Most Live Aboard Dive Charter vessels provide large fresh water dip or rinse tanks for their customers to rinse their scuba  

equipment in after a dive.  Certainly its convenient – even necessary.

You know, those big communal tanks of fresh water the crew provides you for the convenient rinsing of your dive gear,

wetsuits, fins, regulators, and camera equipment?

Ever wonder what’s in them?

I mean besides the water!

Well it turns out that, among other things there is very likely to be high concentrations of some pretty nasty pathogens -

especially late in the afternoons.  Where they were tested most contained significant levels of microorganisms.  There is

even a recent  documented case where conjunctivitis was transmitted among several divers on one boat and from one boat to

another.  It was believed to have been spread through the use of a communal rinse tank. 

I mean it makes sense when you think about it - all those divers on board rinsing their regs and masks in the same tank.  If

someone has an eye infection, a gum disease, or even a cold the likelihood is that it’ll end up stewing in the warm bath of

fresh water you dip your gear into. 

And when you think about it where does that “fresh” water the crew fills the dip tanks with come from?  In many countries the

tap water is questionable, then too it may be sloshing around in the ship’s fresh water tank in the hold for days too.

So, the recommendation is to rinse your own reg/mask using plenty of running fresh water and an alcohol swab to be sure its

clean.  Avoid dipping it into the communal rinse tank unless the crew changes the water regularly and rinses with bleach.

Some crews who are aware of this problem will rinse and change the water in the tanks on a regular basis – like daily – and

use a strong solution of bleach to kill any microorganisms.

You can get more information on this at the “Undercurrent” website - www.Undercurrent.org.

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