# Drinking water tank water.



## pyewackette (Apr 2, 2011)

My boat carries 2 water tanks, 50 and 30. The water in them is regularly used. I average going through one tank a month and so the water is constantly being replaced. But, we never drink it or cook with it. We always buy bottle water. 

The other day I say a product that 'freshen' or removes order, or funny tastes.

I was wondering, how many actually drink the water in their tanks?

I would like to stop buying bottled water. And just use the water from the dock water supply.

I guess I just assume the water lines at the house are clean enough to drink from but wondering if the water systems on an average boat would be just as clean.

I do run bleach through the system every now and again.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Ewwwwww


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

I never drink water from my 75-gallon tank. For drinking purposes, I use bottled water. I do, however, use the water to wash dishes and shower. However, before doing so, I make sure it is well chlorinated. I add a full cup of bleach to the tank when I fill it, and while this is far more than necessary to sterilize the water, I just feel better about it. There is a recommended formula for water sterilization, which if I recall correctly is 8 to 16 drops per gallon. And, if you cannot smell the chlorine when running water from the tap, there's a good chance that there is not a sufficient amount in the water to make it sterile.

My boat has been sitting for a couple weeks, therefore, next week, I'll completely drain and flush the entire freshwater system, then after refilling, hit it with an extra load of chlorine, flush it through the system until the tank is half empty, then fill it to capacity. This should make the water safe enough for pretty much everything when I make that next 3-day cruise down the bay.

Good Luck,

Gary


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## FSMike (Jan 15, 2010)

Wow.
Different strokes for different folks indeed.
Not only do I drink from my tanks, there have been times I was overjoyed to be able to fill them from a primitively built, unfiltered catchment system.
In the Bahamas we figure if there are frogs swimming around in your catchment tank, then the water is not poisonous so it's good enough to drink.
Be that as it may, I bet my immune system is better than all you cautious bottled water drinkers.


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

I regularly use the water tanks onboard for drinking, washing cooking, etc. Regular use, regular cleaning, and I fill from municipal supply. I do use a charcoal filter on the tap for drinking to make it taste good. Very few bugs are resistant to chlorine, and those would be make the evening news if they were coming from a municipal supply. Residual chlorine = safe water. Can check residual chlorine with a simple paper strip if concerned.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Giardia


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

When we refill our tanks (110 gallons) we run the source water through a 10 Micron filter canister and add 2 Oz of unscented bleach to each tank. The following day we add AquaBon water treatment to each tank. Water from the tanks is drawn through a 2 micron activated charcoal filter (Pentek). The water that is used for drinking, making GatorAid, etc. is run through a final, under counter, SeaGull filter and has no unpleasant taste or scent. We clean and flush the entire system annually and replace the filter cartridges and have been very pleased with the results for 10+ years.

FWIW...


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

deniseO30 said:


> Giardia


Not a significant threat when using a municipal system to fill tanks, there is a greater risk of giardia contact when swimming n the marina pool.

There are several bugs that are not killed by chlorination, but again, I don't consider them a viable threat if filling from a municipal source. Streams, cisterns, ponds, long stagnated sources, are a different story.

No wrong answer here though. Everyone should do what they are comfortable with.


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## bristol299bob (Apr 13, 2011)

I fill my main tanks through an omnifilter whole house filter that I have modified so that I can attach a garden hose. I also treat the tanks with bleach at each fill up. The water in my main tanks taste good, better than some municipal water ive had. But I don't drink from the main tanks typically.

For drinking water I have two 5 gallon food grade jugs that are mounted in the lazarette. They are easily removable for thorough cleaning or replacement if they get funky. I can fill those with bottled water or from the omnifilter.

I have a separate pump/faucet at the galley sink for those tanks. A hand operated pump for drinking water, a foot pump for wash water.


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## sailak (Apr 15, 2007)

We drink from our water tanks. What we have done is open up the inspection ports and clean them with bleach. The water at the harbor is chlorinated city water so I'm not really concerned about sickness. For drinking we have a Pur filter pitcher that we use to take the smell/taste out of the water with -- that being said I often just drink from the tap with no ill effect.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

FSMike said:


> Wow.
> Different strokes for different folks indeed.
> Not only do I drink from my tanks, there have been times I was overjoyed to be able to fill them from a primitively built, unfiltered catchment system.
> In the Bahamas we figure if there are frogs swimming around in your catchment tank, then the water is not poisonous so it's good enough to drink.
> Be that as it may, I bet my immune system is better than all you cautious bottled water drinkers.


Mike your just very very lucky!


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## northoceanbeach (Mar 23, 2008)

I bought my boat with unknown water in the tank. I've since used half and filled and use half that and filled. What can I do to clean it and start using it to drink? Taste doesn't bother me. I've been thinking about this. I don't have a good way to empty it. It has a hand pump sink and probably would take hours to pump it all empty. Just out some bleach in and call it good?


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## bristol299bob (Apr 13, 2011)

You should have an access plate (if you dont consider adding one). 

I empty the tanks in the winter. To empty the tank i use a small rule pump. I wired in a cigarette lighter adapter to power it. And i have a length of hose connected to the discharge. I drop the pump in the tank,plug it in, and let it empty the tank. I use a sponge to scrub and get the last of the water.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Even municipal water systems kill people. 
Why would anyone even chance it. Without bottled water, using your water tank as your only source of water is risky at best.
I can just imagine what it would be like to have 4-5 people on board, 3 days out, and you all have violent diarrhia with no water to drink. 
Now there is some good planning.


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## olddog60 (Oct 20, 2011)

Yes, I drink, cook, shower with my water tank supply. I get my water from a safe shore supply. But here are a few things that I have done or currently do to ensure my water is safe.

Water tank treatment (Peggy Hill)

Turn water heater off at the breaker before beginning. Do not turn it on again until entire recommissioning is complete.
1. Prepare a chlorine solution using one gallon of water and 1/2 cup Clorox or Purex household bleach (5% sodium Hypochlorine solution ). With tank empty, pour chlorine solution into tank. Use one gallon of solution for each 5 gallons of tank capacity, which results in 4 Ounces of bleach for 10 gallons of water.
2. Complete filling of tank with fresh water. Turn on every faucet and allow water to run until what's coming out smells strongly of bleach.
3. Turn off faucets--but do NOT turn off the pump...it must remain on to keep the system pressurized so that the solution remains in the lines. Allow to stand for at least 3 hours, but no longer than 24 hours.
4. Drain the tank through every faucet.
5. Refill tank with clean fresh water and drain again through every faucet.
6. To remove excess chlorine taste or odor which might remain, prepare a solution of one quart white vinegar to five gallons water and allow this solution to agitate in tank for several days by vehicle motion (iow, go sailing and tack a lot).
7. Drain tank again through every faucet, and refill with potable water.

Beneteau Horizons

How to Purify Water amount of bleach per gallon


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

For my tanks, (30 gallons) this would mean that I would be pouring 3 cups of bleach and 1 1/2 gallons of vinegar into the ocean.
We use a small chlorine puck to make the water safely useful, but we still show concern for our environment. 
If we do need to use some of the water for washing, doing dishes, etc, we will boil it, but even boiled we still don't drink it.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

Mike, you must be the luckiest guy on the planet. Especially if you drink water from a source that you believe is safe because you've seen frogs swimming around in it. Keep in mind that those frogs eat many of the other insects and insect larvae that also survive in those waters, critters that can eat holes in your intestines and take up refuge in other body parts. There are loads of parasites in those ponds. Now, I have to admit it has been a long time since I was in the Bahamas, but if I recall, the municipal water supplies there were not all that safe. Yeah, you might get away with drinking tapwater, but that doesn't mean your immune system is any better than anyone elses - it just means you've been quite fortunate.

As for bacteria resistant to chlorine, I don't know of any. In fact, good old Clorox Bleach, especially in heavier concentrations, kills all living cells. It doesn't discriminate. When I was a young man and working for University of Maryland Hospital, one of the projects we were researching was trying to find a new antibiotic that would be effective on TB. We would pipette live TB into Petri dishes, then add tiny tabs coated with various, new antibiotics to see which ones killed this very virulent strain of TB. We wore full body, disposable coveralls, full face mask, gloves, booties, etc... - that virus was really nasty.

Our pipets were precision, glass tubes that accurately measured microscopic amounts of the virus in solution. They cost a bundle, and normally, they were washed, then steam sterilized. About half of them usually ended up broken just from the sterilization process. I made the big mistake of adding a capfull of Clorox Bleach to the washer, which was less than an ounce. The pipet washer ran all night long, probably a couple hundred gallons of water went through them, then then next day they were steam sterilized and dried for use.

We thought we had discovered the miracle antibiotic - one that killed the TB instantly. Each day, when we pipetted the TB into the petri dishes it died - instantly. After a week, we got a new shipment of pipets in the lab, went to work, and damned if the TB didn't grow just like it always did. It didn't take long to narrow down the reason the virus died. It was the residual chlorine in the pipets.

Now, if anyone out there knows of any form of bacteria that is resistant to chlorine, please feel free to post the information. I, for one, would really like to know about it.

Cheers,

Gary


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

I don't think anyone is debating the effectivness of chlorine. 
It kills everything, including us.


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

Gary,
When I said there were several "bugs" resistant to chlorine I was referring to protozoa and viruses, not bacteria. Particularly giardia, cryptosporidium, entomoeba, and the likes. They are highly chlorine tolerant but also nearly non-existant in municipal water supplies. 

Significantly greater threat from surface water sources, even swimming pools. 

Dog Ship- a quick Pub Med search shows 79 deaths related to drinking water in the US from 1971-2004. Not perfect but not bad for a population of 200-300M imho.

Any system aboard that is required to maintain life should have redundancy if you are going offshore. Again, only my own opinion. More than one pump, more than one fire extinguisher, more than a single flare, more than one can of beans,  point is I take more than one water source. I carry bottled water as well when off shore.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

We do carry some bottled water, and will drink that if we're drinking a glass with a meal, for example, but we use our tank water for coffee, tea and other hot beverages as well as washing up, of course.

We use a Brita faucet filter, and everything we drink goes through that. Since the filter is selectable, we don't waste filter life on wash water and water not intended for consumption.

There's no filter in the head so we use tank water directly for brushing teeth with no ill effect to date...


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Yes Silvio, the numbers are extremely low because by the time people start to die we have long since found the source of the problem. 
It doesn't tell you how many people fell ill.


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## rockDAWG (Sep 6, 2006)

FSMike said:


> Wow.
> Different strokes for different folks indeed.
> Not only do I drink from my tanks, there have been times I was overjoyed to be able to fill them from a primitively built, unfiltered catchment system.
> In the Bahamas we figure if there are frogs swimming around in your catchment tank, then the water is not poisonous so it's good enough to drink.
> Be that as it may, I bet my immune system is better than all you cautious bottled water drinkers.


x10.

What is wrong with the tap water at home or in the boat. If you suspect it is contaminated, fix it. Buying water bottles in the store just like throwing money away with no reason. Well, may be just for the placebo effect.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

I fill up my old bottles at home. Why wouldn't you.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

I only "liked" Mike's post out of shear sarcasm. The rules for safe drinking water have been known for a long time, they don't require bottles, and cruisers can't fill them at home anyhow... obviously.

"Ew" is tired.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Cruising; I would think most don't consider cruising a wilderness survival trip and do plan to make landfall every few days or week. Weeks alone at sea, of course is a whole different plan on self sufficiency. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww is and will always be my reaction to tank water for drinking. Taste is my reason more then safety. EW!


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## dvuyxx (Jun 23, 2009)

We have household-style charcoal 3M cartridge filters between our tanks and the faucets (even our foot pump). That gets rid of 99.99% of all bacteria and contaminates which is as good or better than most water supplies. I change those cartridges once a season. I typically drink bottled drinks on the boat ... but I am comfortable washing hands, dishes, brushing teeth, showering etc. with this water. I would certainly drink it if that was all we had. But why drink water, when there is beer. That's silly.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

I am in my 11th yer as a full time liveaboard. We always always drink from our tanks. Never used bleach or any other additive. 

I am a little bit careful of water from an island like Carriacou where the water is collected from roofs and stored in home cisterns then pumped out and sold to yotties. That I boil before drinking.


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## dvuyxx (Jun 23, 2009)

You can also get one of those pitchers that has a built-in, changeable filter inside it for drinking.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

People think that bottled water is "purer" than what comes out of their faucets at home. This may not be the case. Companies that bottle water sell the idea that they have a spring in the mountains (or out in the woods, or somewhere green and pretty) so their water is better. If you believe them, they make money. I think Coca Cola puts Philadelphia city water into blue bottles, calls it something fancy, and sells it nationwide at an incredible profit. Is it any better than what might be in your tank? The Royal Navy used a fresh water source that welled up in one section of Cold Spring Harbor, New York, to fill their water barrels before and during the American Revolution. Now a faucet has been set up that taps into this same source, so that you can actually sail up to it, (about 100' from shore) and fill your tanks too. The Royal Navy would not want their crews to get sick, any more than any of us do. I absolutely hate the plastic bottles. When they're full, they're heavy. When they're empty they roll or blow around everywhere, causing crew to dangerously miss their step when they crunch or slide underfoot. If there is an "Ew" factor, clean your tank. and consider the drinking water on Bermuda. EVERY HOUSE in Bermuda funnels rainwater from the roof into a cistern that is probably NOT as pristine as your boat's water tank. There might in fact be frogs down there.


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## Alex W (Nov 1, 2012)

northoceanbeach said:


> It has a hand pump sink and probably would take hours to pump it all empty.


My Catalina 25 had a hand pump and it took about 10-15 minutes to hand pump the 20 gallon tank dry.

I took that tank home, added an inspection plate, carefully cleaned it, and replaced all lines. We drank the water from it with no concerns.

I didn't take my Pearson apart to remove the water tank, I just cleaned the system and drink the water and it's also been fine.

I hate bottled water, what a waste of storage space (the dead space between bottles wastes a lot) and resources.


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## chrisncate (Jan 29, 2010)

When we finally cut out the integrated tank in the bow, it was appalling inside (but the water always "looked" fine). We switched to soft bladders (25 gallon x2 if I remember correctly) for the disposable aspect (use till funky, replace as needed).

Boat water is gross, unless the tank is a virgin.


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## Ajax_MD (Nov 24, 2009)

I shocked my tank, replaced the lines from the tanks to the pump faucets, then I dismantled the pumps and cleaned them out.

I follow the same procedure for loading water, that we followed on submarines:

Potable water hose ends shall be coupled together when the hose is not in use.
Sterilize potable water hose ends with wiscodine for 30 seconds prior to loading.
Only potable water hoses shall be used for loading water.
Verify the integrity of the water source prior to loading water.

I drink my tank water, and do everything else with it. It tastes better than the tap water at my office.

I find that the taste is freshest and sweetest if you frequently use and replenish water. The taste does degrade if the water sits for an extended period.


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## T37Chef (Oct 9, 2006)

surprised nobody has mentioned water cooler, like an igloo brand for drinking water. this wouldn't work for long distance cruising, but we use one primarily in the summer. Fill with ice and tap water, last several days and is easily strapped somewhere in the cockpit. Using one of these reduces the bottles = less trash, is easily cleaned, and reduces going in and out of the refrigerator / cold box. 

In the summer we can go through one of those large igloo water coolers in a few days easily with four people. That's probably equal to two cases of deer park bottles  

We have used the same idea for a favorite beverage such as iced tea.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Given the size of our boat and our current cruising needs we find that 3-4 1 gallon plastic jugs is plenty of water for the two of us. 
They are fairly square in shape and our boat has a locker that will hold 4 jugs really nice with little waisted space. Plus, we still have 30 gallons of good clean water for washing dishes and cleaning up.
Our water system sits unused for pretty much the entire year
so we will shock it before our summer cruising season starts. 
I'm just not comfortable drinking out of a 32 year old system that sits unused for most of the time.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

> But, we never drink it or cook with it. We always buy bottle water.


You must be kidding!

Where do you live some thrid world country?????

Whats wrong with the water in your country?

I have drunk the water in every country except a very few where there was none... Galapagos, Indonesia, Egypt.
and all of it has been fine.

The water in the USA is good straight from the tap. But plastic bottled water? And you guys complain about the environment being stuffed. Think of the footprint of plastic bottled water! Especially when the tap water is fine.

To the OP: Try it. You will be very pleased with the taste (etc) and pleased with yourself


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## Harborless (Nov 10, 2010)

I dont drink from my tanks. I buy gallon jugs for 79the cents a piece. Much less waste then bottle water do far as plastic. My grandparents had a cistern in their bahams residence. I helped my frandfather attach a measuring device in it one day. **** roachers were on the walls. They lives there 25are plus years and never fell ill so i suppose its not too bad. I just dont use my tank water because it comes from a hose and sits for weeks at a time so i know it has growth. 79 cents a gallon aint bad. When i plan on doing out island trips i will get those big water fountain jugs outside the grocery stores that hold 10my or 15 gallons a piece.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

This just in....
Mark has drank water from all around the world and it's all just fine. No more world water problems I guess.
You must be kidding me.


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## 4arch (Jul 7, 2009)

I'm not against the principle of drinking out of boat tanks but it depends on the material the tank is made out of. I'd have no compunctions about drinking out of a stainless or monel tank, a few doubts about drinking out of polyethylene, lots of doubts about drinking out of aluminum or galvanized, and I'm pretty much scared stiff to drink out of the fiberglass tanks on our boat. We use the tank water for dish washing, hand washing, and showering. For drinking water we have eight 1-gallon refillable containers, usually filled at home from the tap and kept at the bottom of the refrigerator.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

You can freeze those jugs with there lids on, as the dimples in the sides of the container allow for expansion of the ice.


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

We use our tank water for everything. The idea of bringing enough bottled water for our 4-6 week cruises is unnecessary, impractical, and a huge waste of money and environmental resources. 

We only cruise seasonally right now, and fill from trusted "first-world" sources. Our tank is SS, but is large, so we do try to fill only what we need. We do shock the tank each season, and use a basic carbon filter for taste, but I've no reason to be concerned about drinking directly from it. Heck, in our home waters (Lake Superior) we often drink directly from the Lake.

When we head off for places unknown next year I expect to filter direct drinking water using a katadyn hand pump. But I certainly hope to never be in a situation where I'm forced to fill our tank with water that is so suspect that I can't cook or clean with it.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

"First World Sources" Does Walkerton Ontario ring any bells.


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## lgherb (Jul 2, 2006)

deniseO30 said:


> Mike your just very very lucky!


But just think of all of the money he saves not having to buy Metamucil! 

Seriously, though, if you regularly clean your tanks and fill your tanks with a potable water source, you should be fine. If you need to correct bad taste, hook a couple of filters before the tap and put in a 10 micron sediment filter and an active carbon filter prior to the tap in the galley.


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

Dog Ship said:


> "First World Sources" Does Walkerton Ontario ring any bells.


So, I assume you are aware of the incredible response this tragedy produced.

Yes, sh!t  happens. Nothing is 100% safe, but how many people drink water from their taps here in Canada/US? Hundreds of millions every day. Now, how many people get sick due to contaminated water? Tens ... perhaps as high as hundreds every day (just to be very conservative). Now, do the math.

I can certainly live with odds of 1:100,000 or even 1:10,000.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

I agree Mike, you can also take some of the purest water known, dump it into a questionable onboard water system and become very sick. 
I drink water straight out of the tap all the time. We probably have some of the best water in the world right here in Victoria B.C.
I have also seen inside of an 80 year old watermain that is still in use and it's pretty gross.


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## ebs001 (May 8, 2006)

A book I read a couple of years ago called 'History of the World in Six Glasses' is really the story of how mankind made "water" safe to drink. Here is a description of the book:

Book Description
Release date: May 16, 2006 
From beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history
Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. 

A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.

For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.

The postscript to the book describes how, today, the bottled water industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world as we now have the technology to make water safe and the ability to check to ensure it is.


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## fryewe (Dec 4, 2004)

If you are afraid of your water system - don't use it for drinking water. If you know your system and maintain it and put "good" water in it then you should have no fear of it.

Bubblehead has it right. His practices will assure your potable water stays potable during routine operations if the water is not allowed to stagnate. Submarine sailors average use is about 19 gals a day per person (cooking/cleaning/showering/drinking/coffee) so the tanks have a frequent turnover of contents and good flow in the piping systems.

If you don't use your boat often and have stagnant water in your tanks and lines for long periods then you probably ought to haul water from Wally World for drinking.


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## smurphny (Feb 20, 2009)

While I think people go overboard sometimes in the quest to sterilize everything, I do think common sense dictates that you should not drink water from the frog pond! Giardia is no fun and to complicate matters, is rare enough so if you get a case, it is very likely that it will be misdiagnosed. A buddy of mine got it drinking water from a ski area fountain and seriously thought he was dying until doctors down south brilliantly recognized what it really was. This took *months*. In these parts we call it "Beaver Fever."

I always try to leave with 3-5 gallon containers of my own "spring water" from the artesian well here at home just because it is great for drinking and has no chemicals in it but I would not hesitate to drink the chlorine-dosed water from the 75 gallon tank which I reserve for dishes and showers. I also keep a good sized bottle of iodine aboard which is said to kill more bugs than chlorine but have never tried it.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

One of the confusing aspects of water purification is the misconception that activated charcoal filters remove bacteria - they do not. They're very effective in the absorption of chemical contaminants, particularly those that are carbon based. And, because of activated charcoal's massive, molecular surface area, it does an outstanding job of scrubbing organics. The bottom line is, while that activated charcoal filter does a fabulous job of making your water taste bland, in reality, it cannot remove bacteria. That's the reason most municipal water treatment facilities continue to use chlorine as the chemical of choice for bacterial elimination.

Now, if you think that your municipal water supply is pristine, fill a sterile jar with tap water, cap it off, then sit it outside in the sun for a week. In most instances, by the end of the week you'll see algae growing on the inside of the jar. The water is clean enough to drink - but it's far from being sterile.

Most bottled water is heavily filtered, and in some instances, as stated earlier, it's nothing more than tap water with a fancy name on the bottle. As for the Brits filling barrels with water for the ships, well, yes they sometimes did that, but that water was brewed into beer so it could be safely stored and used for months on end when there was no source of clean, fresh water available. Water stored in those casks was only good for a couple days at best, and this was when the water was drawn from pristine sources. In fact, the only reason this world exists is because of BEER! How Beer Saved the World | Watch Free Documentary Online

There's a good reason that I keep the boat's bar fully stocked. 

Cheers,

Gary


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

One of life's major ironies is that we carp and complain about gas at $1.50/liter - a product that requires a lot of costly refinement and production, but happily pay $2.00/litre for water in a plastic bottle... esp in North America and other places with good water supplies, to say nothing of the environmental burden of the bottles..


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Hey Faster, where the hell are you getting gas for $1.50 ltr. that's cheap. Haha
Hey Gary, my wife needs to read that, we're always running out of beer.


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## Ferretchaser (Jan 14, 2011)

FSMike said:


> Wow.
> Different strokes for different folks indeed.
> Not only do I drink from my tanks, there have been times I was overjoyed to be able to fill them from a primitively built, unfiltered catchment system.
> In the Bahamas we figure if there are frogs swimming around in your catchment tank, then the water is not poisonous so it's good enough to drink.
> Be that as it may, I bet my immune system is better than all you cautious bottled water drinkers.


Yeppers you got that one right. I use my tank water for drinking and cooking. For washing up and showers I use the salty stuff, then a quick rinse with tank water.


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## rockDAWG (Sep 6, 2006)

Oh boy ... there are quite a few false info here, fear mongering perhaps?

Here are my takes:

1. How would human can survive for so long without bottle water.

2. No circumnavigate sailors or world cruisers rely on bottle water on their boat.

3. I eat Sushi, raw clams, raw oyster, bloody steak, including pu55y regularly. Tap water is the least of my fear.

4. I fear of weather and instrument failure far more than the tap water from the tank since I can fix the problem before I head out to the sea. The water tank can't create something from nothing, know your hygiene.

5. I got all A's in microbiology, chemistry, human physiology, internal medicine, biochemical clinical pharmacology and toxicology. I use these knowledge every day in my career. I don't believe in marketing hypes.

6. There has been many reported cases of water bottle recall due to filter contamination with benzene and other chemicals, for example Perrier water. 

7. Don't confuse with the personal preference with "Must have". They are different.

8. Just because Europeans drink bottle water, it does not mean we (North America) need to follow.

9. I drink water from a well so is my family. We have a septic tank too

If drinking bottle water makes you feel better, by all means. Please do not imply that you love life more than I do. Unfortunately, the act of buying bottle water in a routine basis makes me sick to my stomach. It is so environmentally unsounded. 

I don't fellow the society hype or trend. I am a independent thinker. 
YMMV


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## Ferretchaser (Jan 14, 2011)

Heck, I have not bought a bottle of water in my life and I am still the right side of the grass.


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## chrisncate (Jan 29, 2010)

We drink distilled water by default, unless they're out and I have to buy spring water. I don't drink my counties tap water due to the high cancer rates of the area.


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## Ferretchaser (Jan 14, 2011)

Drinking distilled water is not all that clever as it takes a lot of minerals out of the body. Of course you could offset the negative effects of drinking distilled water with calcium and other mineral and vitamin tablets.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

travlineasy said:


> Now, I have to admit it has been a long time since I was in the Bahamas, but if I recall, the municipal water supplies there were not all that safe.


Actually, many of the supplies in the Bahamas are now from RO, so they're pretty safe...

Frankly, I'm amazed at some of the replies in this thread... I'm with the crowd that has been using my tank water for everything for years, refreshing it frequently, of course... I built large access ports into my tankage, it's pathetic the lack of attention many builders give today to the importance of being able to keep your tanks clean...

Always carry an emergency supply in bottles, of course, but I'm with those who are appalled at the massively wasteful, unnecessary, and destructive impact of the bottled water industry on the environment... I would hope we as sailors would be doing our utmost to help minimize that sort of impact, it's not all that difficult to configure a safe system aboard any boat today...

Every true voyaging boat should have a means of catching rainwater IMHO, amazing what a good tropical downpour can produce in a matter of minutes... Anyway, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one here who apparently is of the opinion that our - particularly my American brethren's - paranoia over this matter, and our increasing dependence on bottled water and onboard watermakers, has gone just a bit over the top... (grin)


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## rockDAWG (Sep 6, 2006)

chrisncate said:


> We drink distilled water by default, unless they're out and I have to buy spring water. I don't drink my counties tap water due to the high cancer rates of the area.


Distilled water is expensive to run. A home RO or just an activated charcoal water filter is all you need to remove all contaminates from the water source. Once a year of sampling/monitoring your drinking is a good practice.

I admit, I do buy bottle waters for their containers, so we can refilled them keep in the frig or use on the boat.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Dog Ship said:


> This just in....
> Mark has drank water from all around the world and it's all just fine. No more world water problems I guess.
> You must be kidding me.


Well go cruising then. You will find out.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Find out what, exactly?


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## rockDAWG (Sep 6, 2006)

deniseO30 said:


> Giardia


It is not a significant problem in US or in boating community. Get rid of the dog or cat is a better measure. Bleach, soap (any surfacants) and Quaternary ammonium compound products, such as Lysol can disinfect take care of giardia.

If one gets sick by giardia, there are more other urgent problems at the hand.


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## 34crealock (Dec 30, 2012)

So do folks with water makers pump it into bottles or the vessel's water tanks


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

We drink it all the time but....

***I shock and physically clean the tanks each spring
***The tanks NEVER see antifreeze
***Plumbing is new
***We have a whole house 3M style cartridge filter for taste, odor, cysts etc..
***We change the main filter 3-4x per season
***I turn the water in the tanks at least bi-weekly
***Add a cap full of bleach with each fill 
***Use a Brita tap mounted filter at the faucet on top of the other filter..

Drinking a glass right now and it tastes great..... We've been drinking on-board water like this for about 16 years.... Sorry I could never let my tanks get dirty enough that I would not drink from them... That is Ewwwwwww..


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## pyewackette (Apr 2, 2011)

I do believe my water tanks are clean enough to drink from, even after being over 30 years old, but because I don't do it, it leaves me to neglect 'purifying' them every time, and just fill them for showers and washing dishes. 

However, I am getting tired of running to the store to by another 24 pack of water of which I already have so I just don't run out. And to make matters worse, I usually by the cheap stuff and that in itself is starting to raise issues. Most of the bottle water I am getting nowdays taste funnier than the tap water in most cases.

So, I think what I am going to do is install a new 3 to 5 gallon tank near the sink. With its on hand pump spigot and fill port leading up to the counter at the sink. Also, a drain port. Then, I can fill it with tap water if it is available, or bottled water if I have it. That way I can focus on gallon jugs instead of those little bottles if the marina water is not good.

I think I am going to start relying on the systems of my boat to do their job, which they should be able to do if I take care of them.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

When I was into back packing and canoe tripping I always carried a folding container, personal water bottle, and a ceramic filter designed for filtering water of questionable quality. It was always amazed to see how many places water can be found in deep woods. Springs are quite common, but not always what they seem to be if one looks just a little higher up. On the ocean.. "water water everywhere but not a drop to drink." I'd be one of those trying to make a solar still even though I'd plan for the trip.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

You should have been a boy scout Denise.


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## dvuyxx (Jun 23, 2009)

Can we turn the discussion to ways to clean the tank ... better suited for cleaner, better tasting water? I've flushed mine, but I never add anything to it. As I mentioned before, I run mine through filters before the water reaches the faucets or foot pump, but I wouldn't mind making it cleaner at the source.


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Chlorine is the answer. The question is how much.
I use chlorine pucks once or twice a year and prior to usage to maintain a healthy system. I still bring water from home in refillable containers for drinking.
If you can't figure that out by now then you aren't paying attention to what has been writen in this thread.


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## vtsailguy (Aug 4, 2010)

Ok, so this is a true story.

I live in Vermont and most people get their water from wells. We, however, have a spring that is gravity fed.

Last year, it smelled a bit odd (us and three kids were drinking it) and I went up and took off the concrete cover. Low and behold there were three dead snakes in the water and a dead rat (I think). All floating and bumping against the intake line that went to the house.

Cleaned it out, shocked it, and then a couple of months later , the pump it he house stopped working. When we took it apart, there was snake bits chewed up in the impeller. It had slithered through the pipe 200 yards to the house.

All still alive, have healthy immune systems, but funnily enough, don't drink the water from the boat tank .


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## Dog Ship (Sep 23, 2011)

Good story vtsailguy.
It reminds me of one the wells down at the families island. A sheep fell in one of the wells many years ago. We never went to that well anymore. Not even to water the livestock.


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Up the BC coast I've filled my 1500 liters by holding a funnel and hose to the glacier water running down the cliff side. On the arctic ice just pump it off the flows. Never used filters or chlorine , still don't . Now trapped commercially dockside on city water , Never a problem. After 30 years a tank sprung a weeping leak so cut big access in all four tops and epoxied with glass and tank seal. Water is used for everything from ice to flush to the occasional shower, Always sweet and clean and the electric head insures quicker turn around. The manifold allows choice of tank or full drain to bilge


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## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

It might be a good idea to have the water from your tanks tested at a city water treatment facility. It cost us 20 bucks for the test when we bought a house with well water in the mountains of NC. Surprising that the water tested positive for e coli, since the previous owners drank that water and appeared healthy.

On the boat I've always used the water frequently so that the turn over between refills was less than 2 weeks. That seems to be key in keeping the water fresh assuming you have a good source for filling the tanks. Now that the boat is not being used as much my concern is water that remains in the tanks and lines turning bad with time. Even though as much water as possible has been removed the tanks, they are not completely dry. I put in non toxic antifreeze and pumped it through the lines with the thought that maybe that stuff will keep the system contaminant free until the tanks are returned to service. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

> Ok, so this is a true story.
> 
> I live in Vermont and most people get their water from wells. We, however, have a spring that is gravity fed.
> 
> ...


My wife would sh!t her pants if she read this story (a bit of a problem with snakes)!

Back to the OP. Municipal water pipes are often really old, and never cleaned. They don't cause (too many) problems because there is a constant flow of clean water through them.


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

I must be amongst the lucky ones too.

I have taken water from a rain tank in Madagascar, from a stream coming down the mountain in Bora Bora. I have taken water from a ship that had been standing in Raratonga for several months, I have taken water off my sails during rain squalls.

I always use the water in my tanks for everything. The only time we have ever treated the water was when it smelt a bit dodgy (municipal water), we drained that tank, put in some purification tablets and filled it with rain tank water from our local yacht club and moved on. I have been sailing cruising boats for around 30 years and nobody has ever been sick on my boats due to water quality.

We have rain water off the roof of our house for all our water at home - we have no municipal water and don't want any. Our rain tank is completely untreated. We use it for everything. Nobody gets sick. 6000 other people on our island do the same in their homes'

I heard about giardia for the first time last week when I was discussing fitting a 5 micron filter and was told that it would not remove giardia. I fitted a 2 micron filter and the total dissolved solids (TSD) in our rain water dropped from 26 to 22 and the flow of water reduced by 60%. The filter is now in a locker in the workshop where it will probably stay until I need the space and throw it out. The TSD in the mineral water that my wife buys was 77. The water from my mate's RO watermaker is around 60. Yes I know that TSD does not speak for bacteria so don't bother going there.

In my humble opinion if water was such a killer, this planet would not be over-populated - a few billion people in the world drink unpurified water every day and have done so for centuries. Yes I know some of them die. People die from eating fast foods.

And finally, for those that refill their disposable water bottles - the plastics that those bottles are made of are apparently not very compatible with the chlorine in your municipal water and are probably not that great for being refilled.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Good post, Andre... It's always tough to trump a Kiwi when it comes to sensibility and practicality... (grin)

Most absurd example I've ever dealt with regarding this issue, was a delivery client who insisted the only bottled water permitted aboard would be FIJI Water. Not due to the taste or anything, he loved the _RECTANGULAR BOTTLES_, believing that they stowed far more efficiently, or wouldn't roll if tipped over... I once saw him throw away a couple of cases of water away after we delivered the boat back from Jamaica, where we had only been able to provision the boat with water contained in the 'forbidden' cylindrical bottles... LMAO!

Few things today are more laughable, or depressingly ironic, than the American embrace of a product like FIJI Water:



> If you drink bottled water, you've probably drunk Fiji. Or wanted to. Even though it's shipped from the opposite end of the globe, even though it retails for nearly three times as much as your basic supermarket water, Fiji is now America's leading imported water, beating out Evian. It has spent millions pushing not only the seemingly life-changing properties of the product itself, but also the company's green cred and its charity work. Put all that together in an iconic bottle emblazoned with a cheerful hibiscus, and everybody, from the Obamas to Paris and Nicole to Diddy and Kimora, is seen sipping Fiji.
> 
> That's by design. Ever since a Canadian mining and real estate mogul named David Gilmour launched Fiji Water in 1995, the company has positioned itself squarely at the nexus of pop-culture glamour and progressive politics. Fiji Water's chief marketing whiz and co-owner (with her husband, Stewart) is Lynda Resnick, a well-known liberal donor who casually name-drops her friends Arianna Huffington and Laurie David. ("Of course I know everyone in the world," Resnick told the UK's Observer in 2005, "every mogul, every movie star.") Manhattan's trendy Carlyle hotel pours only Fiji Water in its dog bowls, and this year's SXSW music festival featured a Fiji Water Detox Spa. "Each piece of lobster sashimi," celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa declared in 2007, "should be dipped into Fiji Water seven to ten times."
> Lynda Resnick
> ...


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

JonEisberg said:


> Few things today are more laughable, or depressingly ironic, than the American embrace of a product like FIJI Water:


Agreed!
Spent the early portion of my professional life as a ground water engineer. I licensed several water bottling facilities. FWIW I drink tap water. 
I fill my boat tanks with tap water. I fill my small water bottle with tap water.

Contrary to the hype posted earlier, chlorine in drinking water isn't deadly, there aren't regular mass poisonings from municipal systems, and I believe the odds favor a system that is checked multiple times daily for quality and safety (US municipal systems) under the EPA Clean Water Act standards over a loosely regulated "food" like bottled water which is under FDA jurisdiction.

Again, to each their own. If someone is afraid of their water system and they sleep better at night drinking from plastic bottles, have at it. Fear of the municipal system in the US are unwarranted. There have been times when standards were exceeded, or when people were made ill from the water. Water engineers and scientists don't wait for people to get ill before jumping into action to stop the carnage before the death toll mounts.

There have been areas with boil notices. These are news worthy events precisely because they are RARE. There haven't been epidemic, or large scale outbreaks of waterborne illness and disease in the US as unfortunately witnessed elsewhere in the world. One of the things I treasure about living in the US (and I have travelled to many places where this isn't true) is that anyone can enter a public space or building and have access to safe, clean, drinking water. No fee, no fine, no boiling, no need to fear cholera, giardia, crypto, or any other nasty bugs. The water from the tap has come from a system with continuos monitoring, testing, and adjustment of the system to ensure safety.

As for those not knowing what is in their fresh water tanks. Well, what can i say. You should know that your system is clean and safe even if that means installing a clean out port. I bet you wouldn't store your food in a dirty old metal box that you found lying around somewhere and couldn't see the inside of. It's your boat, clean your tanks (don't get your drawers in a bunch over this, meant it as a light hearted call to action )


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

While it is advisable to take reasonable precautions with source water, life long preoccupations and extreme efforts to ensure "purity" has likely led to far more susceptibility to disease and infection in humans than not. By not allowing ourselves and our children to be exposed to "dirt" (for want of a better description), our and their immune systems are under developed and accordingly unable to adequately deal with incidental exposures to agents that would be of little effect otherwise. Considering the evolution of the human body, and how humans have had to live over the generations, the body is not quite so "fragile" as many seem to have been convinced. Otherwise humans would certainly not have survived for thousands of years before the advent of "modern" sanitary conditions. Old "Ugh" certainly didn't have "bottled" water tho' he and Mrs. Ugh would have undoubtedly preferred glacial melt or spring water to water flowing down a lazy, and likely "contaminated", muddy, river.

In general, if water smells and tastes good, or at least not bad, it is likely safe for consumption although reasonable filtration and purification is certainly wise. If not, there would probably not be many people over the age of 65, most of whom experienced their childhood before the era of such abject preoccupation with purity. They (we) all would have died of horrible diseases much earlier in life.

FWIW


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## denverd0n (Jun 20, 2008)

pyewackette said:


> I was wondering, how many actually drink the water in their tanks?


I never drink water from the water tank when chartering someone else's boat. Always have drunk the water from my own boats tanks, because I know that they are clean and sanitary, as I'm the one keeping them that way.

If you know the water is clean, and want to use it, but don't like the taste or smell, then there are charcoal filters available that will take care of that issue.

Oh yeah... And the only time I've drunk Fiji Water was when I was in Fiji and it was offered for free!


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

I read this whole thread with sort of a confused look on my face, how can anyone who is concerned about their health want to drink the water that comes in those little bottles? I have transported bottled water for every major brand out there, and none of it is any better than your tap water. Distilled water might be cleaner, but you might be shocked to see the bottle manufacturing situation, the bottling plant situation and so forth.

In the past I drank water from my onboard tanks, on one of my previous boats I had a katadyne watermaker, and on the next I will have a watermaker as well. I also carried a manual hand pump type backup watermaker, in case of emergency. I drank the water from my tanks, which I treated with a small amount of chlorine bleach, because I knew it was safer than the water from strange marinas in Mexico, Belize, and Venezuela, but I have drunk tap water in each of those countries without any harm...not recommending it to anyone, but it did not harm me, mostly because I have lived in third world countries and lived on the economy for many years. (meaning I lived just like the locals) My immune system is very strong because I was not one of those children who grew up sanitized, we played outdoors, ate bugs and dirt and all of that sort of stuff, and it made us stronger.

I have had a couple of fairly large boats, but I never have had the room to carry a supply of drinking water in little plastic bottles or jugs, I need my storage for important stuff like Charmin, and sun tan lotion, and spare parts for stuff that will break on the way and cost a fortune in Chile or Venezuela, or wherever.

I am a clean freak on board, and when I buy a boat one of the required things to do for me is to take off every single line and hose on the boat and inspect and clean them. It takes a lot of time, it means I have to get into places I do not like to have to get into, squishing my six foot tall self into little spaces is not much fun, but I have found that if I do it while I am at home I usually do not have to do it in the middle of the deep blue sea, as it were, which is much better. I purge my water tanks, my fuel tanks, my waste tanks, and I do general PM's on every system.

For the RO system on the boat I have always had a sediment filter inline between the intake and the pump supplying the system, then the filter system, and a UV lamp in the tanks. The ultra violet lamp kills the bacteria that might grow on the walls of the tank above the water level if the chlorine does not get them the UV will. The system does draw current, but so does my laptop and radar, so I have always had solar, wind and diesel for power generation. Also I installed a high current alternator extra house batteries and an isolation system to make sure my house and cranking batteries do not deplete one another. The RO system I had onboard on my last boat made enough water in three to four hours to keep the tanks topped up, and I would not want my main system to be running more than that and would like to have it run a lot less.
I am very interested in hearing from anyone who is running a watermaker on a boat in the 40 foot range, sailing with an average of four persons aboard, and can tell me what systems they use and how they perform. I am looking for my next boat and most I have looked at seriously are around 40-54 feet, my finances most likely would not let me do much more and my needs would sort of cramp with anything less than about 36 feet. My experience in cruising is not like most of yours, it seems so many here have 30 years of cruising, I only have a few years of cruising the coasts and down only as far as Maracaibo, and most of that on a Carver motor yacht, my sailboat experience is less, but it will not be staying that way if I can help it.

Mark


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## pyewackette (Apr 2, 2011)

I'm guessing that things like BPA in plastic and Fluoride in municipal water systems, are not big problems to anyone?


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

BPA is not a big problem if you don't count things like your tender enlarged breasts and early menses onset in your pre teen daughter.


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## patrscoe (May 9, 2011)

Will the water filtration / purification remove the odor from marine anti-freeze due to winterization?
Two years ago, we purchased our sailboat late in the year and could not sail her out until the early spring. So we had the local small marina winterize our systems but apparently he dumped several gallons of marine anti-freeze into the holding tank instead of draining the tank and filling the lines. I have drain our tank, over and over, flushed the system out but still can't get that odor out of the water.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

If the marine antifreeze you're talking about is the pink stuff, I never knew it had an odor. I'll have to take a sniff the next time I go to the boat.

Gary


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

patrscoe said:


> Will the water filtration / purification remove the odor from marine anti-freeze due to winterization?
> Two years ago, we purchased our sailboat late in the year and could not sail her out until the early spring. So we had the local small marina winterize our systems but apparently he dumped several gallons of marine anti-freeze into the holding tank instead of draining the tank and filling the lines. I have drain our tank, over and over, flushed the system out but still can't get that odor out of the water.


We go through this process every season. I find it takes about three our four good flushes of the system to clear the anti-freeze taste out. Our water tank is SS.

We also have an activated carbon inline filter. It helps remove some of the anti-freeze taste (we did a test last year), but flushing eventually clears the taste.


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## kellysails (Nov 1, 2008)

We were sooo done with bottled water from all the various charter trips we had that when we got our boat we put big bucks into a Seagull purifier. To this day we think this was the best ever product we bought for the boat. Not cheap, but we cherish this THE most among all our other do-dads. This system simply has an additional faucet off of our sink.

Seagull IV X-1F Purifier with Faucet - Water Purifiers and Water Micro Filters - General Ecology


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Yeah, Seagull is a nice product - don't have one myself, but I've run a few boats so equipped, the owners have endorsed them wholeheartedly...

This portable alternative for traveling looks interesting... PRACTICAL SAILOR gives it a very favorable review in their latest issue:

CamelBak | All Clear Purifies Water Fast


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## ThirdCoastSailor (Mar 27, 2010)

My wife and I use our tank water regularly for both cooking and drinking and have had no health issues. We do shock the tanks with bleach annually. Using bottled water while cruising doesn't sound practical.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

We wash, brush teeth, bathe and cook with tank water, but drink bottled. We keep around 10 one gallon jugs aboard at all times, then fill individual water bottles for drinking. Cuts down on some of the plastic anyway. 

We never ever put anti-freeze in the tank, but blow out the water for the winter. All water is filled with a carbon filter attached to the hose and we occasionally add a sodium chlorine based water treatment. I shy away from doing it at each fill, as chlorine will corrode all fittings and fixtures that it remains in contact with over time. I do not think the low dosage of these treatments actually kills all bacteria, but it might. High dosing the water to the point that you can smell the chlorine would be very bad for your health. On the other hand, a carbon filter will quite easily remove the excess chlorine at the tap, if you want to go to the effort.


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## kellysails (Nov 1, 2008)

Here is a good article about purifying water. I think people use too much bleach. As depicted in the article you really don't need to use much at all.

How to Purify Water amount of bleach per gallon


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

MikeOReilly said:


> We go through this process every season. I find it takes about three our four good flushes of the system to clear the anti-freeze taste out. Our water tank is SS.
> 
> We also have an activated carbon inline filter. It helps remove some of the anti-freeze taste (we did a test last year), but flushing eventually clears the taste.


Try draining the tank, then fill the tank and add about 1 cup of chlorine bleach, the unscented kind, for every 40 gallons of capacity, then flush the system completely. Then take 1 dry cup of baking soda for every 40 gallons, dissolve the baking soda in hot water and add it before you fill it and flush it again. That should take out all the odors, smells, tastes, gunk and so forth, it works in stainless steel, aluminum, or any other type of tank. If it is really foul and smelly you can run the chlorine through it twice, and the second time you let it stand 24 hours.

Chlorine is a highly unstable molecule and breaks down very quickly into inert compounds, does not stay in the system long enough to do any damage at all, and will kill every type of virus, bacteria, or micro organisms in the tank. Trust me, if you have something in the tank that bleach won't kill you have bigger problems than some odors. The baking soda will remove the chlorine smell and bad taste, and if you think you need more than one cup in the one gallon of hot water, just make sure you dissolve it and put a bit more.

Mark


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