My dad would do all sorts of tricks to make the water taste better; and we tried it all from Tang to Crystal Light - but that distinctively pungent "tank" taste would always linger and my brother, sister and I would practically drink with our noses plugged to exaggerate just how bad it was.
When Scott and I decided to live aboard, I figured this taste was something I would just get used to but Scott - oh no - he said if we were going to live on the boat, we were going to be able to drink water out of the tap and, doggone it, it was going to taste normal if it was the last thing he did.
I kept my expectations cautiously low as he installed a generic in-line water filter (you can purchase one at just abou any hardware store) just below our sink, right below our faucet. We both weren't sure what to expect, as our water tasted very strongly of our 35 year old fiberglass tank, but when Scott ran that tap - it was incredible. The water tasted like it had come right out of a bottle! It was clear, crisp and wonderfully tasteless! I jumped up and down and kissed and hugged Scott with excitement (again, it's the little things that make a day out here!)...this addition to our galley would make life much more comfortable and "normal".
It is important to note that if you leave the boat for more than 4 days at a time, the stagnant water in the filter will go bad, and you'll return to very sulfur-y smelling water. Luckily, we left with six spare filters (not to mention you can buy these at just about any hardware store) and with a quick filter change - voila - clean, odorless water again.
When you live on a boat, any little piece of "normalcy" can sometimes be the difference between comfort and misery - especially when it comes to drinking water!
Love,
Brittany & Scott
2 comments:
Glad to hear that there's such a simple solution!
We had integral fiberglass tanks in our Compac 27/2 and they always reeked after a few days. On our Tartan 42 now we have one plastic and 2 stainless tanks and none of them seem to smell. We use the Taste Pure drinking water freshener and it seems to do the job. I've been thinking about putting an inline filter in though just to be sure to get out the chemicals so I appreciate your review.
Deb
S/V Kintala
www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com
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