Do You Drink Tank Water !?

[Canibul]

I'm okay with filtration systems, in fact, we've installed a whole house one here to deal with 18,000 gallons of cistern water. And on the boat I've got sediment and charcoal filters for the drinking water tap. But I'm not so keen on adding chemicals to the water to kill organisms. I'm an organism. I much prefer using UV light, and the home system has that and it burns all the time.

Not such a good energy use on a sailboat.

I was wondering....what if we pulled tank water through a thin tube exposed to direct sunlight UV, and then stored that drinking water in it's own separate, safe plastic or stainless tank where it could cool down a little. Or run a little 12 volt pump to constantly circulate the water through a solar disinfectifier. This kinda goes along with the idea of running black plastic tubing around the boat for solar heated water. Seems like all the pieces are there to use the sun to heat water, and purify it.

Without adding poison to it.

[senormechanico]

If you have all that sun, why not solar panels to generate power to run a UV lamp?

Lots to chose from on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=...569&mfe=search

One of those low power ones and a March pump for recirculation to the tank?

[Canibul]

Seems wasteful, to start with UV to power PV cells, to charge batteries, to invert to alternating current, to power an incandescent filament, to produce UV. Which is what we started with.

[HopCar]

Our friend thinwater wrote the three part series on boat drinking water currently running in Practical Sailor.
I've read the first two parts and can tell you it is well researched and written.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I am not big on drinking out of a fiberglass tank but that's what I've got to deal with for now.

Thinking about adding a small SS tank just for drinking water but I've got way too many other things higher on the must do list before that comes up. Plus there's the question of where to put another tank.

So for now I've added a multi-step filtration/purification system and just hope all/some/most of the nasty stuff that might leach out of the polyester resin has leached.

Water maker? On the list as well but even further down on the priority.

So when you had a water maker did you divert some for drinking that never entered the main tank? Where did you keep that?

No, my watermaker water went right to the SS tanks on both boats I had the watermaker. On one small boat I had a fiberglass tank , I found a Carbon filter took much of the plastic taste out anyway.
You could have a small drinking water SS tank the watermaker goes to and have the overflow once that fills go into the main tank while making water.
Probably a Tee off the vent line would work.

[Jonathancpwalsh]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

We've lived aboard full time for much of the last 15-years while drinking water directly from our aluminum tanks with never a bit of concern. We've owned the boat since new in 1995.

My wife was a licensed professional responsible for operating very large public water (municipal) systems for 32 years. She had her lab guys test our tank water for all kinds of things over the years and it always came back perfect.

We did nothing special to treat or prepare the water. We did try to empty the tanks before we left the boat for any great length of time. We occasionally would put a cup of bleach in the tank and leave it for a day then run all that water out.

I've never understood the concern about tank water.

Completely agree with

[Jonathancpwalsh]

Completely agree with Tacoma.. Had our boat fr 15 years - in UK, Caribbean and Med.. Never a problem. No special systems - always drank the water.. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

[Cadence]

If you have a question about your tanks. In the US I have found water, local grocery store, in I think 2 1/2gal poly jugs with a tape. Sits on a galley counter to draw water and is refillable.

[Russ]

I have tanks and aggressive filtration /UV filter post tank but pre faucet system BUT The boat's prior owner told me he used his water maker to fill the tanks BUT he first filled a couple of gallon milk jugs for drinking only. Ran the WM frequently and therefore always had a supply of non tank drinking water. BEST solution IF you have a WM. Russ

[RichandHelen]

Originally Posted by alctel

Depends on your filtration system

I filter all water that goes into my tank with an RV hose filter, and then from the tank all water is filtered by a 5 micro activated charcoal filter that is fitted just after the water pump.

In addition, I have a drinking water tap that goes through 2 additional filters, a 1 micron charcoal and a 0.3 micron ceramic filter. So my drinking water is filtered 4 times from the time it comes out of the hose to the time I drink it.

I am kind of paranoid though

How is your water pressure after all of that filtering?

[Canibul]

" Sediment filters alone do not effectively remove dissolved organic or inorganic material that may be harmful. They do not effectively remove nitrate, heavy metals, pesticides, or trihalomethanes (byproducts sometimes formed during drinking water chlorination). Cartridge sediment filters are not generally recommended for removing microbial contaminants."

Publication: Drinking Water Treatment: Sediment Filtration

[sparrowhawk1]

I filter all the water that goes to my tanks with a dual filter system a . 5 micron charcoal filter and a .05 micron filter that is supposed to filter 99.99% of heavy metals, cysts and pesticides. The .5 micron costs 5 bucks and makes the .05 ($60) filter last a lot longer(years). I have 150 gal main tank that I've drank out of no problem but I prefer to drink out of my 3 gallon water jugs that I fill up about once a week. 3 gallon water jugs are so much easier to carry and move from my Dinghy to my high free board boat

[dlymn]

5 micron filter before the tanks, 5 micron filter immediately after them, lightproof piping is a must, charcoal filter to the sink and then we dose all water with chlorine to 4 ppm which is the rate in public supplies, but seems to be nonexistent in the Med. You can monitor this using swimming pool test strips, easy. I have seen my filters turn light brown after a fill at a port and so have learned to be cautious. We still occasionally buy bottles of water to please friends who have heard horror stories about boat water.

We drain the tanks after shock dosing with chlorine every year after we finish sailing. Also shock dose to bilge to reduce algae buildup in pipes, and the same to the toilet but using only fresh water for the final pumpout to reduce calcium buildup especially in the joker valve.
All about risk management.

[sy_gilana]

Yes, we have done so for 17 years, no filters, just common sense.

[Ozwizz54]

In our technologically advanced societies, so much nonsense is propagated about this concept of "clean" water. Millions of farmers have lived off unfiltered tank water for centuries without harm or illness becaue their water is not treated. Having "survived" my childhood and teen years after drining little other than unfiltered tank water on our farm, I can attest to the safety of drinking water from your tanks. By all means, filter it. There's nothing wrong with that to ensure completely clean water.

If anything, the treated water coming out of your home water sources if far less safe than water collected from the sky and fed into your tanks. This is always the best source of water. Rainwater has no chlorine or fluoride both known poisons or any other chemical treatments which are probably just as toxic. And, your tank water should taste better than that you get at home.

Feel confidence in your tanks if you clean them regularly and use good sources of water to begin with.

My 2 cents worth
David