non potable water

[catmandoo]

what is the definition of non potable water .

is it

1 contaminated by fecal bacteria
2 contaminated by chemicals
3 salty eg estuary
3 slightly salty
4 very hard water underground source

and whats wrong with 3 and 4 if they can be drunk with out upsetting the palate?

 

[vyv_cox]

In Heikell pilots my experience is that it means salty. The big disadvantage of drinking it is that it increases the risk of heart problems. A friend who had lived aboard for years, never buying bottled water, was advised to do so after having medical problems.

 

[Giblets]

The term "potable" or "non-potable" water is no longer used in the Water Regulations. They now refer to "wholesome water" which means "fit to drink".

In the domestic water supply environment I would class "non-potable" water at that coming from the storage cistern in the roof space and, to be honest, I would not want to drink it! (Once fished a rather long dead pidgeon out of a customer's roof tank after she complained that the hot water was smelling like cabbage cooking water! )

 

[VicMallows]

Once fished a rather long dead pidgeon out of a customer's roof tank

Not sure if that's better or worse than the rats I have fished out of header tanks


I noticed in Cyprus this year that springs in pristine mountain areas which hikers have safely used for very many years have all sprouted official 'NON POTABLE' signs. I doubt very much that the water quality has suddenly changed !!

 

[catmandoo]

In Heikell pilots my experience is that it means salty. The big disadvantage of drinking it is that it increases the risk of heart problems. A friend who had lived aboard for years, never buying bottled water, was advised to do so after having medical problems.

Well I drink bottled water on the boat but boil the locally obtained stuff from my tank in the kettle to make tea and coffee and have always put up with some hardness having to descale my kettle with vinegar and the like periodically - some times even get a scum in the tea however never had a problem yet with scaling on the immerser in my water heater . can always remove the immerser if it gets bad and I am not sure that the coils in the heater carrying engine coolant are hot enough to produce scale at 85deg C? most heating any way is with engine running - immerser only when in marina

Thinking of this reminds me when I was doing my practical training with Gand J Weir we built and tested ships desalination units heating sea water with diesel engine coolant at 90 Deg F and evaporating the sea water by producing a nearly Pure vacuum in the desalination vessel and condensing it in an integral sea water condenser to produce pure but not biologically pure water for ships water .( also good for topping up car batteries ) I wonder if there could had been a scaled down unit for yachts . vacuum pump was not very big but could use side stream on the seawater intake for condensing coolant and desalinator make up so only extra item would be vacuum pump - If I remember vane type with water seal . Advantage of low temperature , high vacuum evaporation is low scaling

 

[William_H]

potable water

By my reckoning "Potable" means suitable for human consumption.
Regarding slightly salty or excessive minerals well you drink it if you need to. I know that government supplied reticulated town water in Adelaide is or used to be very high in minerals and salt. Apparently not to any detriment to the million or so people who relied on it. Certainly not good for kettles though.
When traveling through the outback of Australia we always had multiple water containers. You fill up empty containers with what you can get from bores and tanks but always keep aside uncontaminated previously filled water for drinking in case the next lot is found to be bad. I would think in some places in the world you might do the same in your boat, certainly not have all your water in one tank. good luck olewill

 

[prv]

I would think in some places in the world you might do the same in your boat, certainly not have all your water in one tank. good luck olewill

Certainly Stavros has two sets of tanks - "Drinking water" and "Wash water" - for places where potable water is hard (or more expensive) to obtain. Showers, heads, and freshwater washdown taps feed from the wash water tanks, while the galley and the drinking water dispenser are supplied from the drinking tanks. But in practice I've never known them to be filled separately, we've always just moved the same (potable) firehose from one to the other.

Pete

 

[jordanbasset]

We use an Ecology water filter for our drinking water, no problems.

 

[vyv_cox]

We use an Ecology water filter for our drinking water, no problems.

So do we, but it won't take dissolved salts out. Brackish water remains brackish.