Filtering Salt Water?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

By the way, put your salt water intake a couple feet down and you do reduce the potential problem . . . . . Oil floats as do many of the other nasties . . . But there are just simply some ocasional filthy harbors where you are not going to want to touch the water no matter. Even folks with full water maker filter systems will not run their water makers in these harbors.

^^ Absolutely. Filtering filthy water is simply an expensive fools errand. Move.

[Kenomac]

Using salt water in most clean anchorages is not a problem even without a filter. I wouldn't consider using marina or harbor water for anything... even filtered.

So basically, my answer is to not worry about a having a filter.

[carstenb]

I guess I am also wondering why you want salt water tanks?

As someone noted - they will be full of little nasties and foul as hell after a couple of days.

Instead do as Evans suggested. Toss a hose overboard with a weight on it and draw the water 4-5 feet down. Now most of everything that floats will not be drawn up.

For dishes, laundry and that type of stuff - seawater from a clean anchorage or while at sea is plenty clean enough

[KISS]

Sounds like any filtration method that would do the job would be more trouble than it's worth, so I think I'll just draw water from below the surface and then bleach it - if it seems funky. Otherwise, use as is.

Thanks everyone.

N.B. The tanks I'm talking about are very small (like 2-3 gallons) water cooler type tanks with a spigot, so their "funkification" is not an issue (can be very easily taken on deck and cleaned). And, anyway, with a little bleach, nothing is ever going to grow in them.