Water everywhere, but what to drink?

Living on a boat has its perks and drawbacks obviously.
One of the perks is that our water supply rates are included in our mooring fees.
One of the drawbacks is that said water supply to the pontoons and our boat is via a network of pipes and hose reels, therefore shared with other boaters, who may or may not be as careful as we are not to dunk the end of the hose in the murky depths of the marina.

Our water tank holds about 100 gallons. Every other top up, we add a few capfuls of a product to assist in biological purification and sterilisation, which is actually bleach based.
We have a water filter fitted to a second tap which we use for drinking and cooking.
And there lies the problem.

The filter’s life has expired (clogged up and cannot be cleaned) and the pump is working flat out to supply sufficient pressure for the water to flow out of this tap, which it doesn’t. It just dribbles, so filling the kettle for a brew takes  A  G  E  S.
We have got round the problem temporarily by purchasing bottled water for the job.

‘Why not replace the filter?’ I hear you ask.

Ah. Good point.

Let me back track a little to two properties ago:
Obviously our mains water supply in Poole was clean and drinkable, though every so often we could taste the chlorine that had been added, but we had a third tap with a charcoal filter on it for our drinking water as we lived in a hard water area and limescale was a major problem.

The original kit, including the tap, cost around £24, with replacement filters at £11.
Each would last about a year, so this was reasonable and totally within our budget.

In the cottage, there was a water filter attached to the mains supply coming into the property, so the set up we had in the bungalow was not required. In the seven years we lived there, we had no problems at all, and never had to change the crystals in the filter itself.

Now here on the boat, as we do not have a direct mains supply exactly, we always let the water run for a few minutes to clear the residue in the hose of any stagnant water since its last use before we add fresh water to our tank.
However, as what we use in the boat sits in the tank until we need it, there is always a chance of some contamination, hence the additive and filter for drinking and cooking.

Filters for the system on board cost around £200.
Yes, two hundred pounds, and quite honestly, we don’t have that kind of money to spend on a regular basis. Besides, £200 buys an awful lot of bottled water at 17p for two litres.

Hubby got on the internet, and found several filter systems within our budget that would filter out some of the bacteria, but really wanted a water purifier that would filter out EVERYTHING harmful, down to micro organisms level.
Different kettle of fish that.

We asked other liveaboards how they managed, and most had a filter system similar to the one we had in the bungalow, or they relied on a filter jug for their drinking water. However, with the dangers of bacteria and other nasties, Hubby wanted something that took out everything,  as on a boat you never know when a fresh water supply might not be available.
Hubby found exactly what he was looking for at a reasonable cost of £109, and yesterday we had a field trip to the distributor to collect a purifying system that required no plumbing or no electricity to install, was gravity fed, and the ceramic filter ‘candles’ last for ten years as they can be cleaned. If they need to be replaced, they are £34 for two.

It looks like a tea urn, stands 20 inches tall and 8 inches around. We will have to find a better home for it than sitting on the draining board, but basically you can put any water in it and once filtered, you will have fresh, clean, pure water to drink……..
and nothing else.

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