Thread: Water quality
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Old 03-28-2014, 12:40 PM   #19
jungpeter
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City: Everett
Vessel Name: LIBERTY
Vessel Model: TOLLY 48
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 502
Quote:
Originally Posted by twistedtree View Post
I think your concept of RO water is all wrong. RO water is probably the purest water you will encounter anywhere on the planet short of distilled water. Bacteria and viruses do not pass through. Now that doesn't mean your tank and pipes are clean, but it has nothing to do with RO water.

I think much of the fuss about water quality, at least in the US, is just like the fuss over fuel additives. Its easy to scare people into thinking there is something bad in their water or diesel and that they should buy your product, and conveniently impossible to prove that their product does nothing useful at all. Now I'm not saying that a UV sterilizer doesn't sterilize, just that there needs to be something in the water to sterilize for it to be useful and worth buying.
"...RO water is probably the purest water you will encounter anywhere on the planet". That's a pretty broad statement, given the vagaries of typical installation, maintenance, and use of RO aboard recreational vessels.

"...Bacterial and viruses do not pass through". Really? Guess I'll have to defer to differing opinions voiced by Internists and Oncologists working at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a medical institution founded by Nobel laureates in the field of blood disorders instead. There's a real good reason intakes to RO systems are never properly placed downstream from head or holding tank discharges, nor operated in suspect environments.

I'm reminded of the old story of the guy walking down the street in Miami on a hot summer day carrying a folded umbrella:

Onlooker: Why in the world are you carrying a folded umbrella in Miami in the summer?
Guy: That's not an umbrella. It's an elephant protector.
Onlooker: Huh? There isn't an elephant within 1000 miles of Miami!
Guy: Works good, huh.

In a sense, post-water tank sterilization of water aboard is a bit like an elephant protector, or any other form of insurance. However, as one who has been stepped on by the elephant in this regard (you really don't want to contract a blood infection. Trust me on this), I'll continue to pay for, and use sterilization downstream from my water tank, no matter the source of the water that goes into my tank. The few hundred bucks it costs pales in comparison to the downside.

And I'm gratified that this thread has resulted in some meaningful dialog. Only good things come from such discussions.

Regards,

Pete
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