Bottled water for icemaker

[Greg]

I was thinking of using something like this:

http://www.aquaezflo.com/bw1000.htm

to be able to use bottled water for the ice maker. That way I wouldn't be so hesitant to use ice in drinks. Anybody ever try this, or see any down sides? Other than having to lug big water bottles onto the boat. I think there will be room under the sink for a bottle.

I wonder how many ice cubes can be made from 3 gallons? :huh:

 

[Four Suns]

OK... I'll bite...

Why are you paranoid about the ice from the water in the tank? Someone pee in your water tank? (I'm pretty sure a couple CSR members may have peed in mine)

 

[Greg]

I don't think anyone pee'd in it, but even after flushing a couple tanks of fresh water through the system, we still see little 'things' in the water and in the ice cubes. Like little black specs (some not so little). Now it is still not at our marina, so I guess it could be something in the water quality where it is now.

But even in our old boat I would never drink the water or use the ice in drinks. I guess I'm just weird that way. Since I can't open the water tank and clean it out, I imagine all sorts of mold growing in there, from sitting so long.

We don't even drink tap water at home, we have bottled water delivered.

 

[Southpaw II]

3 gallons is about 24 lbs. or so, and I think that's what the SR ice maker's will make a day, under ideal conditions. I think the containers in the ice makers hold about 12 lbs. So....depending on how much you use, you could go thru a bottle in a day. On my boat, the bottle would fit in the cockpit compartment right beside the ice maker. I drink beer.....

 

[sbw1]

Why not just sanitize your water tank and start using tank water like many people do? We've never had an issue doing this.

 

[Greg]

The ice maker tee's right under the sink, maybe I'll just get a good water filter to feed the ice maker. Sure would beat lugging all those bottles.

 

[Four Suns]

"The solution to pollution is dilution"

I would sanitize the tank and just make sure you use it all the time. Your boat has 140 gallon water tank on it... and we go through a tank per day. We probably use the boat 60 days a year so that's over 8000 gallons of water flushing it out every year. I do sanitize the tank at the beginning of the year as well...

You may want to check your water pumps and clean all the screens on them. They are on the starboard side behind the holding tank (2 of them in parallel).

I did make the mistake of one year dumping a whole gallon of bleach in the 140 gallon tank.. but the tank wasn't full... oops. My wife went and took a shower while I was doing this... her hair had some "highlights" for about six months after that. It made her angry.

 

[dpmulvey]

OK... I'll bite...

Why are you paranoid about the ice from the water in the tank? Someone pee in your water tank? (I'm pretty sure a couple CSR members may have peed in mine)

Nope. Wasn't me. I was not there. You don't have pix do you!!!:grin:

 

[Four Suns]

You getting specks in your ice only? That thing may need a good cleaning... If you turn those things off and there is water sitting in the ice maker, and it gets warm in the freezer (and hopefully there was no food in it), then you'll have a mess inside the mechanicals with mold, etc...

 

[dpmulvey]

I have 40 gallons of fresh H2O and also made the mistake of too much bleach! Took a lot of flushing to finally rid the water of the taste/smell. I still got the little black things (mold?) decreasing in size and amount for about a month. I honestly think they are in the ice maker or delivery hose itself because I do not get them in either sink with the screens removed. I am looking at filters and if space and budget permit, a small capacity RO machine for the ice and cockpit sink. To me it is easier than lugging cases of water around.

 

[sbw1]

You getting specks in your ice only? That thing may need a good cleaning... If you turn those things off and there is water sitting in the ice maker, and it gets warm in the freezer (and hopefully there was no food in it), then you'll have a mess inside the mechanicals with mold, etc...

We sanitize our ice maker by making about 40 pounds of ice (2 complete cycles) using water that has a weak bleach solution in it. After that, we make another 40 pounds and throw that away. The ice that follows is as clean as the water going into the tank.

 

[Greg]

It appears pretty clean, but I really need to go through and pull what I can apart and clean it out good. I was just reading another post about sanitizing with bleach, think I will try that.

Maybe I'll give it a good dose during our trip down the Delaware, all that splashing around in there should help...

I think my wife would look good with highlights :grin:

 

[sprink56]

My U-Line Ice Maker in my cockpit has an in-line filter in the supply line. I thought they all did.:huh:

One thing to consider about public water vs. bottled water: There is no standard for regulating and testing bottled water...there is for water provided by your public utility. Many bottled water companies add minerals to the water they sell to flavor it. These same minerals are the ones that will build up on and eventually clog your ice maker. If you want pure H2O for your ice, use distilled water.

 

[Bridog]

Anyone have something like this? http://www.filtersfast.com/3M-USFA-Undersink-Filter-System.asp

 

[tobnpr]

Have you considered a filtration system for the potable water aboard?
My wife drank nothing but bottled water, but since installing a Nature Pure system, which also serves the icemaker, she's a convert. Tasteless, odorless, colorless. Not cheap but worth it IMO.

http://www.generalecology.com/category/marine-rv

 

[Sea Gull]

Is there any way to prevent this hidden message stuff? I am spending all my time searching for encrypted bombs in white ink, bar codes, morse code and pictures. The ones in the pictures are especially hard to detect and decode.

 

[Turtlesboat]

Man, are you going to make me take the first letter of every other word to get the clue?

 

[Four Suns]

Man... what did I miss? Greg called with some 480 questions and things get all weird around here. It wasn't me. Greg is my witness.

 

[Greg]

Man... what did I miss? Greg called with some 480 questions and things get all weird around here. It wasn't me. Greg is my witness.

Yeah, but what was with all that typing you were doing while we were on the phone? :smt024



Just kidding...

 

[Four Suns]

Here's the tie-wrapped washers we talked about ...

The cam has two halves so you need to use two washers... the others are spares.

The oil under the engine was from the front gear case seal leaking... FYI...