Water Treatment

Last year was our first season on our IP35. Since the water tank is aluminium I do not add chlorine and use the filter from Walmart that Hayden recommended when filling. My problem is that I need to add something to keep the water fresh as the boat is not used every weekend. There were several small bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide on the boat when I purchased it and I have been told that some people add it to the water to keep it fresh. I haven't tried it yet since I had no idea of how much to add. Recommendations would be appreciated.

That is good you are taking out the chlorine, the problem with the water odor is not in the tank, it is in the plastic lines. So you need to run clorox solution into the lines once a year, let it set for 30 min and then flush it out. This is where the odor comes from. We never put anything into the water tank. We treat the lines once a year.

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Hayden

Thanks Hayden. Did you bypass the hot water tank when you treated the lines?

YES! NO Clorox in tank. Connect the hose/bucket to the tank pick up line that you remove from on top of the water tank. Extend this hose with a simple barb and longer hose to get into the bucket. Add clorox and water to the bucket, turn on the pump and draw in the mix running it out all your lines until you smell it. Then let it sit. Now to get really fancy, bypass the hot water heater...
Hayden

I have flushed the fresh water lines three times since December 09 and frankly it's a PITA. Our experience is the odor returns with a vengeance when we leave the boat for over a month. Do IP users experience the smelly water issue because we filter the chlorine when filling our tank? My son, who is living on Charbonneau at the moment due to Hurricane Irene, is complaining about water stench and stated his water never smells like this even when his boat is closed up for several months. Could it be his chlorinated water kills the bacteria? If so, what about a small chlorinator mounted after the pump?..(if such a product exists)

Bill

s/v Charbonneau

Bill
We treat the waterlines twice a year, it is no big deal. Maybe the odor comes back faster due to no chlorine. I do not know of a system that would add chlorine. For me...i am glad we have a solution. Also, we liveaboard and push a lot of water through the lines, so maybe thst helps.
Hayden