I want to install a whole boat filter for my boat. This way I have filtered water throughout the boat. I was thinking of using a simple charcoal filter from the local box improvement store. The question is should the filter come before or after the pressure pump?
Fresh Water pump and whole boat filter
- Thread starter svBlueLagoon
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I think before you could have problems keeping the pump primed.
The other caution with carbon filters is that people tend to forget them and don't change them frequently enough. They become bacteria breeding grounds.
If you don install the carbon filter DO NOT chlorine treat (bleach) you water tank. You will kill the carbon.
I think before you could have problems keeping the pump primed.
The other caution with carbon filters is that people tend to forget them and don't change them frequently enough. They become bacteria breeding grounds.
If you don install the carbon filter DO NOT chlorine treat (bleach) you water tank. You will kill the carbon.
good catch, I should have said the filter will be part of the pressurized system. The hand pump come off the tank and is isolated from the pressurized system. I am using a Jabsco VFO 5.0 pump.
I might want a whole-house charcoal (carbon) filter to take my tank maintenance chlorine level to zero, and a combo particulate, cyst, and carbon filter at the tap I was drinking from. The only way you are going to overwhelm a charcoal filter is to go hog-wild bleaching your tank water. Keep it at 2 ppm chlorine and even a small a charcoal filter will last all year. Take it out when you need to shock or flush the tanks.
IMO it makes more sense to put a faucet filter on the galley sink. Why would there be any advantage to using filtered water to wash your hands or even to brush your teeth in the head sink, shower, or flush a fresh water toilet?
Peggy, Peggy, Peggy; This forum is brimming with reports of the tasks men have taken on to make sure that their lady guests feel comfortable and pampered. We learned long ago to pick our battles carefully! So if we need to filter all the water on the boat, or air-condition the staterooms to keep the chardonnay chill, so be it. We're still going out in that gale, everyone is going to get wet, limits will be tested, and boundaries expanded before we come in to that nice freshwater shower that doesn't smell like "pool water"!
Just a reminder for those less inclined, her name is Peggie; not Peggy, or Peg, or Peggee, or whatever.
I'm with Peggie on this one. Unless your tank contains putrid water, a faucet filter works great for consumption. As she said, no reason to filter toilet water for flushing, or showering, or washing dishes, etc. Hard to imagine any city water system delivering pool quality water. Perhaps if ones boat has that kind of tank water maybe a system recommissioning is in order. OTOH, the water in the D/FW metroplex tastes terrible unless filtered and chilled. Okay for showering, etc. Ditto San Diego and other southern California burbs.
Our water comes from the Sultan watershed reservoir. I have yet to taste any better. Well except maybe the water from the Blind Bay, B.C. reservoir. Just say'n. And besides we're talking about boat water, right? If a woman or guest is that thin skinned, well...
Look at SafeH2O full boat system goes after tank and before manifold. 2 filters and UV light for $225. Annual maintenance $53. I use Peggie's system in the spring, change out the filters and UV light and we use water from the boat for everything. Overkill but when cruising at unfamiliar locations we feel comfortable with the water. With this system they have a similar Survivor system that you can pump water from a lake and drink after running through this. Wouldn't want to unless in survival mode, but you could.
We've seen people,at our marina use the hose from the pump,station - clearly marked not too - fill their water tanks. This is amhose that is stuck down a pump out fitting to flush out your holding tank! We don't think we are that stupid, but with our system could get away with it.
We've seen people,at our marina use the hose from the pump,station - clearly marked not too - fill their water tanks. This is amhose that is stuck down a pump out fitting to flush out your holding tank! We don't think we are that stupid, but with our system could get away with it.
Our home is located on a lake that is our source of drinking water for the last 30 years
We have been filtering our intake water down to 1 micron before the pump.Noticed a huge improvement in our pump and fittings life after the filter was installed. So imho it is a good thing to filter all water coming into the system
We have been filtering our intake water down to 1 micron before the pump.Noticed a huge improvement in our pump and fittings life after the filter was installed. So imho it is a good thing to filter all water coming into the system
I filter my water before filling my tank and than a under sink only for drinking,coffee and some cooking water.
Flushing your toilet with precious sweet water? I'm thinking a number of folks here have never had to pay a man for freshwater by the very pricy gallon...which he collected off a shed roof littered with bird droppings! But even if you fill your tank with city water you are storing water in an open container that can quickly bloom some critters capable of making you very, very, sick.
Those folks prob'ly should have sea water toilet instead of one that's designed to use onboard pressurized
In this country--in all developed nations--municipal water has already been treated to eliminate all those critters that can make you sick...they'd have to be reintroduced into the water supply, which isn't likely unless you take on "third world" water. Those who cruise those waters need to be sure the filter you choose is capable of blocking those critters...most off-the-shelf household water filters aren't. Recommissioning the system is necessary to disinfect the tank and plumbing. Here, taste is the only real reason to filter water unless it's supplied from a well.
And since when is a water tank an open container?
Boat water tanks have air vents open to contamination from outside the tank. I don't mean to alarm you but municipal water is not as safe as you assume it is. Well water can actually be more reliably safe. Even then, once you drop water into a storage tank it is no longer municipal water, or pure groundwater, it is Peggie Hall Reservoir water. A place where dangerous life forms can un-cyst from dormancy, or contaminate through the vent. You should never assume that your tank water will remain safe without residual halogen treatment and filtration. And as that link documents, you don't have to drink the water to get sick.
If you're worried about germs that can get in through the vent, you'd better wear surgical masks all the time, 'cuz you're also inhaling those same critters. Municipal water can become contaminated (i.e. Flint MI), but it's rare. Only a small percentage of boat owners filter their water...I've yet to hear of municipal water making any of the rest of 'em sick. BUT--it's your boat...do whatever floats it for you.
Been filling boat tanks with muni water for some 50 yrs. (PNW) No complaints/no sicknesses/no filters.
We cruise full time so we run into different levels of water quality. Seems that the further north, the better.
We bought a whole house filter and added garden hose fittings to both ends. Dock water goes thru the whole house filter canister to filter out basic crud in the water before going into the tank. Then we have a charcoal filter on a dedicated tap that we use for filling the tea pot, ice cube trays and for cooking. We also use that tap to fill a britta pitcher that stays in the frig for drinking water, a double filtration of drinking water.
We bought a whole house filter and added garden hose fittings to both ends. Dock water goes thru the whole house filter canister to filter out basic crud in the water before going into the tank. Then we have a charcoal filter on a dedicated tap that we use for filling the tea pot, ice cube trays and for cooking. We also use that tap to fill a britta pitcher that stays in the frig for drinking water, a double filtration of drinking water.
Thanks everyone for you comments. The debate on using a whole boat versus at sink filtration comes down to preference. I do filter my water from the doc to the tank and will install a whole boat filter. It comes down to ease of use and maintenance. I am currently remodeling our boat of around the world trip in Nov 2018. Thanks again everyone. - Cheers.
Per Peggie's recommendation I've plumbed the head sink drain and the head intake with 2-way valves so that the last flush of the weekend is clean water. This also makes winterizing the head painfully simple.