Fresh water odor

[DGHarting]

First season on our 2020 R29S and our fresh water has a foul odor. Previous owner had head replumbed to use fresh rather than raw water. I fear that there may be backflow from toilet into fresh water tank. I noticed that when I open the freshwater inlet cap, there is a vacuum release whoosh. We have tried fresh water treatment additives to no avail. Any thoughts?

 

[Brian John]

A very common problem.

One method is bleach though bleach MAY (?) be detrimental to some plastics or rubber compounds.

My boats water smells like rotten eggs and sulfur, how to fix it

Whoah! That unmistakeable smell of rotten eggs in your boats water tank is one you don't soon forget. But how do you rid your boat of this nasty odor? If

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I have tried these from West Marine and had success.

Fresh Water Tank Sanitizer | West Marine

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[HookedUp]

I don't have a Tug, but have had several boats with fresh water and never had one that had vacuum when opening the fill cap. All my boats had an overflow tube that also worked to provide air to the tank when using the fresh water.

 

[Brian John]

I missed the part about the apparent vacuum, which is not normal in my experience I would check how he plumbed in the toilets to the freshwater system against the drawing in the owner's manual.

 

[Jcat2010]

If the toilet upgrade was done properly, there should be a vacuum break at the rear of the toilet, behind the lid. Wish I had a picture, but looks like a little plastic piece that pokes up above the toilet rim. This makes it impossible to siphon blackwater into the freshwater system. Our Raritan sea era had a specific kit that included the vacuum break. Your toilet likely has a similar kit, look it up and see if your toilet has such part installed.

The only "natural" odor you should have from a proper setup is a plastic taste, especially noticeable on hot days. If you are filling with unfiltered, or untreated water (a lot of well water is such) then you may have to add some chlorine, or other tank disinfectant. A whole boat water filter will go a long way toward removing the plastic taste and smell, but most that will fit under the sink won't remove biologics, which is what you have to worry about with cross connecting fresh water and toilet.

 

[Red Raven]

Is the smell/taste from the tap? Our boat had a foul smell/taste from the fresh water tap the first year we had the boat. Turned out it the screen on the input to the freshwater pump was fouled with black scum. We cleaned the screen and chlorinated the tank and have never had the foul smell/taste since in 9 years.

IHTH,

Curt

 

[Rode Trip]

That vacuum release means you have a clogged freshwater tank vent. Very important to clear, you can damage your tank otherwise. It will be located near the fill on the side of the hull.

Peggie Hall has a great informative book about getting rid of the odors, dealing with your head, holding tank, freshwater, etc.

Amazon.com

Vent lines are more than just letting the volume of air escape or fill as the tank volume changes, they're also important for allowing the aerobic bacteria to thrive while limiting the anaerobic bacteria (foul odor makers in the holding tank).