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Old 25-01-2025, 19:52   #1
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Using “cedar water”

My cruising grounds are north east of Campbell River British Columbia.

The distances are significant and there just aren’t that many places to get water. I don’t have a water maker and rain is not reliable in the summer. I have 66 gallons of water storage on board. Usage can be constrained to washing, cooking, and coffee.

What are people’s experiences / strategies for using marginal but not polluted water? Some of the marinas provide “cedar water”. I don’t think I’d want to put treated “cedar water” in my tanks but in camping Jerry cans, it might be usable.

A couple examples of this are Jennis Bay and Chatterbox falls.

Thoughts/experiences?

The boat is a beneteau 343 with 3 older guys. If I have women on the boat, I’ll design my routes around easier access to fresh water.
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Old 25-01-2025, 20:48   #2
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Re: Using “cedar water”

Watermakers are amazing inventions. Beyond that, extra water storage is very useful. A seawater foot or hand pump for doing the base washing before rinsing with freshwater helps. One thing I saw done that I thought was kinda slick, was a rubber washer added to the inside of the sink aerator. It focused the water through a restriction reducing the water used, and increasing velocity out of the faucet. A bit like washing your hands with a supersoaker. The easiest way to reduce shower water consumption is a haircut. Short hair takes much less effort to clean and rinse, again, you can use seawater for the wash depending on your tolerance for the water temperature.

Again, a watermaker seems like a large expense, but they often are really worth it for cruising, particularly in cleaner seawater. Echotec watermaker is made in Canada, and comes from the same vendor as Hydrovane. My dad bought one for his Jeanneau and he considers it one of the best upgrades he has done with his boat.
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Old 25-01-2025, 20:58   #3
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Re: Using “cedar water”

When we used to backpack in forested areas the streams were often brown from tannin. Our First Need 0.4 micron backpacking filters removed the brown color.

A backpacking filter system would not work for filling the tank but we've been using this 0.5 micron filter at our marina.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UQPONM?th=1

It goes into a basic 10" filter housing and you attach the water supply hose to "in" and run a short hose from "out" to your tank.

I don't know if it will work for your water but you could try it.
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Old 25-01-2025, 22:25   #4
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Re: Using “cedar water”

Interesting question, I've never heard the term "cedar water" before. On my 26' cruiser I have a bunch of those 10 liter "military style" Jerry cans for water. They fit in the lockers so I've got almost 200L They sell them at Dave's Surplus in New Westminster if you're interested.

You can also use chemical purification like iodine tablets. I've heard there's a device that uses UV light to purify water but never tried it. If you have an ozone generator aboard you might also be able to use that, not sure. But you've got the right idea to keep this iffy water out of your tanks and keep it in your Jerry cans.

Oh and yeah, limiting usage to the things you mentioned is a good idea. I just use my water for drinking and wash dishes with seawater and take frequent swims to eliminate the need for showers, it really works.
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Old 26-01-2025, 13:34   #5
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Re: Using “cedar water”

Jim and I have safely drunk brown water from a waterfall in Tasmania. That water is brown from tannins in the water, but does not contain the iron mentioned in Google for cedar water, although that source says that "cedar water" is safe to drink. If the latter is the case, then it would likely be as safe for the female of the species as the male.

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Old 26-01-2025, 14:45   #6
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Re: Using “cedar water”

If you had a regular need to use fresh, but not ideal water sources, it should be possible to build a filtration setup that would massively improve the water. My thought would be to build a filter setup with a few large filters in it, then run the water through it at a fairly slow rate (no more than about 1 - 2 gallons per minute) with the output of the filters going into jerry cans. Filters should be a fine sediment filter, a large granular carbon filter, then a 0.5 micron carbon block filter (0.5 microns or finer is required to remove giardia and other cysts in case they're present in a non-potable water source). Then add a little bit of chlorine to the jerry cans and let them sit for an hour or 2 before adding the water to the boat tanks.

Ideally I'd also want some filtration in the boat water system after this. A carbon filter there will remove any excess chlorine that remains before drinking the water.
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Old 26-01-2025, 17:33   #7
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Re: Using “cedar water”

There is typically a lot of rain in BC. Try collecting it from your cabin roof and sails.
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