Water tank freshness

[Todd]

I flushed and cleaned my tanks over the weekend and was just curious what some of you do to keep your water fresh? Mine starts to smell a bit of sulfer after a few months, I have heard leaving bleach in the tanks could cause problems.

[John Shasteen]

I clean the tanks about every other year and use Clorex and rags to wipe them clean. Then when filling them (bow tank which feeds the keel tank), I do two things and have no odor or taste problems at all. When filling them (somewhere around 50 gallons of water, I add about a quarter cup of Clorex and a dash of Star Brite water purifier (one teaspoon treats 100 gallons of water). This is how the tanks have been cleaned and treated since Paloma was new (she's a '79 Bristol 29.9) and that small concentration of Clorex has never had any negative effect on the tanks.

[Todd]

I put just a cap full of bleach in each tank, but then started to worry. I have only had her just under a year. I will look into the star bright.

[Veranda]

We use regular hydrogen peroxide. Our tank holds 160 gallons of water and every other time that we top off we add a quart sized bottle of peroxide. Works just as well as chlorine except without the possible negatives. The water tastes great, never a chlorine smell and if you accidentally overdose the tank its not a problem.

Bill
s/v Veranda