Making a fresh water tank

[Westerly23]

I’m trying to carry as much fresh water as possible, yet do it with out spending a fortune.

We currently have a stainless 6 gal. fitted under the V-birth in our sailboat, kind of a joke.

For $400 + we can have a custom polyethylene tank made. This could increase our capacity to nearly 30 gal.

But for the cost, I was thinking about using a 16” PVC or HDPE pipe, cutting the ends so the tank fits down into the v of the hull. I would drill for fittings and cap the ends.

The space I have to work with is 16.5” between two bulkheads. Side to side I have about 24” at the forward bulkhead and 32” at the aft one.

Any thoughts or cautions with using PVC or HDPE for holding fresh water? Would anyone anticipate taste or smell issues?

Thanks,

Justin

[Landlubber]

Using PVC plastic for potable water is one of the best products on the market. It is easy to cut, easy to glue, is very stable kept out of UV light especially, and is THE best product also for black water as it does not allow gasses to pass through (except after a looooong time), certainly better than other plastics.
Go for it.
You can of course use potable water gelcoats and make a tank in situ from fibreglass. It would use up minimum wasted space, provide maximum space for water, just put a flat sheet lid on it with silicon sealer when ready to finish off and screw down with s/s self tappers (use clearance holes in the lid section). Have fun!