Water filters

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pcatterall

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Am giving this matter serious consideration.
I cant find the recent PBO article even though I have all the recent Mags ( but September missing!)
I have a 100 gallon water tank and now we are in warmer climes find the water is not tasting too good ( despite washing and flushing the tank) I had thought to use chemical treatment to make the water safe then a small filter to get rid of the chemical taste!! ( one of the PBO suggestions I think).
The alternative would seem to be a more expensive filter which would purify and get rid of any taste. ( about £300) I think.
I am also considering installing a hand pumped tap with a small filter just for drinking water.
I will appreciate your suggestions and any help in finding that darned article!!
 
I agree with Boathook regarding the Nature Pure. I was fortunately and got it to test for another yachting magazine but I thought it excellent quality (its American) and it really works. Like Boathook I get the filters to last more than a year. I think the cost is worth it to fit and forget apart from checking whether you need a new filter once a year.
 
nigelmercier said:
Don't the filters need changing due to bacteria? I did the math and stuck with bottled water, at €0.80 for 8 litres.
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I did the math too. It depends where you're buying the bottled water, the quality of it, and how far you have to go.

On your figures, I'd be changing the filter after every 10 fills of my tanks in order for my water to be more expensive than yours, and you don't need to change them that often.

If you break your cruise, of course, you remove the filter, let it dry out, wash in known fresh, and start again.

Reading the filter specs, it could well be that the water coming out of your tanks via the filter is cleaner than the bottled water you're buying - especially in far-flung places.
 
When using shore water supplies we wash our tanks out approx once a year with Milton (about 5 large bottles from the baby aisle in the supermarket). To get rid of the Milton taste you then need to fill the tanks and drain away once more.

For good tasting drinking water from a shore-based suppply we use a Jabsco filter on the galley hand pump - much cheaper than bottled water and far less plastic to dispose of. We've also invested in a couple of litre sized reusable drinking bottles so can have a convenient supply of drinking water on deck when sailing.
 
I've got a Jabsco filter as well on the galley tap ( The Pure has it's own tap).

The Jabsco are fine in most situations. But in parts of the world where water is a little more suspect, then you need something more like a Pure to get the finest possible filtration. For example, the Pure claims to filter out viruses - I don't think the Jabsco would do that.
 
I have a seagull IV filter system. Had it for eleven years now. The boat is in commission year round and I change the filter at least every six months. The filters are expensive but the results are worth it. I have stainless tank but there's still crud in the filter bowl when opened for renewal.
 
nigelmercier said:
Don't the filters need changing due to bacteria? I did the math and stuck with bottled water, at €0.80 for 8 litres.
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We used bottled water for brews and drinking and found it a bit of a pain, more visits to the supermarket and bottles all over the place, using the larger bottles was a storage issue and then we had to 'decant' into smaller ones to use.
 
We use Aqua Sol to keep the litle beasties at bay plus a Brita filter jug to eliminate the taste of the Aqua Sol. Works very well, but do be careful about storing the water that has been through the Brita - it very effectively removes the disinfectant and leaves the water vulnerable to attack. We left the jug part full when we locked up the boat on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago and came back at the end of the week to find it a pale green!
 
oldvarnish said:
I've got a Jabsco filter as well on the galley tap ( The Pure has it's own tap).

The Jabsco are fine in most situations. But in parts of the world where water is a little more suspect, then you need something more like a Pure to get the finest possible filtration. For example, the Pure claims to filter out viruses - I don't think the Jabsco would do that.
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It won't - if you're referring to the Aquafilta - it's just a taste-removing charcoal filter, at which it's very good.

However, I would treat the PURE inferences with a degree of scepticism - it needs a multi-stage filtration system with a lot of pressure to really clean everything out of water, especially if the contaminants are in solution - for that reason I tend to only drink water that has been boiled (in the form of tea or coffee) from the Aquafilta and use bottled water (mainly because it's easy to chill).
 
I have a Seagull IV on the boat and another one in the motorhome. They make a significant difference to the taste of tank water, although they do nothing for water that is brackish. Before buying one for the boat I spent hours cleaning the tank, changing hoses, plus trying several different treatments. None was as effective as the Seagull.
 
charles_reed said:
It won't - if you're referring to the Aquafilta - it's just a taste-removing charcoal filter, at which it's very good.

However, I would treat the PURE inferences with a degree of scepticism - it needs a multi-stage filtration system with a lot of pressure to really clean everything out of water, especially if the contaminants are in solution - for that reason I tend to only drink water that has been boiled (in the form of tea or coffee) from the Aquafilta and use bottled water (mainly because it's easy to chill).
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+1 none of the sediment filters on the market including charcoal are able to remove bacteria or viruses, without additional equipment - your choice.

Why not get bottled water delivered to the boat?
 
maby said:
We use Aqua Sol to keep the litle beasties at bay plus a Brita filter jug to eliminate the taste of the Aqua Sol. Works very well, but do be careful about storing the water that has been through the Brita - it very effectively removes the disinfectant and leaves the water vulnerable to attack. We left the jug part full when we locked up the boat on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago and came back at the end of the week to find it a pale green!
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If you leave water in the sunlight algae will multiply and turn the water green. If stored in the dark it'll be ok. A brita jug will allow the chlorine disinfectant to evaporate which makes the water susceptible to bugs.
 
This from the General Ecology website: "physically removes disease bacteria, pathogenic cysts, and other specific parasites down to 0.1 microns.'

Then this from an American Public Heath site:

A microfiltration filter has a pore size of approximately 0.1 micron (pore size ranges vary by filter from 0.05 micron to 5 micron);
Microfiltration has a very high effectiveness in removing protozoa (for example, Cryptosporidium, Giardia);
Microfiltration has a moderate effectiveness in removing bacteria (for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli);
Microfiltration is not effective in removing viruses (for example, Enteric, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus);
Microfiltration is not effective in removing chemicals.

So viruses not removed, but 'probably' most bacteria.

Why not get bottled water delivered to the boat? Have you tried persuading Tesco to deliver 500 miles offshore?
 
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