Maintaining Clean Water Aboard Your Boat


by Marinetrader - Date: 2010-06-04 - Word Count: 565 Share This!

Something often taken for granted by all of us is the accessibility of clean water. One of the matters while living aboard, especially while cruising is that you do usually have a limited supply while away from the docks.

My wife and I use 12 gallons a day, or enough for 25 days without refilling aboard our trawler, the Patricia Ann. Our usage includes bathing, and preparing meals. And that is with a 300 gallon water tank. Of course, conservation is the key while living aboard a boat; no standing in the shower for 30 minutes. You can determine your daily use on your boat by timing the filling of a 5-gallon bucket, then timing the filling of you water tank. Simply divide the time it takes to fill your tanks by the time it took to fill your 5 gallon bucket, and then multiply by 5 gallons and you have the amount of water you have used since last filling.

Tank fill time / Bucket fill time x 5 gallons = Total water use

Shore Based Water

Water quality is as important as quantity. While cruising, you never know what quality your water will be. You will not know whether the water you will be using is city water or well water. If it is not city water, you do not know if it has been treated. Some months back, our marina had a problem with their well that allowed ecoli to contaminate the well. It took a week to clear it up. Some of the marina locals must surely have used the water before the problem was discovered.

However on the Patricia Ann, we had ample safe drinking water. We have a 5 stage filtration system that provides bottle-like clean water from any suspect source. Water goes through 2, 5-micron filters, then a single 2-micron filter, and a carbon filter to remove cysts and undesirable tastes. Then finally a UV radiation light to kill any bacteria before it enters the holding tank. The power source is 110 volt ac but it can be ordered with a 12 volt system. The water produced tastes just a good as expensive bottled water.

Did you know that standard Clorox will treat that water suitable for drinking?

Use 1/2 teaspoon non scented Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water; if the water is cloudy, double the dosage.

Rainwater

I have also seen setups on trawlers, where rainwater runoff is collected from upper decks and funneled into the holding storage tanks. This is pretty good source of water but there is still concern about the quality of the rain water that would affect the taste of the water and perhaps cause tank corrosion. Be sure you have a good idea of the air quality in the area. If the area you are in is highly industrialized, acid rain could be an issue

Water Makers

Installing a watermaker in your trawler will give you an almost unlimited water supply. Watermakers intended for yachts rely upon the technology that uses the "reverse osmosis" process; a high-pressure pump forces seawater through a membrane that will allow water to pass through but not salt molecules. The price of water makers bought are determined by the amount of water they produce on a daily basis. If your cruising takes you to desolate islands in the Bahamas, keep in mind that water if purchased there can cost as much as fuel. Watermakers are a virtual requirement.

Related Tags: water, boat, trawler

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