Water Purifiers

Water Makers are for converting sea (salt) water to fresh drinking water. Are their any practical water purifiers that will convert river or lake water into drinking water. It is understood that Louisiana water don't count.

A standard off the shelf Reverse Osmosis setup ought to do that, with a good prefilter.

Why not just fill the water tanks with tap water when you stop for fuel or to pump out? We have a 100 gallon tank and have no problems doing that. We do have a drinking water filter on a dedicated faucet in the galley that works fine. If you are worried about crud in your tank add a bit of chlorine every once in a while, per Pegggie Hall's directions, you can google for them.
Steve W.

Thanks guys.

This question was asked with the idea in mind of having an endless supply of water without having to make a 'water stop'.

A standard RO will not work on river water because it will not filter out chemicals. Oil and fuel in the water will actually ruin the RO watermaker. Last week I called a RO manufacturer and was told that info. They recommend RO for sea water and not fresh water.

Tony B wrote:
Thanks guys.

This question was asked with the idea in mind of having an endless supply of water without having to make a 'water stop'.

A standard RO will not work on river water because it will not filter out chemicals. Oil and fuel in the water will actually ruin the RO watermaker. Last week I called a RO manufacturer and was told that info. They recommend RO for sea water and not fresh water.

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*Hmm, while I wouldn't venture to put my opinion forth on any of the specific nautical topics here, would be embarrassed from all the pros here...

but, I know a little about water filtration, and can at least offer an opinion...

A decent RO unit will remove some chemicals, but it's not great at filtering out VOCs...

If you get a good pre(and even post)-filter that scrubs the VOCs, and then through RO* I would drink it, for sure bathe in it... could run it through a water distiller after that for drinking water...

sounds like a bit of effort but it's not really, well worth it for clean water,, I filter my tap water through a Berkey Filter...

I'm with you, I want to be able to make my own water,,, you're on a damn ocean (or river) for crying out loud,, and then pay for water,,, just seems wrong...

"This question was asked with the idea in mind of having an endless supply of water without having to make a 'water stop'. "

That "endless supply of water " may come at the cost of endless noisemaker hours , and a good bit of maint when NOT in service , if you read Da Book for most.

This IS a case where you must obtain and digest* the installation , operation and repair books BEFORE you spend big bucks!

*

These days if you operate* legal the sewage pump stop will be frequent enough that water is not a problem.


-- Edited by FF on Sunday 24th of July 2011 04:05:20 AM

FF wrote:

That "endless supply of water " may come at the cost of endless noisemaker hours , and a good bit of maint when NOT in service.

I am slightly familiar with commercial RO WaterMakers and they are every bit as 'sensitive' as the small boat owner units. Maintenance is a constant.

These days if you operate* legal the sewage pump stop will be frequent enough that water is not a problem.

Good point. We can go about a week or so on*our current 40 gal septic tank. About the same on our 150 gal. water tank. if really conservative. I was thinking that I could extend our range with a bigger holding tank and a smaller water tank and splurge on the showers and stuff.*



-- Edited by FF on Sunday 24th of July 2011 04:05:20 AM

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*Thanks for the thought. I had not thought about*holding tank*stops. I'm used to sailing in the Gulf and pump out after about 5 miles offshore or so.

Careful, to pump out legally in the Gulf of Mexico you must be at least 9 miles offshore, not 3 as along the other coasts.
Steve W

Steve wrote:
.....*to pump out legally in the Gulf of Mexico you must be at least 9 miles offshore, not 3 as along the other coasts.
Steve W

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*I never heard that before. I do know that this can happen locally and still be within the US Coast Guard laws. In certain places on the Gulf Coast*as well as the other lesser coasts, there exists what is known as Col-Regs lines. These are lines of demarcation that were set up for Collision Regulations as to what is considered inland and what is considered open water.

Anyway, the 3 mile sewage discharge *law starts at the Col-Regs line and not the shore line. Example: When I lived in Biloxi, Ms., there are barrier islands some are about 10 or more miles from the mainland. The expanse of water on the north sides ot the islands that face the mainland is called Mississippi Sound. The Gulf of Mexico starts on the south side of these islands. This line of demarcarion shows up on charts as the Col-Regs line and this is where you have to be 3 miles south of. In this case, it can be 12 to 15 miles out from the mainland. The ICW is between the mainland and the barrier islands. This part of the ICW is in Mississioppi Sound. Which incidentally gets rough on a regular basis.

If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

So, with the spirit in doing things outside of the box (meaning practical, effective, and cheap.,..)

Water filtration boils down to 2 things bugs and chems.

Unfortunately, an effective filtration strips everything, but we have relied for [Insert your belief on age of Man here] years, for water to provide our bodies with micro-nutrients/minerals, which is the catalyst for absorbing the working minerals/nutrients (that you usually see on standard viatamins), so without the small stuff you can't use the big stuff...

So, point being if you are filtering your water you ought to be taking a quality multi-vitamin,,, heck you ought to anyway..

*

But, I have made many many great VOC filters, with a 2-3' x 4"* PVC pipe, with a funnel cap, packed with alternating layers of activated carbon, sand, and cotton... works perfect for chems/VOCs.* Activated Carbon is easy to come by in quantity, it actually absorbs contaminants so is 'used up'.

And then Boil/distill/UV/RO to handle the bugs and should be good to go.

You can buy a good Activated Carbon filter, then feed to RO setup... OR distill or use an awesome Berkey filter,...

I would add an inline UV anyway even when using an RO, because it's cheap and maintenance free, and could be used exclusively for the bugs with the right setup, but mehhh, still like the final flow through my Berkey for drinking...

Check out http://www.boatcourse.com/Florida_PWC/02_LawsAndSafetyEquipment/11_Pollution_and_Garbage.aspx

It and many other sites contain the following:

Marine Sanitation Devices
Recreational boats must have an operable Marine Sanitation Device (MSD) if the boat has an installed toilet. Porta-Potties are not considered installed toilets.

There are three (3) types of MSDs:

Type I and Type II devices are both flow-through devices that treat sewage through maceration or disinfection before the sewage is discharged overboard.

A Type III device is a holding tank where the sewage is held until it can be properly disposed of at a pump-out facility. Holding tanks may be discharged outside of state waters (more than 3 nautical miles offshore in the ocean and 9 nautical miles in the Gulf of Mexico). Most Type III devices are equipped with a discharge option, in the form of a Y-valve. The Y-valve allows the boater to direct the flow of the sewage into the holding tank or directly overboard.

Vessels 65.6 feet/20 meters and under may use a Type I, II, or III MSD. If over 65.6 feet/20 meters, the vessel must install a Type II or III MSD.
All installed MSDs should have a placard on them that states the device is in compliance with USCG standards.
Steve W.

Tony B wrote:If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

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*Sewage dumping has nothing to do with the COLREGS

I suggest that you read: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/vwd/vsdmsd.cfm

as well as curl up with*the text*of 33CFR 80