Water Tank Cleaning 101: How We Do It | SV Ramble On

We originally had an approximately 100 gallon stainless steel water tank located in the bilge forward of the engine. Sadly, it leaked. Instead of trying to get it re-welded, we opted to buy new rotomolded poly tanks. Our overall capacity is slightly less (approximately 80 gallons now), but we plan to get a water maker.
The tanks have been installed for several years, but we really only use them when we leave the dock or the power goes out at the marina. The majority of the time we're connected to the dock water. The area we live in is very rural and the marina is on well water. The water is regularly tested and completely safe to drink, but it tastes like crap and maxes out on the hardness scale.
We used to lug bottled water to the boat every week before we bought the Berkey filter for drinking water. It's taken us a few years to get a good system to deal with the water, but now we think we've got it. Three filters and a water softener for all the water that comes into the boat and the addition of the Berkey filter for drinking water. Even with all of that, our water tanks still get a little dirty.
Starbrite Aqua Water Treatment and Freshener
www.starbrite.c...
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Opening Music: Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions - Feel The Funk

[@marcoselgringo229]

Makes me appreciate my watermaker even more.

[@johnclayton2101]

I recently purchased a 31 foot Chris-Craft Commander 315. It's been on the hard for 4-5 years. I agree with the camera person. I don't trust any company claiming something when it comes to my fresh water. I only use clear vinyl hose for transfer from dock to boat. The UV sunlight kills baddies in the hose. I also use Reverse Osmosis drinking water filter. And, yes, a berkly is great for drinking water. Love your video. Thanks for the knowledge.

[@svrambleon]

Thanks for watching, John!

[@mikek7512]

I use the same procedure for cleaning my talks with one exception. Instead of drain the tanks with a pump, remove all filters and faucet screens and run the water through all the onboard plumping so they get the same bleach treatment. My other thought is since you are on well water you may need a small amount of bleach in the tanks to manage their long term health. Your drinking water filters will take that out.

[@deverystockon7197]

I like the commentary at the end from the firstmate. Great watch and ideas for me with my boat, thanks.

[@sailorman607]

Thanks for another great video, Rich and Jeni. Your thorough advance research and exacting execution of projects has been a huge help in refitting our Tayana out here in Annapolis. You and “Uncle Nigel” have rescued us from repair despair many-a-time. I hope our paths cross one of these days so we can thank you in person! -Dayton Eckerson/T-37 # 283 “Traveler”

[@svrambleon]

Thank you Dayton for watching and following. There's not a whole lot of Tayana 37 video channels out there, and we're glad you can find some useful information from our while working on your own. I've learned a ton from the TOG Owners group, but I've also had to make some of this up as I go along. Did I mention that I absolutely love our T37? She has her problems, but slowly and surely we've worked our way through most of them. Jeni & I also hope to cross paths with you guys in the near future. I'm always looking out when we travel near marinas and anchorages to see if I can spot other Tayana 37s. We're a tight community with a wealth of information to share. Hope that some of the information we share is applicable to yours. Thanks again.

[@phygital1]

We’ve only been day-sailing and want to start going out for longer periods. My wife is VERY picky about water and odors. We’ve had our boat for about 2 years now and I’ve never looked at the tanks in all that time. I know they’re empty though. Thanks for the tour of your filtration system and how to clean and freshen the water system. Very helpful videos. I love when your wife asks questions and comments on what she sees and you explain. Thanks a million!

[@svrambleon]

Thanks John, and trust me.... Jeni asks a lot of questions. Mainly because she wants to know what I'm doing, and how to fix it when it breaks. I got me a good wife, and if I were to ever suddenly drop dead in the middle of a 2000 mile passage, I can rest assured that she could deliver my baby safely to the next port of call in my absence and fix anything that broke along the way. Be sure to stick around til the very end of our vids. Kind of like the Marvel Movies, we sneak a few things in after the credits roll..... Just sayin'

[@phygital1]

SV Ramble On: Equal partners... LOVE it! Love the “Marvel Movies” reference. Your channel signature for sure!

[@captainandthelady]

Thumbs up and saved. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[@svrambleon]

Thank you captainandthelady. We always appreciate the feedback, and hopefully we can continue to provide more useful information that you can apply to your particular boat.

[@faksen13]

Finally caught up with your broadcast. Nice channel.

[@svrambleon]

Thank you Knut, and thank you so much for watching all our videos. We alway enjoy feedback from our viewer, and that's what gives us the motivations to keep making more videos of our experiences.

[@circa71media43]

Excellent tutorial! Great job!

[@svrambleon]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@MichaelMechsner]

Very informative video as usual. I liked the outage at the end and the coaching from your executive producer!

[@MichaelMechsner]

*out take not outage!

[@svrambleon]

Ha! Thanks Michael, Jeni is a great director.

[@carlhewitt5509]

I recommend using the public health solution to water supplies which is pretty much universal around the world. This is how your local hospital keeps their water tanks and ac systems sanitised. If your tanks are contaminated with biofilm, fill with fresh water and add 15% sodium hypochlorite to achieve 50ppm (around 33ml for 100l) for antibacterial "shock" treatment. Leave for 1 or 2 hours. Neutralise the chlorine with sodium thiosulphate (as used by keepers of tropical fish) so as not to kill marine life! Pump out and and then flush out with fresh water. If possible clean out any solid debris or sediment and flush again.These chemicals are available from any swimming pool chemical supplier - or indeed from Amazon - and much cheaper than "yachtie" chandlery products. Over winter, its a good idea to leave about 20ppm in your tanks. This will have declined very considerably by the spring to less than 10ppm. Again, neutralise and flush out.

[@mishkahoyer6428]

Great video. Have been in commercial water treatment for 40 yrs. Motorhomes and boats for many yrs in retirement with the same floor hatches. You have inspired me to copy your system as we drink skunky water out of 40 yr old tanks with just 1 ppm chlorine added in our sailboat and bottled water. Where you in Stationary Engineering? Here in BC Canada we have pristine water UT I can not access our 40 yr old water tanks in our 1983 40ft sailboat.

[@ann-mariegore6283]

Our tank is baffled on our catamaran and we can not see or scrub half of it. We are hoping that the beach treatment, pre-filtering before putting water in, using a 10 and a 5 microns filters for the whole boat system and then and additional UV filter for drinking water is enough.

[@RickeyMoore]

Great job!

[@Blue-Steel]

Good job. ⛵⚓

[@tomgarofalo4449]

how did you gain all of this knowledge? What is your back round as far as work goes. I always wondered about the water systems on a boat. Great videos ty.

[@svrambleon]

Thanks Tom, and thank you for checking us out. I've been a Licensed Contractor for 22 years, and have been working in the Construction Industry for over 30. Now I work as a Construction Inspector. I've always enjoyed learning new things, taking something apart and putting it back together (hopefully without too many leftover parts ;) ). Thanks again.

[@mhidinger]

I am going to install deck plates in tanks like you show here. Can you share what you used to bed them? Some people recommend a custom rubber gasket, and others suggest a food-grade sealant. Thanks!

[@svrambleon]

The lids came pre installed when we bought the poly water tanks. If I was cutting in new access hatches I’d probably use butal tape to seal them up

[@sailingaphrodite4189]

How much water do you drink from the tank? We boil 99% onboard as it is usually used for hot drinks and I drink my malt whisky with one drop of water in the glass.

[@svrambleon]

The water goes through 3 filters and a water softener before it goes into the tanks. Even then, we only drink the water after it goes through our Berkey filter.

[@Boatyarddog]

Use a used toilet brush, why? It's got more experience!😎 but you didn't run anything though the system. A chemicals galore vid here.

[@maryetdave]

What was the brand of the wire pass through you had on the deck beside your water hose intake

[@svrambleon]

Hey Lusca, we got the waterproof cable entry glands for the solar wiring on Amazon. Search solar & wind power parts and accessories and a bunch of shapes and sizes come up.

[@maryetdave]

SV Ramble On thanks will look into it, we need something similar for our cockpit

[@jonathanoasis]

not sure why all the pre-treatment. the final stage water filter will capture anything greater than 2 micron at 99% effectiveness, isnt that right. I am certain my tanks are like a miniature ecosystem growing all kinds of stuff inside. no inspection ports yet, so no way to easily look, until i cut them open to install ports. i would rather install individual filters at each hand pump too ($$$) than try to clean the tanks or treat the stored water.

[@svrambleon]

I prefer to keep it out of the system in the first place. As I mentioned in the video, we're currently parked at a marina that supplies well-water at about 1100-1500 PPM of total dissolved solids and all that rust and minerals plays hell on boat plumbing, pressure pumps, and fixtures. The multi-stage filter system allows us to change out the cheapo pre-filters as needed, thus extending the life of the expensive 2-micron Lead, VOC, PCB "final filter". If you're not too concerned with what's living inside your water tanks, I wouldn't even bother with cutting in access hatches. Thanks for watching.

[@Michael_the_muffinman]

Aren’t all hoses good for potable water? I’ve been drinking from the hose my entire life.😂

[@svrambleon]

Yes, we have too! But technically regular garden hoses aren’t for daily drinking water. There’s damn forever chemicals everywhere now.

[@DollarTreeFlyer]

Can you link the water tank treatment stuff

[@svrambleon]

www.starbrite.com/item/water-treatment-freshener?category_id=521

[@svrambleon]

Here's the link for the water shock, but we haven't used this one yet. www.starbrite.com/item/aqua-water-shock?category_id=521

[@DollarTreeFlyer]

Thanks man, great videos by the way!