Solution:Let the initial quantities of milk and water in the vessel be ‘13x’ liters and ‘5x’ liters, respectively.
Quantity of milk taken out = (13/18) × 72 = 52 liters
Quantity of water taken out = 72 − 52 = 20 liters
According to question,
(13x − 52)/(5x − 20 + 51) = 8/7
91x − 364 = 40x + 248
51x = 612
x = 12
So, the initial quantity of water in the vessel = 12 × 5 = 60 liters