Adding inline water filter - pros/cons

[Atalla]

Thinking about adding a water filter so that the fresh water tank is filtered from the pump on. The filter I'm looking at has a flow rate of 2gpm at 60psi. This is a lower flow rate than the water pump. Am I asking for trouble by restricting flow? No, right? It would be the same as partially opening a faucet? And theoretically it would reduce the demand on the pump.

What about the shower? Am I going to leave myself with garbage shower water pressure? In the end, I don't really need to filter the shower, but I'm trying to get all three of my sinks to have filtered water without putting in three filters.

Anybody else do something like this? Have suggestions? Tips?

EDIT: Found a stat that the typical flow rate of a shower in the U.S. is 2.1 gpm, so maybe I'm overthinking this.

 

[JimG]

I assume you want to filter for drinking?

The wife and I stay on the hook 2-3 nights every weekend, so my holding tank water is too precious to be drinking. We like it for showers and head flushing. I bring bottled water for drinking/cooking.

 

[Stee6043]

Why not clean the tanks and lines in the spring and then simply filter the water as you fill your tank?

These things seem pretty popular, easy to use.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006IX87S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&fpw=alm

If you're uber concerned with clean drinking water you're better off bringing bottles like JimG mentioned. And if you're uber concerned about showering in unfiltered water then...well....I guess Id want to know what the heck you're putting into your tank

 

[Atalla]

I assume you want to filter for drinking?

The wife and I stay on the hook 2-3 nights every weekend, so my holding tank water is too precious to be drinking. We like it for showers and head flushing. I bring bottled water for drinking/cooking.

Indeed. The balance tips the other way for us. 2 adults and 2 kids and we go through drinking water fast. Find ourselves going ashore to buy more and we are not getting close to draining the fresh water tank. We currently bring drinking water, but coffee in the morning. Boiling water for a solid mac n cheese for the kids. My wife would like faucet water for brushing teeth and such to be filtered since the water sitting in the holding tank always has a bit of a funny taste that she picks up (even though our city water is super clean in the Seattle area).

If it weren't for the fact that my pex line manifolds are in the bilge, I'd just redo those such that I had a pre-filter to all the faucet lines and skip the washdown line and shower line. But I'm concerned about putting a filter in a 100 degree heated room.

And I'm thinking you didn't mean your "holding tank water" but rather your fresh water tank.

 

[Atalla]

Why not clean the tanks and lines in the spring and then simply filter the water as you fill your tank?

These things seem pretty popular, easy to use.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006IX87S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&fpw=alm

If you're uber concerned with clean drinking water you're better off bringing bottles like JimG mentioned. And if you're uber concerned about showering in unfiltered water then...well....I guess Id want to know what the heck you're putting into your tank

That's a solid idea. Hadn't seen the inbound filters like that. And, no, it's not the shower.

 

[oceanpearl]

I connected filters to the shore water hose and then connected another small hose from the filters to the water inlet valve in the lazarette. I have an outlet valve in the lazarette to which I connected a hose which I use to fill my water tank. I now have filtered water in the tank which feeds all faucets and shower heads in the boat. If you have the same setup, it works very well besides we drink the water directly from the taps. While at the dock, we leave the shore connection connected giving us filtered water all the time.
Shore water to filters to hose to inlet valve.
Hose to outlet valve to fill water tank.
Good luck.

 

[Atalla]

I connected filters to the shore water hose and then connected another small hose from the filters to the water inlet valve in the lazarette. I have an outlet valve in the lazarette to which I connected a hose which I use to fill my water tank. I now have filtered water in the tank which feeds all faucets and shower heads in the boat. If you have the same setup, it works very well besides we drink the water directly from the taps. While at the dock, we leave the shore connection connected giving us filtered water all the time.
Shore water to filters to hose to inlet valve.
Hose to outlet valve to fill water tank.
Good luck.

Thanks. Much appreciated tip.

 

[Havana Shamrock]

We live on the boat during the winter storage for drinking water and ice is scarce
We run our tank water through a pre filter then into a water softener then into the tank. When it leaves the tank it’s filtered 2 more times by 2x 5 micron I believe house filters then into a general ecology drinking water filter and a seperate tap i mounted in the galley the ice maker has an additional 5 micron filter so that’s 4 filters before ice. And 4 before drinking. I replace the house filters every month or so for around $20 and the drinking filter cartridge is $99/ year so far after 1 year of use we find the water is fine to drink. You can buy the drinking filter kit and use their faucet but I didn’t like it so I used a bar cold only faucet . Here’s what we use.

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Here’s the water softener it’s called on the go you charge it with 1lb of table salt and it’s good for 4-5 tanks of water at $.99 per it’s a great investment I also wash the boat using it to eliminate water spots.

 

[Atalla]

We live on the boat during the winter storage for drinking water and ice is scarce
We run our tank water through a pre filter then into a water softener then into the tank. When it leaves the tank it’s filtered 2 more times by 2x 5 micron I believe house filters then into a general ecology drinking water filter and a seperate tap i mounted in the galley the ice maker has an additional 5 micron filter so that’s 4 filters before ice. And 4 before drinking. I replace the house filters every month or so for around $20 and the drinking filter cartridge is $99/ year so far after 1 year of use we find the water is fine to drink. You can buy the drinking filter kit and use their faucet but I didn’t like it so I used a bar cold only faucet . Here’s what we use.

Holy water filter, Batman!!! That's a lot of filtering.

 

[Atalla]

Here’s the water softener it’s called on the go you charge it with 1lb of table salt and it’s good for 4-5 tanks of water at $.99 per it’s a great investment I also wash the boat using it to eliminate water spots.
View attachment 96125

Thanks. We don't have a hard water problem here, so not sure this is needed.

 

[bobeast]

Why not just put a filter on the inlet side, and you won't have to worry about GPM? My filter is connected to the faucet for the fill hose. That gives easy access for cartridge replacement, and I don't have to modify the plumbing on the boat.

 

[Almightys]

Once I cleaned the tank and used a filter to fill tank, I have had no issue. I use the tap water for ice, cooking and coffee. I am a water snob and buy cases of bottled for drinking when on sale. Obviously tank water for heads and sinks as well.
Get in to a good seasonal cleaning of tank and not letting it sit in tank for weeks and weeks will keep it fresh here in Great Lakes.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Our current boat was built with whole house filters between the tank and pump, and between the shoreside inlet and any plumbed outlets. I also have a portable RV filter (looks just like a holding tank filter!) that attaches to the fill hose for the tank. Inside the boat, the galley sink, helm deck wet bar sink, and ice maker are filter by Seagull filters. The Seagulls are carbon filters with very small pores. They are advertised to be able to filter out most biological contaminants from water.

Like Jim, we also stock a couple cases of bottled water to drink and use for cooking, coffee and tooth cleaning.

The Seagull filters are good for two seasons. The whole house filters last about six weeks, basically as soon as we sense a pressure drop they get changed. They are cheap and like Racor filters there are always spares on board.

 

[Stee6043]

We live on the boat during the winter storage for drinking water and ice is scarce
We run our tank water through a pre filter then into a water softener then into the tank. When it leaves the tank it’s filtered 2 more times by 2x 5 micron I believe house filters then into a general ecology drinking water filter and a seperate tap i mounted in the galley the ice maker has an additional 5 micron filter so that’s 4 filters before ice. And 4 before drinking. I replace the house filters every month or so for around $20 and the drinking filter cartridge is $99/ year so far after 1 year of use we find the water is fine to drink. You can buy the drinking filter kit and use their faucet but I didn’t like it so I used a bar cold only faucet . Here’s what we use.
View attachment 96123 View attachment 96124

I think you may be overpaying for those filters. General Ecology is only certified to remove lead and cysts. You can get a whole lot more filtration for less money with other systems that are tested and certified. General Ecology cites some buzz words on their site like EPA, CDC, WHO...all of which have nothing to do with drinking water filter standards

https://www.nsf.org/certified-products-systems

Aquasana, for example, makes systems that can be purchased on Amazon and maintains a slew of NSF certifications including many emerging contaminants like PFOA/PFOS. The filter linked below is an example of RO unit that puts minerals back in post-filtering. A key feature if it's a sole source of drinking water. Aside from RO, nothing out there really gets "everything" out of your water...a whole lotta snake oil can be purchased though.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquasana-Opt...ro+water+filter+system&qid=1607782032&sr=8-25

 

[Blueone]

Once I cleaned the tank and used a filter to fill tank, I have had no issue. I use the tap water for ice, cooking and coffee. I am a water snob and buy cases of bottled for drinking when on sale. Obviously tank water for heads and sinks as well.
Get in to a good seasonal cleaning of tank and not letting it sit in tank for weeks and weeks will keep it fresh here in Great Lakes.

+1... this is exactly what we do. We never hook to shore water so we are always exchanging tank water

 

[Havana Shamrock]

I think you may be overpaying for those filters. General Ecology is only certified to remove lead and cysts. You can get a whole lot more filtration for less money with other systems that are tested and certified. General Ecology cites some buzz words on their site like EPA, CDC, WHO...all of which have nothing to do with drinking water filter standards

https://www.nsf.org/certified-products-systems

Aquasana, for example, makes systems that can be purchased on Amazon and maintains a slew of NSF certifications including many emerging contaminants like PFOA/PFOS. The filter linked below is an example of RO unit that puts minerals back in post-filtering. A key feature if it's a sole source of drinking water. Aside from RO, nothing out there really gets "everything" out of your water...a whole lotta snake oil can be purchased though.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquasana-Opt...ro+water+filter+system&qid=1607782032&sr=8-25

my dock neighbor in NY is a water biologist and invented crystal light and most of the entenmanns recipes he also does egg beaters so he knows water is what Im Saying he uses the same filtration on his Viking that I have (he told me what to get)
He has tested all sorts of filtration systems and is very meticulous as to any water that enters his boat and home. So if he tells me it’s good then I’m getting it and have been very happy with this set up ever since.
GE states the following

• Purifies water instantly
• Removes: bacteria, cysts, giardia, crypto, viruses, particles, tank taste, odors, specific organic chemicals”
• 
  I think GE make the seagull filters mentioned above

 

[Stee6043]

my dock neighbor in NY is a water biologist and invented crystal light and most of the entenmanns recipes he also does egg beaters so he knows water is what Im Saying he uses the same filtration on his Viking that I have (he told me what to get)
He has tested all sorts of filtration systems and is very meticulous as to any water that enters his boat and home. So if he tells me it’s good then I’m getting it and have been very happy with this set up ever since.
GE states the following

• Purifies water instantly
• Removes: bacteria, cysts, giardia, crypto, viruses, particles, tank taste, odors, specific organic chemicals”
• 
  I think GE make the seagull filters mentioned above

That makes sense. I'm certainly not a water pro. But I do know that water filters seem to be the snake oil of our generation. Lots of false claims, bogus test results, etc and so on.

General Ecology only tests and certifies the items I mentioned, lead and cysts (other than aesthetics like odor, chlorine). All of those other things, viruses, bacteria, crytpo?(is that Bitcoin?) are them making a claim without any testing to back it up. That's all I was trying to point out

 

[Havana Shamrock]

I agree I have no knowledge of water composition so I try to listen to people at a higher pay scale doesn’t mean I’ll get it right though