Emptying water tanks at seasons end
Moderator: bobdugan
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SurryMark
- Posts: 302
- Joined: Nov 18th, '08, 10:04
- Location: Formerly CD27Y, Tula. Now Luders Sea Sprite 34
- Contact:
use the faucet?
I just turned on the water pump (with the boat in water and engine running) and opened the faucet till it ran dry. What am I missing? Last year I put in the pink stuff for the winter. This spring I and had a devil of a time clearing the tank of it. In fact, I never got it to what I would want to drink. This fall I'll have another go at flushing the tank, then run it through the sink faucet again, and then try the cheap vodka trick for anti-freeze. Any thoughts?
My method
Granted this is on the Chesapeake.
Drain the tanks a dry as practical. I have a drain valve in the hose at its lowest point. Once the tanks have stopped running I leave the valve open and run the pump till it blows air at each faucet. I then drain the hot water heater of its fresh water. I don't put pink stuff in the potable water system. I do use it in the holding tank and engine sea water side.
Drain the tanks a dry as practical. I have a drain valve in the hose at its lowest point. Once the tanks have stopped running I leave the valve open and run the pump till it blows air at each faucet. I then drain the hot water heater of its fresh water. I don't put pink stuff in the potable water system. I do use it in the holding tank and engine sea water side.
Jim Davis
S/V Isa Lei
S/V Isa Lei
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Maine Sail
- Posts: 839
- Joined: Feb 8th, '06, 18:30
- Location: Canadian Sailcraft 36T
Here's how I do it..
Winterizing a Fresh Water System:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/wate ... interizing
Winterizing a Fresh Water System:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/wate ... interizing
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Steve Laume
- Posts: 4127
- Joined: Feb 13th, '05, 20:40
- Location: Raven1984 Cape Dory 30C Hull #309Noank, CT
- Contact:
We finally got to the point that Liz will make coffee with the tank water. Even in the Spring right after recommissioning. And Liz is very particular about our coffee.
After pumping and vacuuming the tanks dry, I add the antifreeze and flush the system. When finished, I vacuum out any antifreeze that remains in the tanks. This keeps it from sitting in the bottom of the tanks and pickling them all winter. It also keeps down the amount of antifreeze that has to be diluted in the system come spring.
Even with this method employed, the water was never deemed worthy of coffee.
Adding a charcoal filter made a huge difference. The water from the tanks now tastes good! Rather than buying cheap vodka to winterize your system, I would recommend the money be spent on a new charcoal filter and a good liquor of your choice to celebrate the fresh taste of your tank water, Steve.
After pumping and vacuuming the tanks dry, I add the antifreeze and flush the system. When finished, I vacuum out any antifreeze that remains in the tanks. This keeps it from sitting in the bottom of the tanks and pickling them all winter. It also keeps down the amount of antifreeze that has to be diluted in the system come spring.
Even with this method employed, the water was never deemed worthy of coffee.
Adding a charcoal filter made a huge difference. The water from the tanks now tastes good! Rather than buying cheap vodka to winterize your system, I would recommend the money be spent on a new charcoal filter and a good liquor of your choice to celebrate the fresh taste of your tank water, Steve.
draining tanks
What I did was cut the delivery hose (after the manifold valves) and added an inline spigot from my local hardware store. This hose runs below the sole, but drains directly to the bilge beneath. So I select the tank to drain by opening the valve to that tank, open the spigot valve, and wait 7 minutes before I then remove the clean water from the bilge using the manual Whale bilge pump. The flow rate from the valve is about 12 gallons per 7 minutes.