Fresh Water Filtration

[SteveK]

I have a carbon filter just before the pump and plan to add a fill sediment one. Not worried about removing chlorine while filling

 

[Hippocampus]

We lived for years with 2 100g tanks. One saw only RO water. The other a mix of RO and shore water.
If you use only RO water in your heads there’s virtually no build up of mineral deposits. Joker and flapper valves stay clean and head maintenance nearly disappears. If you use only RO water issues about chlorine and heavy metals disappear. Also it’s real hard for anything to grow in RO water if you have clean tanks before the conversion.
We also had the carbon and paper 3M 2 filter unit just after the pressure water pump. But that was so plumbing stayed clean. Problem is if you’re in a slip for any length of time you can’t make water. Source water is too dirty and you don’t want to screw up your membrane with petrochemicals.
So if you can go straight RO. If not “contaminate” only one water tank with water from shore and then stick in a carbon and <1u.
If you go RO make sure your diet is rich in minerals.

 

[woolf]

On our last boat, we had no filter system at all, but used RO water almost exclusively. Never had a problem, even in the tropics.


The current boat came with twin filters + UV lamp in line behind the pressure pump. We serviced and kept it, but would not worry to install new, given the last boat experience.

 

[Woodland Hills]

We have PUR filters installed on the afterdeck icemaker and on the cold water line in the galley. This also feeds the icemaker in the fridge.

 

[Dougcole]

Why do y'all go to so much trouble and expense to filter your water? Are you using your boats in 3rd world countries with water issues? Maybe Mexico? Is it that your tanks are dirty? Or your water lines? Are you trying to improve the taste?

 

[rslifkin]

Why do y'all go to so much trouble and expense to filter your water? Are you using your boats in 3rd world countries with water issues? Maybe Mexico? Is it that your tanks are dirty? Or your water lines? Are you trying to improve the taste?

I'm honestly (I swear) not trying to be rude or to stir things up, I just don't understand it for a boat that is used where there is clean municipal water and if your tanks are kept clean.

Even after thorough flushing and disinfection of the lines and tank, I find our water ends up with a bit of an odd smell and taste if we're not going through it quickly. It's most noticeable for the first bit out of the tap until the lines flush through, as a lot of the lines (and the pump) are in the engine room and get pretty warm when running. Drinking the water doesn't produce any apparent issues, but it would be nice to filter it and get rid of the smell / taste, especially at the galley faucet.


Might help out with taste when taking on water in places where the water is safe, but just doesn't taste great for whatever reason.

 

[snacks4you]

Berkey for great water!

My wife and I use a Berkey water filter for drinking water. Check it out by searching for Berkey water filters. Simple and can filter contaminated sources or just nasty dock water that results inn fantastic tasting and pure H20!

 

[Todd R]

Why do y'all go to so much trouble and expense to filter your water? Are you using your boats in 3rd world countries with water issues? Maybe Mexico? Is it that your tanks are dirty? Or your water lines? Are you trying to improve the taste?

Can never be too safe....Article from 2019

BREAKING: New analysis indicates that toxics were present in Wilmington drinking water at extreme levels

BREAKING: New analysis indicates that toxics were present in Wilmington drinking water at extreme levels | The Progressive Pulse

 

[Hippocampus]

Cruise US east coast and eastern Caribbean. Have much more concern when in the USA than Caribbean about water quality. In the marinas serving mega yachts and or charter boats like IGY or Sunsail/Moorings water quality has been good. Town water along the US east coast has been spotty. Some good. Some disgusting. That was part of the reason to switch to RO. That’s a huge game changer. The other part is not having to severely ration use when away from a fresh water source.

 

[C lectric]

I am not commenting on the installation of a house system of filters or a faucet filter.
Do it to take the dirt out of the the tank water.

BUT it would help a LOT if you filtered the water that you put into the tank from dockside systems. Most town systems in my experience are quite good but nonetheless dirt can enter, Filter it out before it get into the tanks.

If your tanks are dirty then do both, before the tanks and at the faucet.

 

[Frank60]

We just use a Brita pitcher to filter our drinking water. Installing an inline filter just seems like filtering a lot of water that doesn't need to be filtered unless your water source has sediment that you want to filter out before putting it in your tank. That's a different problem than just purifying your drinking water.

The pitcher filters plenty fast enough to use for all of your drinking water, and it's cheap and easy. We use it for all drinking needs including making coffee and tea. Of course not as easy as just turning on the faucet when you want water.

You can get the pitcher with one filter for as low as $20 on Amazon. Six replacement filters are $20.

 

[SteveK]

..................

You can get the pitcher with one filter for as low as $20 on Amazon. Six replacement filters are $20.

Frank. I used those at home with a full size fridge, gone in one evening. On a boat no way, small fridge.
I can get a charcoal filter canister & cartridge that will last many months, a season on one filter for about $50. I plan to change the filter when the taste is off.
I do not think those are cost effective any longer.

 

[catalinajack]

Makes some sense except you are perhaps not aware of filters that provide Brita type water with a dedicated spigot at the galley sink. A Seagull IV is one but there are others. Our Seagull came with the boat. It provides all drinking water, coffee water, and ice making. No need for a space-eating water pitcher. The filter lasts us (full time live aboard) about a year. Boat choices. Plenty of them.

We just use a Brita pitcher to filter our drinking water. Installing an inline filter just seems like filtering a lot of water that doesn't need to be filtered unless your water source has sediment that you want to filter out before putting it in your tank. That's a different problem than just purifying your drinking water.

The pitcher filters plenty fast enough to use for all of your drinking water, and it's cheap and easy. We use it for all drinking needs including making coffee and tea. Of course not as easy as just turning on the faucet when you want water.

You can get the pitcher with one filter for as low as $20 on Amazon. Six replacement filters are $20.

 

[firehoser75]

Like catalinajack, our boat came with a Nature's Pure dedicated spigot at the galley sink. It is my understanding that Nature's Pure and Seagull are basically the same company with comparable filtration. My filter is effective (at least to a point) at removing metals as well (we have an aluminum tank), the filters are about $85 US each and last us a entire season (4 months full time) and are replaced annually (start of season) just cause that is what I like to do. The filter specs are impressive, and more importantly the water tastes great with no smells at all.
I also like to keep the tank clean, so I prefilter at the dock as I fill the tank. It is easier to keep the tank clean than it is to try to effectively clean it out after the fact We use the NP filter for drinking water, cooking water, tea, and coffee.

We are happy with it.

 

[rslifkin]

Nearly a year later and with me in the midst of a water tank (and partial plumbing) rebuild, it's just about time for me to go filter shopping. So it seems like a good time to bring this thread back up.

In particular, I'm curious how Steve Mitchell's install has worked over the last year, as it's pretty similar to what I've got in mind so far. The big question is how much dirt the sediment filter has picked up.

I'm currently thinking of the following setup, but if the pre-filtering sediment out of the tank water with one of those 20 micron inline hose filters keeps the sediment filter pretty clean, I might skip it and just run 2 filters.

• 1 micron sediment filter (Pentek DGD-2501)
• GAC (granular carbon) + KDF filter (Pentek DBC-10EX2)
• 0.5 micron carbon block (Pentek Floplus 10BB)

I figure that setup (with pre-filtration for sediment when filling the tank to keep the tank clean and make it easier to keep sterile) should be enough to keep the water clean, drinkable, and good tasting from pretty much any biologically safe municipal water source. Considering the crap (lead, etc.) that ends up in the water systems in some places, I figure the extra filtration can't hurt.

 

[stevemitchell]

In particular, I'm curious how Steve Mitchell's install has worked over the last year, as it's pretty similar to what I've got in mind so far. The big question is how much dirt the sediment filter has picked up.

I'm very pleased with the system. Not only is it catching a lot of stuff, but the water definitely tastes better, and the GPM is way better with the bigger filters than the smaller ones.

I have changed the filters twice in the last year, and have noticed a slight decrease in GPM as they age.



Here's the first filter from the last time I changed it.

 

[rslifkin]

That's enough junk in the sediment filter to justify keeping it, I think. So provided I can make the setup fit in an accessible spot for filter changes, I'll go for the triple filters.

 

[stevemitchell]

That's enough junk in the sediment filter to justify keeping it, I think. So provided I can make the setup fit in an accessible spot for filter changes, I'll go for the triple filters.

I agree! It was pretty gross looking. And my input water source is either dock water, filtered with an RV/boat in-line water hose filter that gets replaced every few months, or my watermaker.

 

[koliver]

I agree! It was pretty gross looking. And my input water source is either dock water, filtered with an RV/boat in-line water hose filter that gets replaced every few months, or my watermaker.

Mine shown here was after 1 year, on a whether it needs it or not schedule. It usually looks like this. From a shallow well in my back yard. The water after this filter tastes sweet, is what we have been drinking for 20 years without pause.
This shows that those filters work well and just keep on filtering.

 

[guy with a boat]

Mine shown here was after 1 year, on a whether it needs it or not schedule. It usually looks like this. From a shallow well in my back yard. The water after this filter tastes sweet, is what we have been drinking for 20 years without pause.
This shows that those filters work well and just keep on filtering.

You can be pretty sure that you didn’t waste money by changing it too soon…

 

[AlanT]

To the OP: When we were living aboard, our KISS solution was a half gallon sized decanter that incorporated a filter which we kept in the fridge. I like drinking my water cold in hot climates, and adding ice from the deckfill water was not an option I liked. I don't remember if it was a brita or another brand but it was cheap, easy to replace the filters periodically and always delivered what we needed when we needed it. We made large ice cubes with it (Tennis ball size) which lasted many a Dark & Stormy.

 

[koliver]

You can be pretty sure that you didn’t waste money by changing it too soon…

My annual change happened today.
I now use a 2 stage filtering system. The second stage is before a UV light that counts down the days till the lamp needs replacement. This morning its warning beeper told me it is time. These are the old filters, #1 in line before the newer #2 stage, but both started with new filters 365 days ago.

The stark difference between the two illustrated how well the first filter is working.

 

[Stout]

Koliver, are those the 2.5” x 10” 5 micron filter spun rope elements?