Adding a Fresh Water Filter System

Petep

Petep

Member
Oct 5, 2006
518
Grosse Pointe, MI
Boat Info
460 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins 480CE
Has anyone added a filtration system to collect sediment from the fresh water tank, before the sediment restricts water flow to ice maker, galley, head faucets and particularly to my Splende washer/dryer? What Manufacturer should we look at? I have seen some people add a large charcoal activated filter system in line from the dock pedestal to the fresh water intake. I was looking for something more permenant. Any ideas?
 
I never put one on a boat but I have one for that purpose ahead of my water conditioning system at home. You can purchase the housings and elements at most home supply stores. With the volume of water you would run through it I would think the element would last a year.
 
I found the easier approach was to add a carbon block filter to the water line I use to re-fill my water tank. I haven't done anything maintenance wise on the water system but to add a water purifier when I refill the tank...my boat is a '96 so I'm going on 12 years.
 
I had an undersink inline cartridge type filter unit plumbed in just after the pump in my previous boat. It was a "Rainfresh" brand, bayonet style housing and I used a carbon cartridge 2A which removed chlorine and other taste from the drinking water. Did a pretty good job actually. I removed the filter at haul out in the fall and put in a fresh cartridge in the spring. (run the water for a few minutes after installing the new cartridge.) The only problem I had was a bit of leakage if I forgot to apply some petroleum jelly to the "O" ring gasket.
 
I added dual canister system in the trunk and hook it to the city water system, when I fill the boat tank I use the fresh water tap in the trunk so it purified water. I bought it from a RV dealer because it can with 3/4 hose fittings. The canister mounts with 2 screws.

http://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/WCStandardCanisters.htm

Dave
 
I use a similar method, but my filter lives under the dock with a y-fitting that gives me a short hose to fill the tank and another line that runs to the inlet on the boat. Our most common destinations are nearby islands with questionable water supplies, so I only use the tank there and take the filter with us on longer trips.

Two summers ago, I was washing the boat with unfiltered city water and the run-off was brown, even though the deck was clean. I opened up the ceramic filter and the white element looked like this:

filter2.jpg


It's a renewable filter, but after hearing the report from the city about the "algae bloom", I threw it out. Many of my neighbor sacrificed their filters too, but none of us minded, since we didn't fill our tanks with that slime.

I've argued with some people on the grouchy forum about filters removing beneficial chlorine from the water. My response: then treat it yourself and/or regularly shock the tank, but I will ALWAYS filter the water BEFORE sending into the tank.
 
I also filter the water before it reaches the boat with a whole house filter that is mounted to the dock pedestal. I would rather filter it before it hits the tank. I am planning on making a portable setup to take with on trips this year. The filter can be purchased at most home improvement stores.
 
I use a double filter for water coming aboard. First a particle filter and second a charcoal taste and odor filter. By the time the water gets into my tank it is really clean and fresh. My boat also came with a carbon filter built in after the water pump.
 
We took two separate but similar approaches to water purification. For drinking water we installed a Nature Pure filter (http://www.generalecology.com/) with its own tap in the galley. This ensures that either dock water taken onboard directly or water from the fresh water tanks are filtered prior to consumption. We found this more economical and practical for our purposes as we travel Americas Great Loop (now in our 10th month). Installation was simple and we did it ourselves without any problems.

We installed a common cylindrical water filter before the ice maker. Its a GE brand and was easy to install into the 3/8" plastic water line. Very economical.

We change the filters approximately every 4 months and have found that the filtered water is amazingly consistent wherever we have traveled and we have been in several out of the way places -- a couple where the only water available was filtered well water which had a metalic taste prior to passing the filters in the boat.

We have seen many folks on the loop give up usng their large dock side filtration systems. Apparently when they sit in the sun with little or no water movement they stagnant water heats up and is susceptible to 'souring' (whatever that means).

Hope that helps

Mike
www.xplorer.talkspot.com
 
xplorer said:
We took two separate but similar approaches to water purification. For drinking water we installed a Nature Pure filter (http://www.generalecology.com/) with its own tap in the galley. This ensures that either dock water taken onboard directly or water from the fresh water tanks are filtered prior to consumption. We found this more economical and practical for our purposes as we travel Americas Great Loop (now in our 10th month). Installation was simple and we did it ourselves without any problems.

We installed a common cylindrical water filter before the ice maker. Its a GE brand and was easy to install into the 3/8" plastic water line. Very economical.

We change the filters approximately every 4 months and have found that the filtered water is amazingly consistent wherever we have traveled and we have been in several out of the way places -- a couple where the only water available was filtered well water which had a metalic taste prior to passing the filters in the boat.

We have seen many folks on the loop give up usng their large dock side filtration systems. Apparently when they sit in the sun with little or no water movement they stagnant water heats up and is susceptible to 'souring' (whatever that means).

Hope that helps

Mike
www.xplorer.talkspot.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link to the purification system. As we were loading the boat with gallon jugs of freshwater Friday I figured there had to be a better way. While filtering the water before it goes into the tank is a good idea, for drinking we felt it needs to be filtered after leaving the tank. Just ordered one of the General Ecology filters with an attachment to feed the icemaker.
 
I installed 2 different filters on my boat. I use a 10micron filter (no charcoal) for the inlet and then it runs through a small water softener. When I fill the tank, I use the already softened and filtered water. I then have a charcoal filter at the main galley sink to take out any other impurities and will be putting a small household ice maker filter for the ice maker. I have been told not to filter out chemicals before you put the water in the holding tank, because then you have no defense for bugs in the holding tank. Almost all "city" water has clorine in it to kill the bugs so if you filter that out and store it in a tank the water can get contaminated.
 
I've heard that about filtering out protective chemicals too, which is why I posted the picture of a white ceramic element that appears to have been dipped in petroleum waste. It came from briefly using CITY water!

City water isn't intended to be stored in a boat, so reliance on city-provided chemicals and letting water stagnate in a tank is a great way to end up with a nasty fresh water system.

Storing water for long periods should always be avoided. In the summer months, I don't let a week go by without cycling the tank. The faster the turnover the better. If it must be stored, it can be manually and deliberately treated.

The system itself should be maintained (shocked) on a regular basis no matter which philosophy one subscribes to.
 
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