Fresh Water Tank

[Tony Meola]

For some reason the search function no longer works for me. I know we have discussed changing out the fresh water tank.

What tank has everyone used?

I was looking at Ronco, but I was wondering if there is a better option. I was hoping for a fitting on the top of the tank rather than down low in the bilge water.

Also, I assume the tank comes out easy enough, just cut it out looks like the best option.

If anyone has any tank suggestions please let me know.

[Carl]

Your not going to want to know my install...so here it is.

9 gallon "Todd" tank. Walk in door, opened first hatch and dropped it in bilge 25 years ago. My fill goes through the main bulkhead with a corrugated hose to a hose and deck fitting that sits just outside by batteries, not mounted. I lift, pull it out of the bilge to fill. The overflow is a short hose cable tied to bulkhead, flow goes into the bilge when full. My pump and expansion tank sit right on top plumbed to the two sinks.

It's not much water, was meant to be temporary and quick. Wife was pissed, she wanted more water, I had intended to go larger after we got back from our 1st boat vacation when I had time to find a better, bigger spot. But we found it was really enough to wash hands, rinse a few dishes, cups. She said it was good enough and I just left as is. It was too much work with little return for me to take on that project. The upside to a small tank...the water tank gets emptied and filled a lot more often than a large tank so water funk is reduced.

[Tony Meola]

Thanks Carl.

The current tank is 18 gallons. More than I need but then I can always just fill an 18 gallon tank half way unless I go offshore. I really don't trust using the old fiberglass tank for anything more than hand washing. Just time to make the change. I will hunt around to try and figure out what will be the best fit.

[Yannis]

I have 3 rubber bladders for a total of 350 liters.
The best by far.
Light, don't need a breather valve as they just shrink when water is used, take home to rinse out in the winter, can check water quantity at a glance, cheap, ... I can’t stop listing benefits!

[Carl]

... I can’t stop listing benefits!

I think you just did.

[Rawleigh]

Tony: I cut a Beckson deck plate into the top of my old tank. I was able to give it a good cleaning and retrofit more modern fittings from inside the tank. It is a lot easier than retrofitting and I think the old tank is stronger than the plastic ones. If you are concerned about leaching, let some water sit in it and then do a water test. You could also coat the interior if it makes you feel better.I never use my tank for potable water.

[Tony Meola]

Raleigh

Did you just put plugs on the old FITTINGS. What did you do for pick ups to get the water out of the tank.

Yannis

How do you keep the bladders from moving around in the bilge?

[Yannis]

Tony,

They don't move at all, they are as if they're glued on the floor. Imagine a pillow; too large a contact surface, too little height.
When they're full they're too heavy to move, when they're empty they don't have the mass necessary to overcome the contact friction.
When I first bought them nobody was able to tell me if they needed a breathing valve, turned out they don't need one.
I also assumed that being so cheap I‘d be able to replace them in case they got punctured. I’m in the 8th year and they're still there, the first couple of years I was taking them home to rinse them out but even that is not necessary. Since they DO NOT allow any air to get inside they don't suffer from growth.
I have 2X 100 liter under the deck and one 150l. under the cabin sole forward. They are interconnected so I can use any single one independently and fill them simultaneously from the gunnel fill.
You make your own holes where you want them and attach the included fittings.


Carl, shall I go on? Haha!!

[Carl]

Tony,

I agree with Yannis. I have a hockey puck transducer that sits in my bilge inside a bag of water. Perfect contact to shoot through hull and never moves. By the time I decided that was the spot I was going to glue it...I realized why mess with perfection.

Also my 9 gallon water tank is just sitting in bilge. It was another one of those...its temporary and works for now. When I'm ready for permanent I'll figure a way to secure. Then when I got around to that project...where it was and how well it stayed checked all the boxes. So down the hatch went and ai arched for a cold one saying job well done.

I like the idea of the water bladders Yannis. Never saw them...then again I never looked.

[Yannis]

This is my last day at home. I moved all my stuff to the boat, planning to leave on Monday. My son came back as a graduate this time so I had to postpone my leave. Once I get to the boat where my laptop is, I’ll send you pics of the bladders’ positioning.
I’ll be back in October.

[Tony Meola]

Yannis

Glad to hear that solid is not dropping you from spending the summer months water. I finf it hsrd to believe the tanks (bladders) don't move.

I will take a look at that option also.

[Rawleigh]

Tony: I just added a pipe nipple and tee to the old bottom port and used that to feed the pumps from. I left a pipe plug in one side of the tee for a drain. My boat is in a boathouse so the bilge us usually dry and not a problem. If there is room up top I was thinking you could use a fuel tank type pickup if the bilge tee bothers you.

[jackryan]

Tony,

If you decide to go with a deck plate on top of the old water tank, Bomar makes a nice aluminum deck plate. Here's a link to it- http://pompanettellc.com/current-catalo ... ck-plates/

There is also a nice stainless deck plate on http://www.e-rigging.com

Yannis,

That's a lot of water, and sounds like a great way to store it. Do you remember the brand name of the bladders? I've never seen them, so maybe they are all pretty much the same. I look forward to a picture to see how you have them plumbed.

JR

[Tony Meola]

Rawleigh

Thanks

Just that keeping the bilge completely dry is an issue and I just had to change the hose and had to scrub a lot of crud off before changing them. Then I needed to try and dry the bilge so water did not run into the tank. I don't thing I can get an elbow on their so it points up. That would make sure there was no chance of bilge water getting in the tank.

Jack

Thanks for the lings. I will take a look to see what the options are. If I cut open the top for the port and I don't like the way the tank looks inside, I could always just rip it out.

https://www.imtra.com/fef047d4-3448-4bf ... detail.htm

I found this example of a water tank.

[Carl]

Seems a bit pricy for a water tank...but if it does what you want, close your eyes and hit submit.

On a side note...the link shows assemblies with parts I've been making for a customer for years. Always a "cool factor" seeing my stuff on the market. Even if sold by someone else and resold by another. I won't say what the part I make are...but think rain.

[Yannis]

Jack,

Sorry for being late but I had no internet until just now. Im in the boat in very awkward places...
I still have to remember how to post pics from the ipad, I forget every year...
Meanwhile I had to visit the chiro for my back, kept busy with friends not seen etc, I hope to be able to post the bladders tomorrow.

[Yannis]

Voila!


https://imgur.com/JTXDp88

[Tony Meola]

Yannis

Nice. Lodged them in thdd shaft alley.

[jackryan]

Yannis,

Thanks for the pictures, they look great there. I can't remember, is your boat a 31? Looks like the deck comes out pretty easy.

I can't find the New Plast brand of bladder that you have installed on your boat. I did find some at West Marine that are also 100L or 26.4 gallons. There aren't many reviews of this bladder, but the ones that are there are not stellar:

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/plastimo ... HlEALw_wcB

Here is a 60 gallon bladder that looks like it may be tough enough for the job:

https://www.bayteccontainers.com/60galw ... UGEALw_wcB

This one looks well made but is probably too big @ 150 gallons:

https://www.shop-endurance-marine.com/p ... water-tank

Anybody else have a link to a good water bladder option?

JR

[Yannis]

Jack,

Look under Newplast Serbatoi.
They are italian. A lot of sizes and shapes.
There are also other brands but are either too big or the fittings are too complicated.
If you cant order them via the internet I can perhaps talk to my supplier and ask him to send it to you.

I have a 28.

[Tony Meola]

https://www.imtra.com/fef047d4-3448-4bf ... detail.htm

Jack try these

[Yannis]

Tony,

That one is too expensive.
The ones I have cost me around 60€ each and they lasted 7 years already with practically no care at all.

[jackryan]

Yannis,

I ran a search on Newplast Serbatoi and didn't come up with anything here in the U.S.

JR

[Yannis]

Jack,

Did you at least get to see their site and the various models?

I believe you could save a lot even if you have them shipped from here, as the ones you have in the US are really expensive and they are relatively light in weight so it wouldn't cost a lot to ship.
I took pics of my 150L one too, Ill post pics when I go home and can connect my pc to the ipad.

[jackryan]

Yannis,

Most of the sites that I get when I google them are in Italian. Below is a google translation of the page I found, but I didn't see any water storage bladders. Maybe when you have some free time, you can post a link to the page with the water bladders. No hurry on that.

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... ch&pto=aue

I dug around a bit more and came up with some images of 100L bladders on Amazon, but it says they are not available.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Newplas ... EWDYO6XfKM

Here is a 120L Bladder:

https://www.cisternemorbide.it/prodotti ... tri-detail

JR

[Yannis]

Yes, these are the ones I have. I have the 100L and the 150L. Now I see there is a 120L too. There are many, I also see that this 100L is more rectangular than mine.
I speak Italian and can translate for you, what would you like to know? To start with, serbatoio= tank.
The prices I see are the ones I had in mind too, 70-80-90 € depending on the size.
Make up your mind on what capacity you want and Ill try to find the alternatives.