Home Dunk Tank

pfriedel · Apr 30, 2006

So this summer, rather than hanging all of my gear on the clothesline and getting liberal with the hose and hoping I get everything clean, I'm thinking about buying a big 30 gallon garbage can with lid and filling it with water to dunk rinse everything. But I don't want to have to constantly be filling a 30 gallon can full of water and dumping it out every weekend. (I'm cheap and it'd take too long to babysit.

) So I'm figuring I'd fill it once a month (or less), and leave it lidded the rest of the time. However, I figure that if I have a nice clean (ish) tank full of water, soaking up the sunlight, it's gonna funk up fairly quickly. To counter that, I figured I'd add a cup or so of bleach.

Should I worry that a 0.2% solution of bleach is going to wreck my neoprene and bcds, or is there something else I could use to keep the bacterial growth down?

tracker · Apr 30, 2006

I fill the bathtub and soak gear for a few, then turn on the shower for a final rinse. I hang everything in a doorway with a couple of towels on the floor(closets are full already). I'm no chemist, but I worry about using bleach.

Willie · May 1, 2006

pfriedel:
I'm thinking about buying a big 30 gallon garbage can with lid and filling it with water to dunk rinse everything.

I use a large wash tub with a very mild solution of Ocean Fresh Fabuloso and water to soak or rinse my gear. Then I hang it out to dry. It smells great for quite a while. I just cover the tub to keep stuff from getting in it and leave it in the garage.

Willie

johnnyseko · May 1, 2006

I've got a large rubbermaid trash bucket filled with water for a dunk tank. I change the water @ once a month or so. I dont put any chemicals in the water. It is in the garage and covered when not being used. I've had no problems with it getting funky. Not sure what would happen outdoors in the sun, though. I know I wouldnt want to use bleach, but I'm not sure if there is a real danger there.

airsix · May 1, 2006

Bleach will work. It's just chlorine. Or use chlorine tablets from the pool-care isle of your favorite store. On the pool isle at the store also grab a package of test strips. You just dip them and they change color to show the chlorine level in the water. Chlorine evaporates so rapidly that you ought to be able to shock the water once in a while and then wait just a couple of days for it to evaporate off (check with the strips) before using the tank to wash gear. Leave the tank uncovered or the chlorine won't evaporate off.

Alternatively, if you can find a shady spot and keep it sealed it should stay fresh for quite a while and you won't need to chlorinate it.

-Ben M.

Damselfish · May 1, 2006

Some people even have separate gear for using in chlorinated pools because it fades. Putting bleach or chlorine in your rinse water doesn't make sense to me.

airsix · May 2, 2006

Damselfish:
Some people even have separate gear for using in chlorinated pools because it fades. Putting bleach or chlorine in your rinse water doesn't make sense to me.

Chlorine evaporates quickly leaving pure water. I wouldn't hesitate to chlorinate a dunk tank to de-funk it. I'd just wait a few days for the chlorine to evaporate off before putting gear in it. You can use the cheap pool test strips to verify that the chlorine is gone.

-Ben M.

Fish_Whisperer · May 2, 2006

I went to the Farmer's Co-Op and picked up a 40-gallon Rubbermaid tub. It's just like any other dunk tank I've seen, and it will comfortably soak two full sets of gear.

Throw in a bottle of Sink The Stink and let 'er rip!!

pfriedel · May 2, 2006

Yeah, I'm not too terribly worried about the chlorine, really, just wasn't sure if there was something else convenient to add that would work to keep the biologicals down. I may get the garage cleaned out this summer and have space for it in there, but that's a long shot.

spectrum · May 2, 2006

Being in Wisconsin wit no salt water maybe this frugality makes sense but I spring for a fresh water fill after every dive day.

I fill the barrel while I do the final put-aways so it's usually sun warmed when I arrive from the next outing.

I just run fresh well water. I've only needed sink-stink once in 2 years and over 300 skin / scuba dives.

I have a concrete slab where I tend our gear in the warmer months. I just move the barrel a bit each time to water a different section of the lawn.

Pete

Home Dunk Tank

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