. My other displays for depth and wind are raymarine and when I was looking for a used radar a friend whose word I take as law said to me “ walk the docks in a port were working fishing boats are tied up and see what kinda of radars they have, I doubt you will see any raymarine on real boats and you will see a lot of Furunos” that sold me on Furunos

[@kkots]

@@SailorJames Absolutely brother. Very good advice and the same that I follow. The working boats know what's what... Thx for your response.

[@bryrensexton4618]

👍!!!

[@tonyhill5418]

Most of the stains or runs are just hard water deposits/minerals built up over the years.

[@SailorJames]

Those runs were a botched epoxy fix not water deposits

[@melee401]

Activated carbon water filter should end the taste. Of course you don't want to be changing those out all the time and you would only use for outlets where water is being taken for drinking and cooking and whatever. There are probably a number of filters for the refrigerators with ice makes you could use as well. I fail to understand why filters would not work on the pressure side of a foot pump.

[@Seelargo]

I want to c pics of blue blue Hill healer

[@kingdroz]

how do you clean the bladder? does it need to be cleaned? can left over water that is sitting there go bad? make you sick?

[@SailorJames]

They have cleaners you can get for bladders