floatsome 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I am struggling with gunk in our water tanks. We have two tanks, one inbuilt and one ss tank. Both are infected with some sort of bug which has blocked both filters and tap filters now. Last summer I bleached and flushed the tanks many times but the winter lay up has bought the bug back with a vengeance. Can anybody recommend someone who does marine water treatment? My guess is that I will need to find out what the bug is before treating?? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 After many years of fetid tanks I have, in recent years, used silver-nitrate tablets to purify the water and remove the foul taste. Quite expensive, but a little goes a long way. Probably best to remove your gunk first. Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Where are you getting your water from, and what is the inbuilt tank made from? It may not be a bug as such - could be a chemical process such as corrosion, or stale water leading to discolouration. I can't remember what causes it but dead legs in water networks go brown then black, when you crack the nearest hydrant stuff comes out looking more like crude oil than drinking water. Hence why water companies flush their networks at night......... Treating for biological growth is unlikely to address this issue if its caused by one of the above. If its bugs it will be spoilage bacteria like the pseudomonads, which is your classic green slimes and stuff. May lead to black stuff in your filters under anaerobic conditions. But a lot of black stuff would inidcate sulphur oxidising bugs which are much more rare and would indicate a bit more of a significant issue, probably with the source water. Remember sea water has about 1/3 sulphides in ratio to chlorides, so if your using a desal unit this may be contributing to the issue, i.e. slightly brackish water wont stay sweet for very long. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 It will be mould of some kind. Algae needs light. No point in getting anyone to take a look. Just give it a good clean out again. If during the summer you want to dose the tanks, You can dose with two things. Chlorine, or Hydrogen Peroxide. The latter being the one I like because it is tastless, odorless, non-toxic in a very dilute form and breaks down very quickly. But nothing actually makes any growths disappear. It will only kill it. I also suggest you drain the tanks before winter layup. David, a cheaper idea to the Silver tabs is to use Colloidal Silver. You can buy the silver rods from health shops and simply place two rods in a glass of water with a small Power supply connected and electrolyses causes the Silver to leach into the water. It turns cloudy after 5mins or so. Then pour that into the tank. It doesn't take a lot to dose the tank. Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 simply place two rods in a glass of water with a small Power supply connected Love the range of expertise on this site. I have spent my entire life trying to remember to keep power supplies and water a long way from each other - I can't even envisage what a small power supply intended to be put in a glass of water would look like. This is why the rest of us pay too much for stuff we could do ourselves, Wheels. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 When i walked across Spain from France i used one of these to get water from any source... http://www.steripen.com/products amazing. these are developed from the Water treatment plant technology industry and are better than any chemiical. UV light sterilization is the best option but they have not evolved the technology into home water tanks .... yet. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Haha, Murky, I had all the Guys at work look at me with great suspicion just yesterday, when I told them that water actually does not conduct electricity. Pure water that is. I'm not sure they really believe me even yet. Link to post Share on other sites
floatsome 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Murky, I am in total agreement with you on the amazing amount of knowledge on this site! To answer the questions, water is fro the local wear haven tap. The main 600l tank is inbuilt in the bilge, I am guessing a glass plywood set up. I thought I emptied the tanks before winter but I could be wrong. The stuff coming out the taps is brownish and the tap end filters are completely blocking with lime type hard crystal deposits. I thought I had it Sussex last summer with about 10 flushes, but staggered to see so much gunk back which is why I was suspecting biological. Anyway I will take the advice and report back the results. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 That sounds weird. Brownish, you sure that ain't some rust. I had that problem with a fitting I found on the Acumulator tank. I replaced it and solved the problem. Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 UV light sterilization is the best option but they have not evolved the technology into home water tanks .... yet. Hi JP, For you interest, domestic / household rain water tank UV sterilisation is available, Davey Water Products do a unit for about $1,700 or $1,800, include 20 micron, 5 micron filters, carbon filter for taste and odour and UV lamp for sterilisation. There are other cheaper units on the Internet, but have dubious reliability. Most have a warning light if the UV lamp fails, the warning light also goes out. I'm not aware of any 12v UV lamps, but have never thought to look. Boiling the kettle is a much simpler form of water sterilisation on the boat. Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Hi Floatsome, I would agree with Wheels. This is not a bacterial, or micro organism problem. Your main bilge tank, can you get at it physically via a hatch or wide opening to physically clean? I would suspect an accumulation of solids in the bottom. You water pumps probably don't generate sufficient velocities to mobiles solids out of the bottom of the tank. 0.6 m/s is required in pipes, but significant adjitation is required to mobiles solids. JP might be able to help with the agitation.... The crystal stuff at your taps sounds like some sort of a fittings issues / dissimilar metals kind of thing as Wheels mentioned. Link to post Share on other sites
Bogan 8 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Be wary of the standard dock hoses at westhaven for filling tanks. We had dodgy tasting water with brown flakes in it a couple of years back. Turned out it was gunk that had grown on the inside surface of the hose and would flake off into the wtter flow. All cleared up after buying a clear PVC hose which I use only for filling the tank. Link to post Share on other sites
southernman 73 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We sell 12 Volt DC UV systems. Remember that most UV systems do not 'kill' bacteria rather by inactivating micro-organisms at a cellular level. Link to post Share on other sites
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