----- Original Message ----- From: The Emmerichs To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 6:03 PM Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: Reconditioning fresh water system
Ralph, We do not use the boats water supply to drink, cook or wash our mouths. We carry bottled water to drink and rinse after brushing teeth, etc. Around here in Louisville, KY, it freezes very hard sometimes during the winter from the teens this past winter to zero occasionally. I use RV antifreeze to winterize the water system and add water and chlorine in the spring to clean it out. We just use boat water to rinse dishes and to flush the head, boat water being better than river/marina water. I'm not sure what the winters are like where you live. Do you feel the products you mention will deal with RV antifreeze so that we may drink our boat water? Regards, John Emmerich 5874 Fortitude John, Here in the Portland OR area we do indeed get freezing temps. I must say that they only last a week or so and rise to above freezing once or twice in that period. But occasionally we do dip into the Minus numbers albeit seldom. Most of the time the lowest is around the Teens. Of course we aren't like some of our fellows who live in Sub Zero temps. We Don't have to put our boats on the hard for the winter season. Our Fresh water river (Columbia) will Never freeze over. Water around the boat runs around the mid 40's. Which Also helps keep the Interior of the boat above freezing. We continue sailing throughout the Winter. I HAVE walked around my boat in the marina, but only once in 12 years. There was a 1/2 inch of free water around it then. Saying that, here is a "normal" ON board routine for the cold months of December and January.....At least for many of us.. a)ALL water lines are drained.. as dry as possible. (Some even blown air through ...., I don't) b)A low wattage light bulb keeps the engine compartment above freezing. In predicted Low Temps, some of us add a small space heater. This year we had two weeks of below freezing temps, My boat's interior never got below the high 40's) Spring time I hand wash the interior of the Fresh Water tank. (I installed a Cleaning Port)..Rinse it with a solution of Sodium Percarbonate (It's the Wine/Beer cleaner I talked about.. In a pinch I use one of the many "Oxy" cleaners.. They are Sodium Percarbonate, Sodium Carbonate and , maybe, Silicates)... After a scrub and a Rinse.. The water is a good as it gets...... LOL Now this is by NO way a plug for Portland's water....But.... We get our water from a Rain Water lake. So it's pretty darned pure. (the city adds Chlorine, Fluorine and a bit of a Base chemistry.. Natural Rain water is a bit Acidic and is hard on the pipes) But,, All in all, the water out of my Boat's tank is pure... I still use a BRITTA filter/pitcher.. because the Vinyl tubing always imparts a "plastic smell" and the Britta gets that out. But I can and do drink right out of my tank .. when I wish.. I DO know that in some parts of our world.. Water tastes awful and probably isn't pleasant to drink.. I still try the Britta.. I don't sell them. I've just tried a few filters and Britta is the best for getting bad smells out of water... One note: I have left a small amount of water in the tank a few times.. And because when the pump is used the difference in air pressure brings in, through the Vent, air borne bacteria and mold.. If left for a year or so... the tank...AND... the water lines get a SCUM on their surfaces.. So here's the rather Radical method I use.. I HATE the smell and taste of Chlorine..!! So I sterilize the Tank and the water lines with Yet another product used by the Wine and Beer makers.. It's called Potassium or Sodium Metabisulfite.. It comes in tablet form (called CAMPDEN Tablet) or in bulk powder form Now here's the Caution..!! In a slightly acid solution (I do a couple gallons of..water with a bit of lemon juice)... The Metabisulfite breaks down into Water and a Sodium compound... AND.. Free Sulfite gas.. A VERY SMALL AMOUNT... That and the solution , will clean and sterilize any water tank you have.. The Caution ??? Sulfite gas is a Choking gas... it's a bit hard on the lungs and mucus membrane.. But as long as you know that.. You can mix it up.. Dump it into the tank and leave for a while..If it bothers you too much... I usually leave .. Then come back and Run it through the Water Lines a few times.. The good news is that ... In a short time the Sulfite gas dissipates and ....there is.... NO SMELL, NO TASTE .. and the water lines are Sterile and clean.. It's the same process that Wine and Beer makers have been doing for a few centuries now... And YOU KNOW that they wouldn't stand for any smell or taste .. of Any kind. Shoot, They even have to put on the bottles "May contain Sulfites" to keep the buyers happy and give them something to blame for the Hangovers they get when they drink too much.......LOL I believe in using stuff that has been proved effective... YMMV.... and... UW Ralph Ahseln "Oblio" Gresham OR
