We have water water everywhere, under us, over us but not a drop in our tank!
Finnish readers (or reader to be accurate) may be startled to know that in England since the year our narrowboat home first went in the water (1989), water provision has been privatised. Until then it was considered a Public Health Service and managed by the State on behalf of all the people.
Normally when we are cruising we have access to thousands of water points provided by British Waterways originally and now Canal and River Trust. The Trust has the job of negotiating with the providers across the country on our behalf in return for part of our licence fee. We carry a hosepipe with us and hook up to these points regularly (about every 3 weeks to date) to fill our onboard tank with clean, fresh water that we then use for cooking, washing, showering and flushing our toilet.
For the past 2 weeks we have been living off the boat as she has been in dry dock. We returned on board at the start of this week and have been living on her at the boatyard. As part of the work surrounding our time in dry dock we decided issues with our water tank needed resolving. For some years every time we fill up we create a flood on board as water spews out of holes at the top of the tank into the bow area, and then because of the bizarre drainage system, into the bilges which need mopping or pumping out.
Additionally we never knew how big the tank was, or indeed what state it was in. We knew we hadn’t been ill from consuming the water we poured and stored into it, but we weren’t sure it had ever been cleaned or refined in its 33 year lifetime. So, expensive though we knew it would be, we felt it a necessity and save on mops!
Our water tank takes up the whole of the bow floor of the boat, stretching right across from side to side. It is BIG, and it was nothing short of revolting when opened up. The bottom looked repulsive, but the water never drains from the very bottom, the outlet pipe taking water from an inch or two off the base. Even so, the thought that some of that gunge could be stirred or shaken into the water coming from the taps as we travel makes me very glad we’ve had the work done.
So the huge cover was removed by drilling off the rusted bolts, and that showed us that most water tank lids are secured by many more bolts than ours was! Rust had built up under the tank lid, expanding until the lid didn’t fit properly any more, and thus leaked. Now the tank and its lid have been cleaned, sandblasted, cleaned again and treated with a liner paint suitable for potable locations.
For the past week the tank has loomed like an empty chasm just outside the cabin doors ( good thing we don’t sleep walk!) whilst this lining paint dries. Watching paint dry is overrated and NOT a relaxing pastime I can report…at least not for us!
It has given us a chance to reflect on water, particularly it has been raining pretty torrentially here in Cheshire all week as we sit ironically stranded and waiting for water. The tank needs to dry before it can be sealed with its newly painted and treated lid, and then refilled with fresh water. Once we have the tank sealed and filled then we will be off once more. Other work is complete. We have our BSS (MOT equivalent) until December 2026, our batteries are encased in a newly welded battery tray with space for another when we can afford it, our hull is beautifully blacked for another 4+ years and the gearbox full of fresh oil.
So water – one little week of flushing the loo with watering cans of water from the canal makes me realise how little water we use for that purpose because we control the flush to what is needed. A household toilet uses between 6 or 9 litres each flush depending on whether it’s low flush or not. We with our watering can system have realised we use just half a litre a day to flush our loo, that’s a twelfth of the bricks and mortar house equivalent, and we work from home too, so we are here most of the time. We aren’t being profligate with water for flushing then.
For drinking water for the three of us (Steve, me and the dog), cooking, hand washing and washing up we initially bought 2 x 5litre bottles of water from the local supermarket. We have been refilling them thanks to the Wharf where we are moored and who are doing the excellent work for us. That’s helping with weight training – makes us realise how heavy water is, and how grateful that we don’t have to carry it daily as so many people in other countries do.
In terms of showers this week we’ve been incredible in terms of water saving – we haven’t brought any water at all onto the boat for showers. Nor do we smell! We have been very grateful that leisure centres have reopened post pandemic, and enjoyed hot showers for a very reasonable price together with a swim at one centre. The canal network does provide showers at some services but when we managed to get to one (couldn’t do this without a car), we found it locked and we couldn’t open it with our British Waterways key which was irritating to say the least. The leisure centre have proved closer, more convenient and more economical.
Maybe this weekend the water tank will be dry and sealed and we shall be able to refill it. Because we have now see its configuration of inlet and outlet we haven’t installed a gauge to indicate full, half full and empty because it would always read inaccurately so we just know it is big and actually it is bigger than we thought it was. Approximate calculations give us a tank of 550l or 120 gallons. That means as it’s nice and clean we may well move our 3 week fill up maximum to 6 weeks and if we run out for once (we never have) then we will shorten that time for the future.
It is astonishing how many times I have turned on a tap and looked in surprise as no water comes out. Even though I know we are here because we have no water, I still go to turn on the taps.
I know that when I do turn them and water gushes out I shall be hugely grateful and appreciative that I have the luxury and security of knowing that as part of our licence fee we have access to clean, safe water, for only the effort of connecting a hose to a standpipe every few weeks. For that reason, we won’t be sending Christmas cards this year but donating the money we would have spent doing so to the charity WaterAid to help their vital work in providing clean, safe water and sanitation.
Pickingupducks 