Fresh Water Filter System

[Steve Stringer]

My fresh water system was a mess when I bought the boat. I've cleaned it according to Peggy's instructions but I still wish for more assurance that my fresh water is drinkable. I was thinking of using a filter system. I'm looking to filter right before or after the pump so I would like 3-4 Gal/Min.West Marine had just such a system last year but it's no longer available.Does anyone use and recommend a water filter system?

 

[matias santiago]

Her is what I did....

I went to Home Depot/Lowes and purchased two filters (housing) one with a activated carbon (ac)insert and the other with 10-20 micron filter. I would filter the water before it went into the tank. I purchased a 6" X 12" board and mounted the two filter in series, the 10 mc filter first followed by the ac. It was cheaper to purchase the filters separetly than as a combo, so check the prices. This process will removed the chlorine, if any, so I added 3 ml of clorox bleach per gallon (5 ppm) every other tank fill up. If you can smell the chlorine in the water you probably added to much cl2.Make sure you fill your tank(s) slowly to prevent the paper filter from breaking.....I also removed the cartriges and set them out to dry after each use.happy sailingMatias

 

[John K Kudera]

Filters

You don't say the size of your boat, but there may be room for a whole house type filter on board, before the pump, or on the cold water side only at one of the sinks that will then be used for drinking. I chose to filter all the water coming on board between the tanks and the pump, the Home depot type unit uses a standard filter that you can buy everywhere, and you can choose what you wish to filter out of your water.

 

[Barry]

water filter

I don't mean to step on any toes in this forum and hope this is not going to get anyone bent out of shape, but I sell water filters and they can be adapted to your use on the boat. If you are interested in more information let me know. We can chat outside of this forum. I own a Hunter 30 1975 vintage.Barry

 

[Bradley Cavedo]

Easy and effective way

Once you have your tanks cleaned up, you need to filter all water coming into the tanks. Use a large household filter unit for this, with hose attachments on each end [you put those on]. Do no use a charcoal filter but a low micron paper filter. That way the water in your tanks will come in clean and with what clorine is left in the water if from a public system [charcoal takes clorine out of water]. Then add very small amounts of clorox occasionally, something like 1 teaspoon for 10 gallons, to keep tanks fresh.Buy a Seagull Filter System and install it by your kitchen sink. This is a great drinking water filter. It is advertised in all the boat mags. Replace the filter once a year. Then you use it for all your drinking and cooking needs, but the other spigots are fine for showers and hand washing etc. This system has worked great for us for many many years.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Brad, adding bleach to every fill is a bad idea

Any purifying properties in chlorine evaporate within 24 hours, leaving only the caustic properties in bleach behind. So adding bleach to every fill is damaging to the system, but does nothing to keep the water from becoming foul after it sits. A teaspoon per 10 gallons is heavy dose, btw...enough to make your water taste and smell like an over-chlorinated swimming pool, which defeats the purpose filtering the taste of chlorine out when you fill. Filtering removes foul taste and smell, but doesn't remove the source(s) of it--the molds and fungi that accumulate in the plumbing. So my advice: recommission the system every spring according to the directions in the "Fresh Water Maintenance" article in the Head Mistress forum reference library to get rid of those li'l critters...that'll keep your water smelling and tasting as good as what comes out of the faucet on land. If you feel you need to improve on that, then by all means, install a filter on the galley faucet. However, a filter cannot be a substitute for maintaining the system, it's only an extra added improvement.