carbon filter for the water

[JamesG161]

How should one treat incoming water with chlorine?

If you are worried about drinking safe water from your tanks, 5 methods for a boat...
1) Boil some water for +1 minute (hopefully you are at sea level) then cool and store in sanitized container.
2) Use a treatment chemical. (We have these in our "bug out" box)
3) Buy a Reverse Osmosis Water maker and forget shore water. ( no sulfides either)
4) Buy bottled water and store aboard.
5) Follow @Maine Sail post#10 and to avoid what @Don S/V ILLusion suggests is by soaking the Carbon Filter in this cheap Hydrogen Peroxide overnight before sailing.

Jim...

PS: You would not be allowed to use Chlorine Gas pre-treatment in my marina.

 

[JamesG161]

Add a 6th method to the list. I just saw this as a water treatment for boats.
Ultraviolet Light

Jim...

 

[Hello Below]

You don't need filtered water to wash dishes, wash your face, shower, brush your teeth or--if your toilet is one that uses pressurized fresh water--flush the toilet. So all you really need is

. . . 1 or 2 Clear2O pitchers. One that fits perfectly on the door of the front loading fridge and the other to provide the unrefrigerated cooking water that is consumed such as coffee, soups, rice and the like.

http://www.clear2o.com/p-80-clear2o-advanced-water-filtration-pitcher-cws100.aspx

 

[thinwater]

Thinwater, very interesting. How should one treat incoming water with chlorine?

The rule is pretty simple, but done correctly requires test tapes (pet store). You want a 1ppm residual after several hours. In other words, just enough to react with contaminants with very little left over. The amount can be quite variable and is nearly always much less than health department recommendations, because they are giving instructions for emergencies and contaminated water.

 

[thinwater]

Therein lies the problem that creates the false sense of security imentioned before.

Most municipalities do the minimum required to meet Federal water quality standards and nothing more. Unfortunately, you could test for those exact analyses on a quart of gasoline and obtain results meeting those standards.

That's why I asked to see the list of analyses people believe keeps them safe. It doesn't.

I assume you are saying that a quart of gasoline would pass fed drinking water standards? If so, that's a silly thing to say. We could start with the limits on BTEX compounds. There is also a limit on TOC before chlorination.

https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations
https://www.epa.gov/dwstandardsregu...g-water-standards-guidance-nuisance-chemicals

 

[walt]

Im putting a reverse Osmosis Water filter in soon for a home drinking water tap. At this particular location, I have tasted the water without the filter (not that good) but the RO filtered water seems to taste way better. RO wastes water in the filtering process. Someone here probably knows more but for each gallon you waste a lot (I think its 1/3 to 1/1... dont know). At the home application, the waste water will be used for watering plants. I think it also needs some min PSI to work.

 

[thinwater]

Im putting a reverse Osmosis Water filter in soon for a home drinking water tap. At this particular location, I have tasted the water without the filter (not that good) but the RO filtered water seems to taste way better. RO wastes water in the filtering process. Someone here probably knows more but for each gallon you waste a lot (I think its 1/3 to 1/1... dont know). At the home application, the waste water will be used for watering plants. I think it also needs some min PSI to work.

Google WHO (world health organization) and prolonged drinking of RO water. It has been linked to specific deficiencies, heart disease, and stroke. I was research RO for some articles and came across this:

http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2014/05/ro-water-what-are-we-missing.html

This chart does not show home RO water, which is typically 10-20 ppm TDS and sub-ppm calcium and magnesium (because they start with tap water rather than seawater, it is easy to hit very low numbers). Municipal RO plants now add a little saltwater back to reduce the deficiency problem.

Surprisingly, RO water may not be a healthy choice, and traditionally healthful mineral water was the thing after all. I'm no health nut, but my conclusion is that RO water is not a better choice. Filtration to remove organics and metals can make sense and is your choice.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

I assume you are saying that a quart of gasoline would pass fed drinking water standards? If so, that's a silly thing to say. We could start with the limits on BTEX compounds. There is also a limit on TOC before chlorination.

https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations
https://www.epa.gov/dwstandardsregu...g-water-standards-guidance-nuisance-chemicals

I should have been more clear - I was referring to EPA rags requiring testing and reporting of muni drinking water treatment.

Testing to meet those standards is minimum acceptable water quality and does not include organic.

 

[JamesG161]

Im putting a reverse Osmosis Water filter in soon for a home drinking water tap

I install them for residential home clients, when their well water sucks on high mineral content or Sulpher. Look on the side of most bottled water [watch the video] you buy these days...

Reverse Osmosis water, with some minerals added back for taste.

I use one in my office to make "snow pure" fresh ground coffee... yummmmm.

Take the RO water, slosh it over and over with ice to chill and drip make coffee over fresh ground beans.
Jim...

PS: RO water, per se , is not a filter.

 

[Gunni]

You are on a boat, not in a house. Both RO and UV require large constant amounts of electricity. Google WHO, state health agencies or pretty much any org that does emergency response in disaster areas or in the third world and you will find easy methods to filter and chlorinate your water supply and make it reasonably safe to drink. If you have a compromised immune system you have another whole problem with leaving the front porch.

And yes, hard water (calcium and magnesium) are important minerals in managing your heart electrical system. You should add them back if you take them out with RO.

 

[JamesG161]

You should add them back if you take them out with RO.

My kidneys and my Cardiologist prefer adding back Potassium Chloride but Calcium and Magnesium have their place in overall health too. Ask my creaking bones.
Jim...

 

[walt]

I did google RO water.. interesting. I had mentioned waste water from the RO process and found this in one link

However, because household units are unable to produce much back-pressure, they may collect as little as 5-15 percent of the water as "pure water" for drinking. Therefore, depending on the system, for each gallon of purified water produced, between 2 to 5 gallons are wasted (sometimes more), and discarded to the septic system.

 

[Gunni]

Jim; Your doc tells you to salt your water? Potassium Chloride is recommended as a replacement for Sodium Chloride (table salt) in an effort to control hypertension (blood pressure). Calcium and Magnesium help to regulate heart electrical activity and can be tolerated at very high levels in drinking water. You excrete what you don't need.

 

[JamesG161]

Jim; Your doc tells you to salt your water?

Kinda.

I take a prescribed Potassium Chloride Pill [10MEQ] cuz some blood pressure pills are used to dump body water.
I take the KCl2 pill with water.

But you can use Morton Lite Salt. 50:50 NaCl and KCl2 to season, if needed. And flavor RO water.
Jim...

PS: My BP is 125/65

 

[Gunni]

live long and prosper!

 

[justsomeguy]

I did google RO water.. interesting. I had mentioned waste water from the RO process and found this in one link

That's why we've got two 55 gallon jugs out back where we pipe the brine. Use it for laundry and toilets.
I know, pretty OCD, huh?

 

[Gunni]

Don't dump brine in your septic system unless you are looking to install a new septic system.

 

[JamesG161]

we pipe the brine

It is not really "brine", but is the reject water from RO. If your water started with say 400 ppm Total Dissolve Solid [TDS] then the reject water is bout 1600 ppm TDS, not a septic "bug" killer.
The reject ratio is normally ≈4:1.

live long and prosper!

Thank you Gunni Spock.
Jim...

 

[walt]

RO also removes Floride from water so I was looking around a little for the town where I would use it. I just read some forum where a lady said that hard water made her husband go bald.. another poster said the Floride was poison put in by the gov. I had no idea...

Ive tasted RO water. and it does taste good to me although now from this discussion, I have to add it to my list of things to be paranoid about. RO has a water input, a filtered water output and a second output that just gets dumped down the drain. I had planned to also use that "waste" output by having it go into some sort container. I was planning on using this "waste" to water winter flowers. I have heard that the plants do well with the waste water..

 

[JamesG161]

ve tasted RO water. and it does taste good to me although now from this discussion

Ok I actually did and secret taste test with 8 people using three popular brand bottled water, City A Water and City B water and my new office RO water [6 different waters in total].

100% chose RO Water as best flavor.

The technical answer is, not all RO = 100% TDS removal. It depends on the Osmotic Membrane type used. So say Coca Cola brand is from multiple cross country water sources so their membrane is Extreme and use add backs for product consistency.
_________
@walt The link I showed in NOT Whole House, but I have hooked them to Ice Makers and Refrig Water and it has a special kitchen facet for cooking. It uses, like ALL RO demineralizers, a reject stream to carry off the rejected minerals. The larger models make 5 gallons and STOPS. If you use more that 5 gallons of RO water a day, you are rare. So that I don't hijack this thread anymore, send me a PM and we can discuss on house use. I can design a system for your house.

Jim..