Epiphany Sailingvideo
Flushing out our salt water contaminated fresh water system on our C&C 39 sailboat
21 November 2023 · 3 min · 120 views · The Bahamas
What this video covers
Salt water contaminated the freshwater tanks aboard the C&C 39 Epiphany after the boat was rolled in surf and beached, with the 50-year-old tank caps leaking despite their o-rings.0:41 The water foamed at the faucet and tasted of salt.0:52 Docked in the Bahamas, where water costs 75 cents per litre, the crew chose to flush the system using shore water rather than the onboard watermaker.0:59 The procedure: fill the 70-gallon tanks with dock water run through an RV freshwater filter attached to the hose, slosh the water to bring salt into suspension, then pump the entire load overboard.1:20 A second fill with filtered shore water completes the decontamination and restores tank capacity.2:31 Six 6-gallon emergency water cans stored on deck under blue covers served as the backup supply in case shore water had not been available.1:34 The watermaker will handle routine top-offs going forward.2:47 Flushing with a full tank volume and an inline filter at the dock inlet is the practical fix for salt intrusion through compromised tank caps.
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