If You Don't Drink the Water?

[thompsonisland]

Now Tellie (and I can't believe I have to defend this), you don't drink that stuff! You try to minimize your exposure. I'm talking about minimizing exposure, and relatively cheaply, too. I'm. I'm not asking anyone ELSE to stop drinking the water!

[Mimsy]

I am certainly not going to call you paranoid- I prefer persnickety. Everybody has something, somewhere that is an issue for them that for others is not a big deal. The trick is to find workable solutions for your issues.

For you, its water quality. For me, its surprise storms. For my land based sister, its driving on a freeway. Just figure out a work around and get it on with it....

RO, UV and charcoal should increase your comfort level.

[virginia boy]

Originally Posted by thompsonisland

Anyone who drives slower than you is a granny, anyone who drives faster is a maniac

Heheh! So true.

[jacob30]

For really pure water use a reverse osmosis system at the dock. The home kind. Simple easy solution and relatively cheap as well. I would set it up with mechanical filtration, followed by a carbon filter then your RO membrane followed by DI filter (cation/anion) followed by a carbon filter to your supply. I would not worry myself with the re-minerilzing but you could add that as well.

Any of these work nice and can be portable:
RO/DI Systems

[EddieS]

Look up Berkey water filters. I have one on the boat. Ultra filtration, chemical removal. Simple, easy, gravity filtration, no power needed. Give it a try!
Thanks
Ed

[thompsonisland]

The Berkeys seem like a good choice from the reading, and I've heard good things about the Seychelles. Seeing that repeated here is helpful.

[EddieS]

I have put smelly (chlorine, and stale from being in the tank) water into the Berkey and it comes out very fresh. The water has a great taste... well no taste as water should. We have the stainless model.
Thanks
Ed

[zeehag]

i double filter all water i put into my tanks--i am in mexico--and so far, i have not become ill--but i cannot drink tap or tank water--i use 5 gal bottles of water for my drinking water, and keep my 160 gallons of double filtered non potable water for cooking and cleaning. and brushing teeth....

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by thompsonisland

Anyone who drives slower than you is a granny, anyone who drives faster is a maniac

I drive just a little bit slower than the really fast guy.
He'll be the cop bait, and I'll still get there quickly.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Mimsy

I am certainly not going to call you paranoid- I prefer persnickety.

Guess this was my new word for the day so I figured I would share

persnickety
Definition
per·snick·e·ty
[ pər sníkətee ]




ADJECTIVE

1.
obsessed with detail: overly attentive to detail and trivia ( informal )

2.
U.S. snobbish: snobbish in terms of choice, and thus wanting or accepting only the finest things

3.
U.S. requiring keen eye for detail: necessitating precise, keen attention to details

[zeehag]

paranoid is persnickety to the extreme....actually.

[JanetGroene]

I'm not a scientist but I AM concerned about consistent taste because it affects coffee, reconstituted milk and orange juice, and many other things. We installed a system purchased from Camping World that has a cartridge under the sink and its own faucet on the sink. We draw this water only for drinking and cooking. Cartridges are good for several years. If water comes from a U.S. municipal water supply it meets certain criteria even if you don't like its chemical or mineral taste. There are areas of Florida with high sulphur water that stinks to high heaven, but some natives credit it for keeping mosquitoes away. Our problem with water in the Bahamas has always been its high sodium content in most well water. I don't think filters help that. If you can rig a rain catch or buy water from de-sal or RO sources, so much the better. I haven't been to Staniel Cay for a while but Joe Hocher was a watermaker specialist. Anyone know if their water is still good?

[dugout]

There is real science behind this condition...

Hydrophobia: is a specific phobia of drinking water or other fluids. It is a late-stage symptom of rabies.

Maybe we need to consider recent animal bites.

[Katiusha]

Originally Posted by thompsonisland

My boat has Monel tanks and plastic lines. Fresh water comes on board via the marina garden hose.

I am not comfortable drinking water from most municipal supplies, or that has been through a hose. So, I need a plan. For now, I buy bottled water for the bost, or, if it's a short trip, bring well water from home in glass and steel.

There are counter top RO systems, but I don't know if they remove plasticizers and the water must be remineralized (I can get mineral additives or add a little sea salt or bone stock, maybe, and in few circumstances could maybe add sea water).

There are desalinatinators but they are expensive and I worry about seawater quality many places (Would use one in the Arctic, sure).

There are bottles but that's still plastic and waste, plus if it isn't a spring then it is RO(see above).

What do you do?

Check out Seagull filters. They're expensive, but the resulting quality of the water is incredible. We've been happily using these filters for years.

Regarding cancerogenic pollutants: being inside the boat is not the healthiest athmosphere in general: all the chemicals that went into building a boat (hardly a Green Earth process) are still around slowly leaching... Plus you are living on or side-by-side a diesel engine. BUT, all that nasty influence on your body gets offset 100-fold by the fresh, oxygenated air you're breathing, physical exertion, calmer state of mind, and better sleep. So you're in the win anyways. It's incredible how different we feel on the boat comparing to the city life.

[thompsonisland]

I'm AM feeling a bit frothy... and then there was that Cujo character roaming around...Stephen King lives in Maine, you know...