Water in Mexico

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Delezynski

... I have looked at the Steripen, but as a full time cruising and live aboard, this devise is just to small! I also looked at units I could build in, but at 27 foot, we don't have room for everything we would “like” to have aboard. The power usage is also more than we want...

We used a Power Survivor 35 R/O, on our small C&C29 (28'-6" x 9'-4"). It provided all our fresh water at times.

SteriPEN is a hand held water purifier that uses 254nm germicidal* ultraviolet light to purify up to 1 liter (32oz) of water at a time. UV-C light is short wave light, between x-rays and visible light wavelengths, which destroys the DNA of microbes.

SteriPEN's dose time ranges from 38 to 48 seconds for 16 ounces (1/2 liter) to 90 seconds for 1 quart (or 1 liter).

* Germicidal UV light (between 240nm and 290nm) acts on thymine, one of the four base nucleotides in DNA. When a germicidal UV photon is absorbed by a thymine molecule that is adjacent to another thymine within the DNA strand a covalent bond or dymer, between the molecules is created. This thymine dymer prevents enzymes from "reading" the DNA and replicating. Without the ability to replicate DNA, the microbe cannot reproduce and is rendered harmless.

SteriPEN Products: SteriPEN Products

[Delezynski]

Gord,


We have a water maker aboard and when out, we use it. But we are now in a marina. I would NEVER use our water maker in this harbor! Way beyond dirty.


The marina tells us not to drink the dock water, but many people are using it in their tanks. I am looking for a filter that would filter the dock water and clean it up.


I understand that only carbon would not work for this. That is why I was looking for a ceramic filter. I found another ceramic filter that may work for us. It's at:
Doulton / H2O International Inc Brochure on Point of Use Drinking Water Treatment Systems


Any comments? Any one else have any ideas??


Greg

[senormechanico]

Greg,
How about fashioning a dock water intake to the watermaker?
You'd have to stop down the intake with a hose nozzle and feed it into a bucket or similar from which the watermaker could feed.

Howzat for creative?

Steve B.

[Delezynski]

Steve,

Thanks for the put, but it will not work without a lot of adjustments. I found out some time back that you can not just run a standard water maker with freshwater as the source. I would have to make adjustments to the pressure. 800 to 900 PSI is good for salt water. but I am not sure what works for fresh.

Greg

[jaga]

I met a British Doctor a year ago who had just returned from 10 years working for the public health service in India. She commented that they had recently done a survey of the bottled waters available, and that fully 40% of them were contaminated. Moral is, even bottled water is not necessarily safe.

[Therapy]

I have heard of that type of thing before.
I have always wanted a watermaker as "standard equipment" on "my" boat but I don't think the money will be there, so I will pay my money and take my chances I guess.

[Delezynski]

Therapy,


We do have a water maker aboard, and we can get bottles of water delivered to the boat (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). But we are often doing short trips during the day and can miss the delivery, at times for days. Due to the water maker, we can NOT use bleach in our tanks.


A lot of people ARE drinking the dock water and they seem fine. I was hoping for a low cost filter that I could use if we decide to go ahead and drink the dock water.


Looking ahead at our planned stay in this area (before we head to Central America), I would like to spend less than US$200.00. More than that, and I might as well just use the bottled water. Cost trade off you know.


That first filter looked good at about 100.00 all-up. But it looks like it may not be OK.
The 2ed at about US$175.00 was also OK and looks good to me with the silver in it.


Now I may just make a decision and go with it.......


Greg

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Delezynski

Therapy,


We do have a water maker aboard, and we can get bottles of water delivered to the boat (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). But we are often doing short trips during the day and can miss the delivery, at times for days. Due to the water maker, we can NOT use bleach in our tanks.


A lot of people ARE drinking the dock water and they seem fine. I was hoping for a low cost filter that I could use if we decide to go ahead and drink the dock water.


Looking ahead at our planned stay in this area (before we head to Central America), I would like to spend less than US$200.00. More than that, and I might as well just use the bottled water. Cost trade off you know.


That first filter looked good at about 100.00 all-up. But it looks like it may not be OK.
The 2ed at about US$175.00 was also OK and looks good to me with the silver in it.


Now I may just make a decision and go with it.......


Greg

Yep.

I have not heard of anyone using dual water tanks in series and using chlorine in the last one. It being the one used for "purposes" and the first tank being used for collection and back flush only.

Probably a bunch of unnecessary complication but................

[GordMay]

I wouldn’t count to heavily on “silver” as a filtration disinfectant.

I’d check out any potential product on the NSF site: NSF Certified Products - Drinking Water Treatment Units

Silver, in various forms, has been suggested for use to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. It is most frequently found combined with activated carbon in filters. When some bacteria species come into contact (for an extended period) with this silver, they are rendered inactive. There is disagreement among the experts as to the effectiveness of this process, because silver ions in water kill E.coli very well and probably also salmonella, shigella, and vibro bacteria; but it has found lesser effect on viruses, cysts, and other bacteria species. Its need for long periods of exposure, and incomplete bactericidal action, and interferences by chlorides and sulfides have hindered its widespread acceptance.

[hellosailor]

Del-
May I suggest, get a 5 or 10 gallon container that will be used for spare drinking water only, and when you need "dock water" or other questionable water, fill those containers and add either chlorine or iodine (tincture of iodine) to treat them. This also protects you against a total water loss if something goes wrong with the main tankage. Iodine is a bit more expensive, more compact, and a faster kill against more critters. A small dose of vitamin C or something with citric acid in it (lemon/lemonade, etc.) helps kill any iodine taste afterwards.

Gord-
At home I use a Britta pitcher for drinking water. Not that there's anything wrong with the tap water, I just prefer the test. Last year I dropped a small sterling silver medallion into the bottom of the pitcher, and I notice there's a small (very small) change in the flavor, but also that if I'm away and the water sits for two or three weeks--there's less stuff growing in it.
On the downside, apparently consuming various metals in unknown mixes and amounts is something that WILL make your doctor shift in his seat.<G>

[Delezynski]

First, I am sorry if I inadvertently hijacked this thread! I did not mean to.


Next, I have decided to try to get one of the two filters I have been looking at, and get it down here to use on the dock water. At least half of the other cruisers here are drinking the water as is. If I filter it with an absolute .5 micron filter, it HAS to be better than not filtered! Second, we also have a PUR 3 stage on our galley faucet. Adding more systems to the boat is not in the plan, we are only 27 feet after all. There is only so much room. Grin....


It this the best? NO, but it is OK for us. After all, cruising in total safety is not cruising at all. We are adventures eaters and eat out at restaurants, and roadside taco stands, often! So, total safety is NOT possible for us. We try to live in the local surroundings, that is part of why we cruise.


As to silver in use, Colloidal silver is used a LOT down here! We use Microdyn or Bacdyn (off the shelf products in almost ALL food stores) to wash and disinfect all of our fruits and vegetables. All of the local people also use it. They have a brand that is also used to treat drinking water, but we can not get a reading if it would harm our water maker.


So, THANKS for all of the puts, I have considered them all!


Greg

[hellosailor]

Greg-
"If I filter it with an absolute .5 micron filter, it HAS to be better than not filtered! " You might think so. The fly in the vaseline is that anything that can be trapped in the filter media, also will GROW in the filter media. Anything that might be trapped but able to eventually get through, will grow when the filter is not in use, and flush out into your water when you use it again.

So, if you can't purify, at least make sure to dump the intial output from the filter--not drink it. Or put it in the kettle and boil it.

[Chiroeurope]

Water safety in any place is not a completely honest affair to being with. Chlorine does build in the system and has effects on both muscle nerve firing and is toxic to our bodies as well as the "bugs". Florine is a poison that if it was not made into a salt would have to be bound in glass to make it safe for just sitting around and is a known long term neuro-toxin. So what do you do? Well, if your immune system is functioning well than as long as you take reasonable acts to avoid unsafe foods and water you should be fine. The CDC while a "good" source is biased and comes a very conservative view point (there are some of us health professional who argue that they do fear mongering). Than again if most people really knew all the crap that is going on and doesn't make the main news a lot of people wouldn't leave their home at all (funny that seems to be happening any way).

On the lighter side, food that is properly prepared and of a safe origin usually is fine to eat/drink. I enjoy what most people here call Parma ham, which is not cooked in any form at all (curing is not cooking).

Gord thanks for you research and you are one of the most diligent in finding information out. Just pointing out that some sources are not as unbiased as they would like the public to believe.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Chiroeurope

... Florine is a poison ...
... some sources are not as unbiased as they would like the public to believe.

I don’t see how the Surgeon General, CDC or AMA etc. could have a vested interest, leading them to be biased towards water fluoridation.
Community water fluoridation has the endorsement of every major American health organization (American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control, etc), and those of many other countries, as well as every U.S. Surgeon General for the past 50 years.

Fluorine (F2) is a poison. I'm certainly not alone in recommending against it's consumption.

Fluorides are compounds that combine fluorine with some positively charged counterpart, often added (fluoridation) to drinking water supplies to prevent tooth decay.

[slacker]

We have been cruising Mexico since 1998 and have never purchased bottled water. Water is taken on board through a hose and run through a sediment and a charcoal filter before it is put in the tank. Knock on wood, but the only time we have ever been sick was after eating at a fancy priced gringo restaurant in PV. We are fortunate that our current boat has a 120 gallon water capacitity however we did spend 2 seasons cruising an Ericson 35 with less that 40 gallons of water. Even with the Ericson we were able to stay away from a marina or fuel dock for 3-4 weeks at a time.