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Leak in holding tank???

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kayest
Deckhand

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12 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/29/2005 : 18:21:33

I am seeing a small amount of dark and unpleasant smelling water accumulating next to my holding tank. I think it may be a small leak in the tank. It doesn't seem to be the tank fittings, but I haven't ruled out other possible sources. Could be rain getting in and mixing with the filth beneath the holding tank. Maybe seawater seeping through a nearby through hull. In any case before I rip out the tank to check for leaks, my bright idea was to run some dye into the tank and see if the dye seeps out. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? Any suggestions on what dye I might use and so that I do not permanently stain the fiberglass?

-Steve

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2005 : 21:43:35

Steve,<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">...I haven't ruled out other possible sources. Could be rain getting in and mixing with the filth beneath the holding tank. Maybe seawater seeping through a nearby through hull.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">You're dreamin'.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">...my bright idea was to run some dye into the tank and see if the dye seeps out. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? Any suggestions on what dye I might use and so that I do not permanently stain the fiberglass?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Go for it. Consider food coloring rather than clothes dye. Or maybe something intended to amuse little kids. (No toy maker would sell, and no sane parent would buy, anything intended for kids that can't be cleaned up easily.) And realize that to do it right, this is going to involve a lot of deeply colored water. You'll need to fill the entire tank with a high enough concentration of coloring that even a very small leak would put a noticable amount of dye in the bilge. Be sure to give it enough time to seep out to where you can spot it before joyfully concluding that the tank isn't the problem. And rinse the tank out thoroughly first. Think of it as your first of several rinses to get the tank clean enough that you can stand the thought of removing the hoses and wrestling it out of there.

Consider reading, or even consulting, Peggie Hall, [url="http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/menunew.tpl?fno=31&uid=F"]The Head Mistress[/url]. She wrote the book on the subject:
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-- Leon Sisson

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2005 : 10:11:06

Here's what you can do.

First try to empty the holding tank of its contents. A few rinsings, filling the tank with freshwater from the pumpout fitting, would be nice. I do this at the end of the season to keep down odors over the winter.

Next, clean up te area around your holding tank so you can tell if it is leaking.

Now get some liquid holding tank deoderant, which is a vibrant blue, and mix it with water while filling your holding tank through the pumpout fitting. If your holding tank has a leak, then you should see the very blue mixture.

If you do have a leak, an added benefit when using the deoderant is that the clean up will smell a whole lot better!

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.