Do you use any sort of sterilizer for water maker water

[rom]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Nothing at all, ever.
Been doing it like that since 1987.
Canada, USA, Mexico.

Same here. But its only been two years though...

I have totally lost my hair, my teeth have a tendency to fall down these days but I still have 3 or 4 left, and my testic..... anyway, what are we afraid of ? no, really that is a serious question.

[billgewater]

Recently, on a Nile River cruise I got to look into their propulsion system that allows these really long vessels to maneuver without bow-thrusters. The vessel I was on used three Korg systems in the aft engine room. What was also impressive was the RO water system. The Nile water probably would be the least healthy water imaginable. The vessel I was on used very large UV sterilizers (stacked and about 3 m long). This provided perfect water for all passengers (cooking, showers, toilets the lot). We were at the quiet end of the season and I guess there were about 200 on board with crew and passengers.These tourist vessels just can't afford to have a bad reputation. So at the extreme end of water purification it looks like UV is the ultimate tool.
I don't have RO but I assume the suppliers also can provide UV attachments. The power consumption would be minimal compared to the power consumed by the high pressure pump.

[john61ct]

Eponysterical

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by thinwater

To my knowledge, and I have really searched, there is no recognized protecole for treating drinking water with peroxide. By the time the dose is high enough to do any good, it is unhealthy for people. Below that, it does not actually kill bacteria, it only freshens the taste of the water.

If I am incorrect, please quote a health department-approved (any government) protecol for peroxide. The WHO and EPA say no.

There has been some research into silver stabilized peroxide and a few jurisdictions have approved it. This is much different that plain peroxide. However, to my knowledge, there are no retail sources. Again, if I am incorrect, please post the links.

I too have searched as I wanted to know the dosage rate to use, and have come to the same info that you have.
I did find though that H2O2 is effective in treating water with high iron content, it’s injected directly at the point of use, however of course that is not what I need, I want to disinfect and cannot find a protocol to do that with H2O2.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by thinwater

To my knowledge, and I have really searched, there is no recognized protecole for treating drinking water with peroxide. By the time the dose is high enough to do any good, it is unhealthy for people. Below that, it does not actually kill bacteria, it only freshens the taste of the water.

If I am incorrect, please quote a health department-approved (any government) protecol for peroxide. The WHO and EPA say no.

There has been some research into silver stabilized peroxide and a few jurisdictions have approved it. This is much different that plain peroxide. However, to my knowledge, there are no retail sources. Again, if I am incorrect, please post the links.

There are many sites confirming peroxide as a bacteria killer in drinking water, Google is your friend.

https://www.goodwatercompany.com/do-...-in-your-water

[robert sailor]

I don't want to get into a debate on the use of peroxide in drinking water. I can tell you this, I befriended another cruiser in the Med and he was a real scientist as well and was the chief engineer on a USA nuclear submarine. This is what they used in their water to kill germs. I am no scientist myself so in situations like this I take the advice of people who are.

[hellosailor]

A UV-C tube is basically a fluorescent tube with no phosphor coating, made of a $pecial quartz glass that does not block the UV light. It has the advantage of working instantly, unlike chemicals, and not having any chemical attack on materials. The professional setups will install the tube in a stainless steel or other chamber, which is unaffected by the UV light (which breaks down most plastics) and also forces the water to flow close enough to the light so it is adequately exposed. There are no organisms that are "resistant" to UV-C, it physically and literally tears apart DNA of any kind, any critter, on contact.

So while it may need power, and the tubes do wear out, it is pretty much a simple robust solution. They are even sold on ebay and Amazon as "pond sterilizers" and fish tank sterilizers. All would work equally well for drinking water supplies.

[Cheechako]

I dont think anything is going to get you much more clean than plain RO water. But I'm curious, you say you havent used your watermaker much... did you pickle it during the non use?

[john61ct]

And can a watermaker sit pickled indefinitely, or does the solution need refreshing periodically?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by john61ct

And can a watermaker sit pickled indefinitely, or does the solution need refreshing periodically?

Most manufacturers say to refresh periodically. Typically every 6 months.

To the OP question. I see no need to sterilize or additionally treat watermaker water. We've been drinking it almost exclusively for 7 years. We do have an additional tap filter at the galley sink for drinking water( a seagull) This is primarily to do an extra filter for anything that might get in the tanks or piping. With piping probably being the biggest culprit. Every few years we do a chlorine shock of the tanks and pipes while sitting at a dock with lots of fresh water to flush them.

[waterman46]

We have gone about 1 year on a pickled membrane before flushing and repeating the process, no problem with membrane performance so far.

As for using tank water to flush the membrane, if you added any chlorine bleach to your tank, does the chlorine all evaporate or neutralize after a period of time? I remember when we used to have fish tanks as kids, when using tap water we would let it sit for a few days before putting any fish into it. This was supposed to let any chlorine or fluorine compounds to evaporate or decompose.

[a64pilot]

Eventually the chlorine will outgas. Everything seeks an equilibrium. Of course this a big reason why you have to keep adding chlorine to a pool, there are others, chlorine is I believe also neutralized somewhat when it reacts with whatever it reacts with.
If you know your putting up your Watermaker for an extended interval, I believe it’s best to pickle it with pink RV type of antifreeze.

If you chose to sterilize with UV, it’s best to sterilize at point of use and not prior to the tank.
Unfortunately it’s not very easy to sterilize the tank, I have called manufacturers and checked, first UV is very readily absorbed by water, so it’s effective distance is very short, and of course you likely have baffles in your tank too. Best way to sterilize a tank is when it’s empty as air doesn’t absorb UV like water does.

[Paul L]

Even if you 'sterilize' your tank there will be as much or more growth in the hoses.

[SV THIRD DAY]

The Nasties are too larger to get through the RO Membrane, so you really don't need any type of post RO Treatment. Oh sure...some like the "double Tax Free" idea and add a UV sterilizer. But for the most part, it's just an up sales gimmick since RO will filter out the bad actors.

Where you WILL get nasties in your tank is from taking on dock water, so I recommend you have a three stage filter for taking on dock water.
5 Pleated Filter
1 Micron AC Filter
UV Light.
That way no matter where in Mexico you fill your tanks from the dock you KNOW the water is safe to drink.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

I don't want to get into a debate on the use of peroxide in drinking water. I can tell you this, I befriended another cruiser in the Med and he was a real scientist as well and was the chief engineer on a USA nuclear submarine. This is what they used in their water to kill germs. I am no scientist myself so in situations like this I take the advice of people who are.

I hope you can see the weakness in this argument: the military has different standards, and we don't know what they were trying to kill (they make all of their water via electrolysis, since nukes have loads of excess juice). As for the corporate link, there was no pertant information there. I assume you did not study it.

My challenge stands: a health department reference. I'm not trying to be difficult; I would like to share this, if it exists.

Although ROs make very pure water, to my knowledge none are NSF certified as biological purifiers because of internal leakage. If just a few bugs get through, they make 4 bugs and so forth. I've drunk out of some real mud puddles backpacking; I just think it is important for the facts to be straight.