Water purification addatives

[cawinter]

Good info

Thanks, Guy. I am just so tired of lugging the water jugs out to the mooring that this is definitely something I'll pursue this year.

 

[Art Mullinax]

Water makers

What about these reverse osmosis water makers we see installed on boats? How does the water taste? Would it be prudent to install a filter with these also?

 

[NateHanson]

RO water tastes perfectly lovely - of course so does a lot of tap water before you put it in your water tanks. So I'd say the issue is not only the source, but also the storage. A boat with a watermaker and anything but pristine storage tanks would probably benefit from adding a drinking water filter at least under the galley sink.

Nate

 

[Guy Stevens]

I miss RO

Being back in civilization one of the things that I miss most is RO water, tasted better than anything that you get on shore.

We have always run the filter for the whole boat as described above, just made sense to us.

Guy

 

[NateHanson]

You know Guy, we have an RO setup at home for drinking water. It feeds a separate tap at the kitchen sink.

Fresh water RO setups are much cheaper and simpler than marine ones for obvious reasons. You can get all set for about $150. Check out AirWaterIce.com they're a great helpful company.

(I actually got myself into this RO addiction through my other expensive hobby - Reefkeeping. If any of you are considering it, don't! It's makes boat ownership seem easy and inexpensive.)

 

[Jeff Asbury]

There is a great article in SAIL magazine

Drink Up!

There is a great article in SAIL magazine this month that addressees all of the issues on water purification and maintaining a fresh water clean system. It's on page 70 of the April issue.

http://www.sailmag.com/

 

[admirals barge]

there are filters and then there are filters. if you install a filter install a small screen filter from the tank and then go thru the filter to the pump. don't buy a filter with a air vent button because in time it will rust. there are filters available that clear bowls. also the filter should be a carbon block filter. this is a solid filter not a carbon covered paper filter. they are good for 6000 gallons or more. you can tell when the filter is getting dirty because the flow decreases. there is also a smaller version available 6" its good for 3000 gallons. these are available at marine stores that sell and install reverse osmosis systems. then you can put 1 tspn per 10 gals in the tank and you will never taste it.
happy sailing
greg

 

[P Abele]

You can get chlorine test kits at hardware or pool supply stores for pretty cheap to check the levels in your water. I forget the number, but seem to recall it was something like a 3 PPM which public water systems try to maintain. Basically, if you can barely smell the chlorine at the tap it is about right in the drinkable range. If it is strong it is in the shockable range. The most common problem we face with marine fresh water systems is bacteria. Although there are filters which can stop Giardia, those same filters will still let through otehr types of bacteria. Bacteria thrive in activated carbon filter elements and also in RO membranes, rendering each ineffective. I add a splash of chlorine bleach (5% soduim hypochloride solution, all brands are the same stuff) each time I fill up my tanks and haven't had any problems. Be careful of how much you put in since the (municipal) water you are adding may already have had chlorine added! Carbon filters will remove taste and odor, particularly chlorine, but just be very careful that you sanitize the system when your install the filter element. Plumb a carbon filter to the cold water line of one sink which you plan to drink out of so you still have access to unfiltered water which can be monitored.

 

[John Butler]

Sanatizing with Bleach

The following is from instruction insert for SHURflo potable water pump and includes the amount of bleach required:
(http://www.shurflo.com/pdf/rv/911_trouble_shooting/new/911-352-I.pdf)

SANITIZING
Potable water systems require periodic maintenance to deliver a consistent flow of fresh water. Depending on use and the environment the system is subject to, sanitizing is recommended prior to storing and before using the water system after a period of storage. Systems with new components, or ones that have been subjected to contamination, should also be disinfected as follows:

NOTE:The sanitizing procedure is in conformance with the approved procedures of RVIA ANSI A119.2 and the U.S. Public Health Service.

1. Use one of the following methods to determine the amount of common household bleach needed to sanitize the tank.
A) Multiply "gallons of tank capacity" by 0.13; the result is the ounces of bleach needed to sanitize the tank.
B) Multiply "Liters of tank capacity" by 1.0; the result is the milliliters of bleach needed to sanitize the tank.
2. Mix into solution the proper amount of bleach within a container of water.
3. Pour the solution (water/bleach) into the tank and fill the tank with potable water.
4. Open all faucets (Hot&Cold) allowing the water to run until the distinct odor of chlorine is detected.
5. The standard solution must have four (4) hours of contact time to disinfect completely. Doubling the solution concentration allows for contact time of one (1) hour.
6. When the contact time is completed, drain the tank. Refill with potable water and purge the plumbing of all sanitizing solution.


I'm a new Ericson 38 owner and am planning to do this over the coming weekend. Before discovering this thread and the SHURflo document, I attempted to clean the inside of the tanks with a clean new sponge (long arms required and I still can't get it all). I ended up with a lot of suspended slime which then clogged my in-line strainer that is before the pump. The strainer has been cleaned and now I'm thinking to drain the tanks of remaining water by siphoning into bilge instead of pumping more water with suspended slime through the fresh water pump and out the sink drain (is there another way?). I guess I should also check the bilge pump strainer (I assume there is one) once I figure out how to do that. I'm hoping the slime particles will pass through the bilge pump strainer. Once the remaining water in the tanks is drained I'll do the sanitizing with bleach thing and drain that water through the fresh water pump. Adding a filter will go on the list of things to do.

 

[CaptnNero]

Bypasses = no pink stuff in tanks

Between our RV(pre-boating) and the boats, I found two issues related to water taste. We used the vehicles most weekends and then a few weeks consecutive per year. First, I drain the water tanks once a month. When I fill the tanks, I use the Aqua Clear additive. Second, I minimize the amount of antifreeze put into the system with none ever in the tanks. To minimize the amount of the pink antifreeze I use on our E34, I do some bypassing. I did the same setup on our E32-200 and it worked for 5 winters without any freeze-broken lines. By not putting anitfreeze in either the fresh water tanks or the hot water heater, I've found after a good rinsing, the residual antifreeze taste is minimal. I had a bad experience with blowing the whole system out with air once on a trailer I had, so I don't trust that anymore with one exception you'll see shortly.

For winterizing the tanks are pumped dry. In the case of the hot water heater, it is pumped dry, bypassed and then drained into the bilge with the drain stopcock. I use my fresh water intake bypass to blow air in to clear any residual water the short distance back down into the tanks. The last step is to feed the anitfreeze into the bypass between the water tank valves and the pump and run it until all fixtures pump pink for hot and cold faucets.

Spring commissioning involves simply reversing the bypasses, making sure the hot water heater drain stopcock is closed, filling the water tanks, and pumping away until every thing runs clear and taste is decent. Some people put the antifreeze in the hot water heater. When I did that in my RV, it took many flushes to get the taste out of the hot side.

I installed the commonly available hot water heater by pass kit. Once you get to the heater, installing the kit is easy. The problem is getting to it since it's in the forward end of the starboard cockpit locker and it's fittings closely face the head bulkhead. I meticulousy measured where to cut the rear head wall so the tank fittings were accessible. I carefully cut the hole (dremel) without severing the hoses and cables behind it and saved the wall panel removed. I made an overlapping mitered teak frame and attached it to the panel so it could all be reattached with some flush screws later.

Bypassing the fresh water intake side of the water pump was trivial on the E34 since PO removed the bow water tank to install an AC unit. The hose still led to the pump; I cut it off just long enough to insert it in my antifreeze bottle. Then pumping from it was done by setting the valves for the phantom forward tank. On the E32-200, I had to install a t-valve with a short hose for the antifreeze bottle.

It could probably still use some of the sanitizing procedures posted here. I'll try that this year. We don't drink from the water tanks. We use bottled water for that. To conserve drinking water on anchor we drink as much alcohol as possible instead.

-- neal

 

[rgoff]

Yesterday I was sanitizing the water tank in my truck camper. I used the chlorine-to-tank capacity ratio mentioned in this article. Not sure how it compares to the previously mentioned one that uses ounces. Didn't get my calculator out.

http://www.rvbasics.com/techtips/sanitizing-your-rv-fresh-water-system.html