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We have noticed in some of the posts that people have installed water bladders e.g. under the beds. Does anybody have a recommendation for a 10-20 gal water bladder that is sturdy (not the flimsy 5 gal ones that sometimes come with the boat) and not too expensive, and for a pump and hardware that goes with it? When trying to find one online for our MacGregor 26X, I came across very large water bladders that were not what I looked for. If you found one what works well for a Mac, any links to company websites would be appreciated. Thanks, Silke & Felix

What do you want to accomplish with the bladder? 1 day 3 days 2 weeks?? I Have a 30 gallon bladder under the rear berth ( 05 M ) West Marine Pump and cheap button switch . I can go a week easy on that much water and the low volume...... is what helps me conserve.. I'll just about be ready to curse the low volume and remember THAT is why my water last.. I remember not to waste it.. on occasion if I let it run a bit.. I wasted what a qt. a 1/2 gallon? But never GALLONS.. Keep in mind weight and where you put it, effects any boat..I have Chosen.. to have a 50 HP 4 stroke and 24 gallons of gas and 30 gallons or water and 3 batteries and ME..... 204 lbs.. all that weight in the worst possible area for the best sailing.. at least in light winds.. I still register 3 to 5 knots when sailing and FOR ME.. If I wanted to go fast I would have bought a FOUNTAIN... Look in the mods section.. numerous members are VERY Happy with 20 gallons ( 4 5 gallon containers) up front series-ed / connected together.. That works too. Some have a bladder up front.. my system was under $200 .. Don't toss that Camper water bag out.. I... if I am going to be gone..... for awhile... I fill it and store it up in the V Berth.. IMHO I'd rather have it and NOT Need It..... than want it and not have it.. Rum is good but contrary To Captain Jack Sparrow .. It makes lousy pasta!

Water bladders are nice but expensive. Then you have to have a fill system and a way to drain/rinse it regularly.

I opted for the KISS system. 2 Coleman 5gal hard water jugs kept in the v-berth where we need extra weight anyway. Then I ran a hose through the filler to a pressure pump in the compartment under the sink. Then I ran a reinforced pressurized hose to a cheap sink faucet. Actually I replaced the stock sink with a $80 bar sink that came with the faucet.

We bring empties home each week and fill them when we return to the boat. When one runs dry we swap the intake hose to the other jug. The connecting hose slips over the hose that is coming out of the jugs. Works well for us.

Which reminds me.. I really need to address my bladder as it has sat for 2 years empty .. Peroxide is what I think I'll use..
I like the hard tanks as shown as well but I "feel" I want ? Need? More storage.. Maybe when I move south for good I will find with water storage as with other items I have installed.. that I need to rethink what I need..

RussMT wrote:Water bladders are nice but expensive. Then you have to have a fill system and a way to drain/rinse it regularly.

I opted for the KISS system. 2 Coleman 5gal hard water jugs kept in the v-berth where we need extra weight anyway. Then I ran a hose through the filler to a pressure pump in the compartment under the sink. Then I ran a reinforced pressurized hose to a cheap sink faucet. Actually I replaced the stock sink with a $80 bar sink that came with the faucet.

We bring empties home each week and fill them when we return to the boat. When one runs dry we swap the intake hose to the other jug. The connecting hose slips over the hose that is coming out of the jugs. Works well for us.

Outstanding idea!

ROAD Soldier wrote: Outstanding idea!

I can't take credit for the idea. I stole it from Duanne Dunn. It doesn't even need a vent. There is enough slop to allow air to enter the water jugs. The jugs get rinsed and dried at the end of the season. It works well for our needs.

But I will tell you that I like the idea that we fill the jugs with a known water source. Last year our marina posted signs that their well was contaminated. Glad we didn't fill our water jugs with that source. I didn't see any notice on the docks where folks were filling from hoses.
In the past on my Hunter and cruising Long Island Sound, I occasionally found some murky water sources. I hope it was iron, but either way, I pumped that junk into my tanks.

If we needed a lot of water, the water bladder might be the way to go. However, with my big butt, two 12gal fuel tanks and that Suzi 70 off the back, our Mac is aft heavy. So, adding more weight under the aft bunk was out of the question.

I've added a Reverse osmosis and filtration system to my house kitchen supply (we live off a good well pumped from our barn). How cost effective is a similar system, designed for the marine environment (salt water as well), and supplying only a small container on-the-go for installation in the Mac? This would beat the bad or skunky water supply mentioned above and reduce the load weight for better fuel economy/sailing speed.
It would seem to mainly require a 12v pump source to put a pressure head against the filter membrane when required for topping up the storage tank.

Can it be done without breaking the bank

Ross

I've bought one like the one in the link, 150 litres, it fits perfectly under the aft berth
http://www.nautimarketshop.com/shop/pro ... 104839.asp

We carry over 40 gallons on a trip and went with individual containers for many of the reasons stated above. I did look at a collapsible tank for under the V-Berth, but can actually get more water under there with the ....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... -16-a.html

.... 6 four gallon containers. I like them as they are easier to lift in and out and to take to shore in the dinghy vs. a 5 gallon or 7 gallon tank. Guess I'm getting old and weak . It isn't always convenient to dock where we go, but we can get in with the dinghy. We are almost always some place new so don't know what we will be up against. We carry 2 25 foot RV hoses and will use them if we are some place we can. Then it is just a matter of moving the hose from one tank to the next.

Reliance has the tanks in 4 gallon and 7 gallon. We have one....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ide-8.html

...7 gallon plumbed to the sink, left arrow above, with another one right next to it for storage. That 14 gallons with the other 6 four gallon containers gives us 38 gallons. We also keep another 4 gallon free standing in the aft berth area storage and usually 2-3 one gallon containers.

We pour from the 4 gallon in the back into the 1 gallon containers and water bottles as we use them. When it and/or the main 7 gallon container is empty we use.....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ide-8.html

...a 12 volt transfer pump to pump from the forward 4 gallon containers and the other 7 gallon container into the 7 gallon plumbed to the sink, the 4 gallon in the aft berth and 1 gallon containers. This takes place every 7-10 days as we only use about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons a day. We avoid an electric main pump to conserve water and only use a good hand pump for that. If we need water for cooking or some other items instead of pumping we just pour out of one of the 1 gallon containers.

By pumping out of various tanks we can help to keep the boat trimmed side to side and fore/aft to some degree.

With the above we can easily clean the containers when we get home. They are easy to take ashore in the dinghy. If one is contaminated or leaks (hasn't happened) it could be replaced very cheaply. I also read where it is hard to actually get the claimed capacity of the collapsible containers and that isn't true with the hard ones. Also the 4 gallon under the berth get a lot of stuff jammed on their sides and tops since on our trips we have things stored almost in any available space we can find. We can fill the space around those with no fears of hurting them. Also as they become empty they would contribute to boat buoyancy.

We like this approach and we can stay out over 30 days without having to take on water,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

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I have a fixed water tank with our factory installed system. I think I'm going to swap the tank out for one of these removable bottles to facilitate easier cleaning at the end of the season. Great ideas guys, thanks!

Depends how much water you want of course but we have a 150L tempo? under the rear berth which in reality holds about 100L there is also a twin Aluminium tank up the front under the V berth that holds approx 2x 50L.
The water comes in via a hose connection and can be under mains pressure or sucked in by a 45psi pump, any or all tanks can be emptied or filled by this pump and the inlet can be used as an outlet or external shower under the seat on the stern.
The galley has an outlet which is fed via a twin filter 2 and .5 micron filters we still have the original hand pump outlet in case of power failure but it bypasses the filters.
The filters on other applications can turn muddy bad tasting water into clear tastless water but haven't really tried that in the Mac the worst would be clean river water and mostly mains from a tap prior to launch or by containers when camped on saltwater.
Think our system is in the mods but not sure as haven't been there for a long while and last time couldn't find anything.

Lifting the 7 gallon Aquatainers from dinghy to is about as heavy a load as I would like to do.

I have one Of the crew take some load with a line from up top, both for ease reasons and also for crew bonding .... ....if only I had them do that with the motor.

Yeah pretty handy to be able to just drop a hose into the container while it's still in the dinghy but if rough still put the container up on the motor.

Catigale wrote:Lifting the 7 gallon Aquatainers from dinghy to is about as heavy a load as I would like to do.....

After 3 hernia operations my days of lifting the 7 gallon containers or even the 5 gallon ones in and out of a dinghy or into tight spots are over. The 4 gallon ones work perfect for us. The two 7 gallon ones stay put and or filled in the boat from the 4 gallon ones.

Likewise on the outboard. We went from the 60 lb. 5 HP down to the 40 lb. 3 1/2 HP. I knew that sooner or later either the 5 HP or I or both of us where going to end up overboard. Ruth can't lift the outboard, but we do tie a light line onto it and she runs it around a cleat and is my backup just in case I did drop it.

You guys that can still muscle that heavy stuff around enjoy it while you still can ,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Does anybody have a recommendation for a 10-20 gal water bladder that is sturdy (not the flimsy 5 gal ones that sometimes come with the boat) and not too expensive, and for a pump and hardware that goes with it?

As the others have said, the Aquatainers work well. Size is up to you. I use the 7 gallon ones from walmart and fill with a hose and keep them strapped in uner he front berth like many do.

For a budget pump/faucet I recommend the sureflo nautalis combo. The faucet has the electric switch for the pump built in so it turns the pump off and on automatically when you turn the lever. Only had mine one season but so far it has worked well.http://www.amazon.com/SHURflo-94-009-20 ... B0006JJ2QI Generally they can be found on ebay about half of msrp.



I have a question to throw in for the others. What type of tubing do you use to prevent getting a moldy flavor to the water? I used the pasic clear poly from the hardware store and after about a month it needs to be removed and cleaned. The tanks keep fine, but the poly tubing gets funky.