Med tap water verses bottled water.

[Clancy Moped]

Wow, metal deposits from old rusting pipes. My thoughts have previously centered on bacteria. Never thought of other contaminants. Definitely a filter system is heading for my boat ASAP. Thanks for the heads-up.

We live in the old town with all the old infrastructure that goes with it, on the boat we used to have filter on the pontoon with a 10 micron filter.

 

[Trident]

We've always had a General Ecology Seagul filter - that way we could fill up from even non potable sources such as beach showers because it removes 99.999% of all harmful stuff. They're about £300 and last for two people about 2 years just for drinking water but you could literally pour ebola virus in your tanks and still drink the water from the filter. Saves a lot of carrying bottled staff, a lot of worry about water and tastes really good always

 

[BurnitBlue]

We've always had a General Ecology Seagul filter - that way we could fill up from even non potable sources such as beach showers because it removes 99.999% of all harmful stuff. They're about £300 and last for two people about 2 years just for drinking water but you could literally pour ebola virus in your tanks and still drink the water from the filter. Saves a lot of carrying bottled staff, a lot of worry about water and tastes really good always

I have just contacted General Ecology. Shipments will resume on July 20. Hope i can get one from Greece when I get there. That sounds a really good system. I will check on the ppm thingy in the next few days to buy the best available.

 

[PlanB]

The tap water in Spain is perfectly safe, even via a tank) but I just don't like the taste of swimming pool (too much chlorine). So I drink bottled water neat, but use tap for everything else.

 

[BurnitBlue]

The tap water in Spain is perfectly safe, even via a tank) but I just don't like the taste of swimming pool (too much chlorine). So I drink bottled water neat, but use tap for everything else.

Yes, i suspect the problem is two fold. The quality of the water source and the yachts tanks. I think the solution that solves both problems is a good filter system. Thanks for the advice. As Americans say "I'm on it".
Interesting that even people in houses buy bottled water or invest in a filter system.

 

[TonyMS]

In the Ionion, the water is drinkable IMO everywhere except Zakinthos. I agree with an earlier post that late in the season the water in Lakka is brackish. The water is particularly delicious in Vonitsa, in Corfu from the hexagonal tap house in the SW corner of Garitsa bay and in Kefalonia in both Argostoli and Poros.

 

[capnsensible]

22 years fulltime liveabosrd in the Med, always filling up at marinas, slver based additive, Aqua Source filter under tap......NEVER A PROBLEM!.

We've just finished 21 years of living aboard with NEVER A PROBLEM because we always use bottled. ?

 

[starfire]

I wouldn't drink water straight from the tap anywhere if there is a choice.

I've seen what fish do in it !

 

[starfire]

I am very surprised because I believe you sail a Moody 376 with those grp tanks prone to osmosis and styrene contamination. According to the MOA they should be removed and replaced with bladders or a repair with epoxy after grinding down. OK a different topic but thanks for your take on public water supply. I understand that the ionion boat yards switched to public water supply from Preveza a few years ago. God knows where it came from before that.

Reservoir up in the hills, they used to top it up with salt water if it got too low.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Before we build our water maker we used tap water for everything except drinking ,
Some years back I and the crew all four had a bad case of a bug which turned out from drinking tank water since then it's been bottle water or if we found good tap water we would fill bottles up from it , since we had a water marker we still don't drink from the tank , instead after topping up tanks from the water maker we then fill a 20lts bottles the type they use in offices and use that for drinking .
We clean our tanks each year but I still don't trust it to use for drinking .

 

[Graham376]

I am very surprised because I believe you sail a Moody 376 with those grp tanks prone to osmosis and styrene contamination.

Suggest you check your facts, the 376 has moulded poly tanks as standard, not grp.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Suggest you check your facts, the 376 has moulded poly tanks as standard, not grp.

Oooops. My 346 and the 34 which are similar to the 376 (but smaller) have grp moulded tanks and I do know they are riddled with osmosis. I know a tank company do make exact replacements in poly. For me it is the delivery expence to Greece and the hassle that actually make it easier to bite the bullet and dump them and use canisters instead. Wish Moody had made poly tanks as standard if they did it with the 376.

 

[Tony Cross]

My question for UK people who are residents in Greece. Do you use tap water for drinking or do you buy bottled water for the home. Also what is the situation in other Med countries. Like Italy, France, Spain, Turkey etc. Do yachts load up with local tap water for drinking? I have only recent Greek experience.

Here on Crete the tap water is perfectly safe to drink because the water principally comes from mountain springs (Cretan mountains are limestone). We do also have a large number of wells and boreholes (some private) and the water from these is used for agricultural purposes (in the main).

It really depends on the source of the water in the tap. Big cities have well managed drinking water systems, as do moderately large towns, and most tourist towns too. On the smaller islands drinking water arrives by water tanker (ship) and even on some larger islands water tankers (road) serve smaller communities. That said, we do see a very tiny minority of locals regularly buying bottled water, but not in huge quantities.

For the whole of the 12 years we lived aboard and cruised in Greece and Turkey we drank the tap water. I remember that in Corfu (we were in Gouvia for one winter) the daleks on the pontoons had two types of water; free water and paid-for water. The paid-for water was safe to drink but the free water was not. I believe there was unacceptable levels of asbestos in the free water? In many smaller places in Greece we filled up from a water tanker and drank it quite safely. We did however always taste the water before filling our tanks. Sometimes we were offered free use of a hose by one taverna or other and occasionally found it to be too brackish to drink. When finding a free water tap anywhere we always asked whether the water was safe to drink, if memory serves the answer was 'no' on only two or three occasions (and that could have been because they didn't want us using it).

Bottled water is almost unknown in northern Europe except in restaurants. Is this bottled water a scam or is the tap water in southern Europe really unsafe to drink? If so why? I will be interested in your comments because I hope to spread my sails a bit more this year. Thanks for any advice.

Bottled water is available everywhere. All supermarkets stock three or four different 'brands' and some locals do buy it, so if you want to use bottled water you'll have no trouble buying it.

 

[affinite]

17 years cruising Greece and always used tap water with Jabsco (main supply) and Genera; Ecology Seagull (drinking water) Filters
It breaks my heart seeing all those plastic bottles being carted off from the supermarkets.
Greece has a poor recycling record and the islands simply don't have the ability to recycle plastics so it ends up in the sea, being burnt, just blowing around the streets.
Personally I think that if you are prepared to instal the correct filter system there's no reason or excuse for buying water in bottles.

 

[wwalsh]

The paid-for water was safe to drink but the free water was not. I believe there was unacceptable levels of asbestos in the free water?

there is asvesti (lime) in the hard water i doubt there is asbestos.

......and that was todays lesson of learn greek in 30 years

 

[BurnitBlue]

Thanks Tony. Crete seems to be the place to be. I think the rest of Greece has a similar water system with the same problems. You will agree there are two Greek nations. There is the original one that still exists in the winter. A country with a population of 10 million with a water and sewage system that worked using deep wells. Underground pipes were not practical up and over mountains prone to earthquakes. The well system worked, I was there in my folkboat 40 years ago with no problem.

Then maybe 15 years ago the "summer Greece" was born which suddenly had to absorb an extra 20million visitors for just a few month. It has always amazed me that the infrastructure did not totally collapse by August. Building a sewage and water supply system for 30 million people for three month with an indiginous population of 10 million has left the legacy of unsafe water and the resulting plastic bottle problem. This is not helped by legacy septic tanks with stone filled wells tainting the ground water.
Last year I was struck down by a viral attack in vlicho bay. From 16 july to 29 August. I was totally wiped out and unable to get ashore. I could not even stand up on deck. I had to beg passing passing dinghy people to buy water for me. I lost 25 kilo weight in just 6 weeks. When I was hauled out i managed to see a doctor who could not help but suspected it was a thing called West Nile virus. Anyway, i swore to solve the water problem for this year. Then came covid 19. Incidentally the symptoms were exactly the same as what struck me down in July but the time frame was too early.

Up to now i am going for the best filter system I can buy thanks to the replies to this thread.

 

[Graham376]

Oooops. My 346 and the 34 which are similar to the 376 (but smaller) have grp moulded tanks and I do know they are riddled with osmosis. I know a tank company do make exact replacements in poly. For me it is the delivery expence to Greece and the hassle that actually make it easier to bite the bullet and dump them and use canisters instead. Wish Moody had made poly tanks as standard if they did it with the 376.

The starboard tank in our previous 346 had osmosis to the point where one area was weeping through. Easy patch repair on the outside and a longer job grinding out the interior blisters, repairing and coating.

 

[vyv_cox]

There have been many studies on the quality of bottled water. A fairly recent one I read found that although the inorganic content of bottled waters was relatively low in some cases, the organic content of some was surprisingly high. Several had high bacteria levels.

In the Aegean islands there is almost always a tap where the locals fill their water and this is good quality. One very near the yacht club at Aegina and one on Amorgos near the quay. On several, Leros and Patmos are two, there are water machines that treat using UV to kill bacteria. Free on Leros but I think paid on Patmos near the quay. On many of the bigger islands, Lesvos, Samos, for example, the tap water is of excellent quality.

We always drink our tank water, via a General Ecology filter. We sometimes buy a tank full on the smaller islands where the tap supply is brackish.

 

[BurnitBlue]

There have been many studies on the quality of bottled water. A fairly recent one I read found that although the inorganic content of bottled waters was relatively low in some cases, the organic content of some was surprisingly high. Several had high bacteria levels.

In the Aegean islands there is almost always a tap where the locals fill their water and this is good quality. One very near the yacht club at Aegina and one on Amorgos near the quay. On several, Leros and Patmos are two, there are water machines that treat using UV to kill bacteria. Free on Leros but I think paid on Patmos near the quay. On many of the bigger islands, Lesvos, Samos, for example, the tap water is of excellent quality.

We always drink our tank water, via a General Ecology filter. We sometimes buy a tank full on the smaller islands where the tap supply is brackish.

Lots of people have mentioned the General Ecology filter. If I can buy the complete system in Greece (holder, filter, connectors) I will install it ASAP.

 

[BurnitBlue]

The starboard tank in our previous 346 had osmosis to the point where one area was weeping through. Easy patch repair on the outside and a longer job grinding out the interior blisters, repairing and coating.

Did you use GRP, West Epoxy or some international hull coating for the barrier? Must be a really messy job. I reckon I could handle painting the inside with many layers of epoxy. Do you think just clean and paint would work. Painting on six layers would be a barrier coat irrespective of the surface. Grinding is a job to avoid at all costs. Right or wrong.