Drinking water in Great Lakes

[argalax]

Ahoy,
We are planning extended cruising in Great Lakes, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay in particular.
Our 30 ft motor cruiser has limited water tank capacity.
For those of you cruising the fresh water lakes - what is your drinking water solution?
Filling tanks at marinas?
I am thinking some sort of water filtration, i.e. home type under sink RO system. Is it an overkill?
Thoughts and experiences will be appreciated.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by argalax

Ahoy,
We are planning extended cruising in Great Lakes, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay in particular.
Our 30 ft motor cruiser has limited water tank capacity.
For those of you cruising the fresh water lakes - what is your drinking water solution?
Filling tanks at marinas?
I am thinking some sort of water filtration, i.e. home type under sink RO system. Is it an overkill?
Thoughts and experiences will be appreciated.

Seagull makes an undercounted system that filters viruses, bacteria, and cysts that would allow you to just use lake water.

[rslifkin]

Finding water at marinas isn't likely to be an issue. But with a good enough filter system (I'd want something like a sediment filter, 0.5 micron carbon block, then GAC+KDF that'll pull any heavy metals, etc.) you could filter lake water down to something drinkable. Even more so in the upper lakes, as they're cleaner to start with.

[Nicholson58]

RO would work bur it is a bit of overkill. Water is usually free at marinas especially if you buy fuel.

Suggest you cruise the North Channel of Lake Huron

[Bill Youmans]

I have cruised all those waters including Lake Huron, Georgian Bay , North channel and now on Lake Superior. Generally Giardia is the big issue along the shoreline and maybe with some bacteria. If you’re out away from shore this is how I do it. I take a jug of water and add Aqua Mira made solution which is drops of 2 chemicals mixed and added to the water. Wait 15 or 30 min and you have a solution , chlorine dioxide, tasteless and odorless. This is same chemical municipalities use for drinking water. Get it on the internet. And yes lots of marinas with free fresh clean water—guess where they get it? Buy gas or pump out
like above. I still carry two 3 gal jugs just for drinking water.
I use lake water for coffee and cooking as sterized while cooking. You won’t run out of fresh water. Do you know the saying “water water everywhere but not a drop to drink”
? But now you can drink it.

[seandepagnier]

just consider the great lakes receive toxic runoff from agriculture and motorists and you would be drinking that.

Impacts of Pesticides on Human Health
The exposure of pesticides can be a hazard for human. "The highest levels of pesticide exposure are found in farm workers, pesticide applicators and people who live adjacent to heavily treated agricultural lands" (IPM World Textbook). Each type of pesticide can have different health effects on the human body (below are some examples of health issues).

• The nervous system.
• May irritate skin or eyes.
• Affect hormones or endocrine
• Can cause carcinogens (cancer)

[Mike OReilly]

There is no problem finding potable water at almost all Canadian marinas on the GL. I assume this is true for the American side as well, but I don't have as much experience there.

I have taken water directly from Lake Superior when well away from the few urban areas. I might consider doing this out in the middle of Lake Huron, but I wouldn't do this in the North Channel. Any open water source holds risk of pathogens such as giardia, bacteria and viruses. But if you're far away from urban and natural pathogen sources, the risk is small.

But seriously, there's no problem finding good quality drinking water right at the dock throughout the GL. The only place where docks are few and far between is on the Canadian side of Lake Superior. There marina services can be hundreds of nautical miles away, but everywhere else is well covered.

[ncohen226]

Ive sailed Lake Ontario and Georgian bay for 35 years. I would not drink any water directly from Lake Ontario and there are ample marinas for refilling your tanks.

With regard to Georgian Bay and the North Channel, how you manage water is a bit different. But it will not be your limiting factor, your holding tank size will require you find a marina before your need for water.

I would still not drink unfiltered water from Georgian Bay or the North Channel either. We save our tanks for drinking and other potable requirements and use lake water for everything else. I would not even use Lake Ontario water for washing dishes.

RE your holding tank. You might want to consider installing a composting toilet instead and not have your trip based on finding pump out stations in remote areas—-and the all of the North Channel is remote and most of Georgian Bay. In addition many marinas have clean water, but aren’t careful enough about separating water hoses at the dock for drinking versus holding tank flushes. You have to judge for yourself how safe you feel about filling up at the gas / pump out dock. All of the North Channel for example may have 3 places to pump out. All of Georgian Bay may have between 7 and 10 places to pump out and refill water.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by ncohen226

Ive sailed Lake Ontario and Georgian bay for 35 years. I would not drink any water directly from Lake Ontario and there are ample marinas for refilling your tanks.

With regard to Georgian Bay and the North Channel, how you manage water is a bit different. But it will not be your limiting factor, your holding tank size will require you find a marina before your need for water.

I would still not drink unfiltered water from Georgian Bay or the North Channel either. We save our tanks for drinking and other potable requirements and use lake water for everything else. I would not even use Lake Ontario water for washing dishes.

RE your holding tank. You might want to consider installing a composting toilet instead and not have your trip based on finding pump out stations in remote areas—-and the all of the North Channel is remote and most of Georgian Bay. In addition many marinas have clean water, but aren’t careful enough about separating water hoses at the dock for drinking versus holding tank flushes. You have to judge for yourself how safe you feel about filling up at the gas / pump out dock. All of the North Channel for example may have 3 places to pump out. All of Georgian Bay may have between 7 and 10 places to pump out and refill water.

All good points.

We installed an Airhead while cruising the Lakes and North Channel. We could go three to four weeks between servicing. You need a shovel. Haul the pot into the woods and burry the stuff well. I carried water in a bucket to rinse also in the woods.

We washed dishes using lake water and the foot pump in the upper lakes. Once below Detroit the water is a bit grim. When you consider the source in Superior it’s sad looking at Ontario.

[ncohen226]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

All good points.

We installed an Airhead while cruising the Lakes and North Channel. We could go three to four weeks between servicing. You need a shovel. Haul the pot into the woods and burry the stuff well. I carried water in a bucket to rinse also in the woods.

We washed dishes using lake water and the foot pump in the upper lakes. Once below Detroit the water is a bit grim. When you consider the source in Superior it’s sad looking at Ontario.

We have 2 separate water systems on our sailboat, one draws from the holding tanks and the other from the lake. We use the lake for washing dishes and showers, the other for our potable needs. We’ve investigated extensively changing out the head to a composting one, but only a custom model would fit and we cannot find a place to have one made in area for a reasonable cost - disappointed but managing. Every year there are less and less pumps outs, and many at town docks are not operating due to lack of knowledge or interest in providing this service, which is quite “shitty”!

[Mike OReilly]

All good points re water conservation and sourcing. We went to a composting head nearly a decade ago while cruising the GL -- mainly Lake Superior. The main limiting factor in how long we could be away from a dock was our holding tank. With a composting head you basically have unlimited range. But the added advantage is no water usage in toilet.

Using raw water (direct from lake or ocean) saves a huge amount. We use it for dishes and basic washing. We almost double our tank water usage when we can't use raw water. Nice thing about the GL is fresh water. You can use it with no issues. Now that we're in the salty seas we have to spritz everything with fresh water after using salt to wash things down.

[valhalla360]

It's just not an issue to fill up at marinas and gas docks.

This isn't like the Bahamas where they charge you 25-50c per gallon.

Drinking water out of the lake comes with risks that just aren't necessary and an RO system is expensive for a non-need.

[randomrun]

Are composting heads legal in Canadian Great Lakes waters

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by randomrun

Are composting heads legal in Canadian Great Lakes waters

I've heard conflicting answers. I think it's a bit of a gray area as the rules were never written with them under consideration.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by randomrun

Are composting heads legal in Canadian Great Lakes waters

Many boats operate with a composter. The Canadian officials never noted an issue.

You will have a tough time getting into Canada as they are under-vaccinated and brain damaged regarding COVID. Even vaccinated people from places with better numbers than theirs are not permitted at this time. Our good Canadian friend is living aboard in the Caribbean and may not go to the continental US or home to Canada. She can, however, travel with some effort to most of the Caribbean including the US territories. Duh!