How to Remove diesel residue from water tank?

some friends who have found themselves needing to live full-time on their new boat have discovered their water tank is fouled by diesel fuel. Disassembly and steam cleaning is prohibitively expensive.
does some one know a better way, rinsing with a solvent perhaps?
this would be really valuable info to these good folks..please help if you can.. Thanks!

Edited and completely revised to try and answer the ACTUAL question.

I agree with the ideas listed below. I also have had great results with the orange based products for removing grease and grime. We use the orange based solvent to remove Sap, oil, acid rain, and more and I would think but don't know it's biodegradable. Plus it smells so pretty!

Hello Ted,

I checked with my "boat man" and he said that there is only two ways to do that. Replace the tank, or install a reverse osmosis water filter (about $3K to $8K).

Good luck.

Tom

Diesel,
what we're trying to do here is get the diesel residue out of a water tank, not water out of a diesel fuel tank. Evidently someone 'accidently' pumped diesel fuel in a water storage tank. The water is used for washing and bathing, but not drinking, and has been fouled by the diesel fuel..any ideas for this case?
Thanks for responding..

Silver,
yup, that's what we're trying to avoid; disassembling the tank and steam cleaning would be prohibitively expensive. I think we're looking for
some liquid that will wash out the diesel residue w/o leaving a residue of it's own..?

Well....seems to me that if the water tank is only used for washing and bathing, rinsing the tank several times with a laundry or dish washing detergent solution should remove the diesel fuel residue. This, of course, is after the tank has been siphoned dry and is followed by rinsing the tank several times to remove the detergent residue. This may seem labor intensive, but if cost containment is what you are after, it is probably the best way to go. I hope this helps.

Dan

"Simple Green" cleanser is non toxic and biodegradable. If the tank's plastic, I'd give it a shot in a 1 gallon plastic container fouled with diesel fuel first, as a test. In in my experience Simple Green can remove almost anything, depending upon concentration. Will need plenty of rinsing to remove the scent, but that's a minor issue. Simple Green isn't all that expensive, either. Even if it doesn't work, no harm done.

I second the motion on Simple Green. That stuff rocks! It also works better than anything else I've tried to remove that stubborn black brake dust from automotive alloy wheels. Good luck!

Dave

I have also heard people mention simple green for removing the odor of diesel. When I used to work on sailboats we had that happen and we ended up putting in dishwasher soap (low sudsing) fill it 3/4 then letting it splash around then empty and repeat 3 times. It never totally went away, but got a lot better. We usually add a pint of vodka or gin per 100 gal to cut any additional odor every spring to all the boats. I wouldn't drink the water in any case unless an R/O was used.

I can't help on the original question, but I can add this:
Simple Green has an industrial version that is colorless and orderless(er). I can't remember the name right now (it couldn't be something easy like Simple Clear).

I too have used Simple Green for many degreasing jobs and it works really well. The problem I have with it is the persistence of it's odor (though it is preferable to the smell of diesel fuel), which is why I recommended the household detergents.

Dan

Hum,,I remember hearing from the fuel/oil cleanup crews they have a bacteria that eats up the diesel and fuel oils
non-toxic fish.people safe..

..thank you all very much! I have forwarded your ideas to the boat -- (they are using a slow 'air' connection, no hard telephone line on the dock yet..)

..if you have any additional ideas, please let's hear them, thanks..!