keeping water potable

[Captains Cat]

You left coasters have strange tastes. Never tried vinegar with scotch myself maybe well into the evening but not right out of the chute!!

Dusty and me gots the same taste buds apparently...

Charlie

[Chris]

Clorox works fine...sodium hypochlorite...bleach...all the same stuff. Don't use the stuff with additives...like lemon scent...get plain clorox. Clorox is about 5% hypochlorite...pool chlorine is good too...up around 12.5%. (halve the dose) Also...get the freshest stuff you can find...not the stuff that has been in the laundry cabinet for the last year. Hypochlorite has a half life of about 100 days...so the old stuff is mostly salt water...from which the hypochlorite was made. There are some high priced treatments out there...most work...but are expensive...and work no better than plain...and very cheap...clorox. Like Pat said...no better disinfectant known. Purogene is chlorine dioxide...and it is way more expensive. It is much more stable...and lasts a long time. It really isn't needed for our use...it is intended for high soil load disinfecting...one of their big markets is the hog industry...disinfecting hog houses etc. Vinegar may sweeten the taste...and odor...but doesn't do much in the way of disinfection.
My disinfection routine follows along what Pat does. Add a 1/2 cup of clorox to a partially full tank...fill it up...pump some water out to move the clorox solution through the system...then let it sit. Put a hose on the spout and siphon the tank dry...add about a gallon of water to the tank...siphon or pump that out..and fill the tank. Ready to go. You may need to repeat if the tank hasn't been treated in a long while....some of the biological goo may slough off after you have killed it with the chlorine. Also...the water tank is just like your gas tank...it doesn't like to have old stuff sitting there for long periods...use it freely. Whatever you use to treat the tank...including vinegar...do not let it drain to any waterway...or storm drain. This stuff is very deleterious to the environment. Let it drain on the lawn...or where it will soak into the ground.
And along the lines of what Sneaks was talking about...changing water supplies while traveling is the cause of a great deal of discomfort. And the discomfort is not always related to the microbiological condition of the water. Often it is due to other content...the dissolved solids...which can lead to gastrointestinal distress every bit as uncomfortable as that caused by "bugs". For this reason...I always drink bottled water when I'm on the road...or on the water...the larger brands are very consistent in quality and content.

[CheckRaise]

Chris: so after the initial disinfection, you don't add anything to the drinking water? I would think some sort of treatment would be needed to keep bacteria at bay.

[Chris]

John...no...I don't add anything to the water. If you are getting your water from the typical municipal supply it probably already has chlorine in it. It won't last long in the tank...but does mean that if the tank is not then contaminated from some source it should remain potable. The best method for keeping the water in good shape is to change it out often... and be careful in the filling operation and selection of supply. There will be bacteria growth...but they will be mostly heterotrophic...which means they are not likely to make you sick...and these are dealt with in the once or twice a year shock treatment. You could add chemicals to the tank...and keep the water safe from an infectious disease point of view...but in the process expose yourself to the chemicals and disinfection byproducts which are a risk from the degenerative disease point of view. Now in the grand scale of things...you are not likely to drink enough water from the boat to make this a big issue...but it is so easy to just renew the water in the tank often...why mess with it?