I zapped my two water tanks with 4 oz of chlorine bleach per 5 gallons of
water capacity per Peggie's book on odors and had a result I can't
explain. Hopefully someone can.

Since I bought my sailboat in 1996 I have had a problem with
the pressure water pump kicking in every couple of minutes. I normally keep
the pump turned off except when using hot water, as I have foot pumps for
both tank and lake water. When I bypass the water heater for the winter
the problem goes away. I have remade all of the water heater connections
and cannot find any evidence of a leak. Because of the installation I have
very little access to the tank.

After treating the tanks, AND the water heater, the pump did not kick in for
several hours, not until after the heater was turned on. After the water
was hot the pump kicked in every hour +/-.

The presence of a leak is obvious, but why would it get better after
cleaning the system?

Tsailor