Using new gray water tank for fresh water?

[kmtanner]

Currently renovating a trailer and starting from scratch as far as the tanks go. My main question is:

Can I purchase tanks that are advertised as gray water tanks (looking at some from VTS) as fresh water tanks? I didn't see anything on the page about the tanks being food grade or not.

Also, what size gray water tanks and fresh water tanks do people recommend?? There are two of us, and we are planning on doing a fair amount of boon docking, with a navy shower every so often. We have a 1963 24' Tradewind.

Thanks for any advice!

[Dingo Girl]

I'd call VTS they would able to tell you what their tanks are made of. I personally will not be drinking the water from my new fresh water tank. Plastic tea.

[55AS]

I think most of their tanks are polyethylene. If you have room, I would aim for 30 gallons fresh and 30 gallons gray.

[kmtanner]

Dingo Girl, thanks for the response! I contacted VTS and they confirmed that the tanks would be interchangeable as gray or fresh water tanks. It sounds like they only differ in the sizes of the fittings. I'm not planning on drinking from the tanks often, but would like to have the option if needed. Are you worried about stuff leaching out of the plastic, the taste, or both?

BambiTex, that is about the size I was thinking! Thanks for the confirmation. If it works out we were thinking about getting four of the 16 gal. gray water tanks from VTS because they fit nicely within our frame. Still figuring out the arrangement but we are contemplating alternating gray, fresh, gray fresh to help distribute weight more evenly. The only problem with that is we can't connect our gray water tanks and would have to have separate fill/drains for both of them...

[JCWDCW]

Quote "I'm not planning on drinking from the tanks often, but would like to have the option if needed. Are you worried about stuff leaching out of the plastic, the taste, or both?"
Polyethylene whether for grey water or fresh won't have much to leach out. Polyethylene is nearly pure plastic melted in place by rotational moulding. For use as enclosed tanks there won't be any UV stabilizers. I would accept the mfr's statement the grey water is OK
JCW

[USAtraveler]

The tank you considering will be marked for recycling with #2 inside a triangle. This indicates it is made of high density polyethylene (HDPE). All food grade containers are made of HDPE #2, but not all HDPE #2 containers are food grade.
In some processes, a mold release agent is what is used to help get the newly shaped plastic off of the hard mold that it was shaped from during the manufacturing process. Without the release agent, the new plastic shape will likely stick to the mold. Some mold release agents enable much faster production than others, but may be toxic to your health if later used with food. If its not marked "food grade" you just don't know. In other words, you pays yer money and you take yer chances.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by BambiTex

I think most of their tanks are polyethylene. If you have room, I would aim for 30 gallons fresh and 30 gallons gray.

My 30 ft. FC came with 54 fresh and 38 grey/black.
With the bathroom sink plumbed into the black tank, I wish it was a lot larger.
It fills up too fast.

[Al and Missy]

Depending on how you plumb them, the gray should probably be the same size as the fresh.

Regarding connecting the tanks, can't you put a fitting in the bottom of the tanks and connect them together and let gravity do the work, at least in the fresh?

Al

[MelGoddard]

For drinking and coffee water, we just buy three bottles of water at Sobeys, and when empty, use them to refill with Brita water.
The fresh water tank is used for back-up, when the camp supply quits. (It's happened, in the middle of my shower. Used the fresh tank to finish.)

[GammaDog]

We routinely use the water from our fresh tank even when there is a campground hookup available. We have an in-line water filter in the cold line to the kitchen faucet. Never tasted a bit of plastic. I have, however, encountered nasty tasting water in my travels and been grateful that we travel with a full tank of the last, good fresh water we encountered. Many threads on that topic... we are in the "travel full" camp.