Water Filter Added?

[daveme]

Hello. I have a CW 30 and am interested in installing a drinking water filter. On an old boat I had a great setup with a Seagull Filter installed with its own spigot on the sink. But since the faucet needs to fold down out of the way, this isn't going to work. I guess I can put an in-line filter on the cold water line, but would rather have a more sophisticated filter in play. The seagull was excellent filtering small critters from sketchy sources. Any ideas?
Dave Melin
Grace

 

[Bruce Moore]

We installed a whole house filter in line immediately after the water pump (pressurized side). Ours is similar to this one sold by West Marine. Under $100.

Any potable water going into the pressurized lines, including the water heater, is filtered. A secondary benefit of this approach is you capture any tank debris before it gets to local faucet filters and flow restrictors.

There's a good discussion of canister types here.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[Kevin Lamont]

Hello. I have a CW 30 and am interested in installing a drinking water filter. On an old boat I had a great setup with a Seagull Filter installed with its own spigot on the sink. But since the faucet needs to fold down out of the way, this isn't going to work. I guess I can put an in-line filter on the cold water line, but would rather have a more sophisticated filter in play. The seagull was excellent filtering small critters from sketchy sources. Any ideas?
Dave Melin
Grace

Dave,

Just replied to the email you sent me, check it out. The one I sent you is used by a lot of our customers and is simple to use which is always a plus.

For anyone else that is interested here is the link:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-mar ... ecordNum=1

Thanks,
Kevin Lamont

 

[Bruce Moore]

We use the filter Kevin posted when filling the tank with dock water, in addition to the whole house filter coming out of the water pump.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[Wildcats]

The problem with these water filters is that most do not filter out bacteria or viruses. Charcoal filters like the one mentioned don't filter out bacteria or viruses. They do filter out chlorine which may make the water taste better but then your water in your tank can start growing algae, and become contaminated with bacteria and viruses.

I use a General Ecology Pre Filter, https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|51|2234214|2243564&id=6754] which filters down to 1 micron. I bought this from Defender and it works well. This filter is more expensive then a charcoal RV type filter. The filter element can be replaced. Like the charcoal filter it also removes chlorine. Giardia parasites are typically about 10 microns, e coli 1-2 microns, Salmonella 2-5 microns while Norovirus (the cruise ship virus and common cause of "food poisoning") is 1000 times smaller at 25-40 Nanometers or 0.025 microns.

I filter all of our water no matter the source, even marina water that comes from a municipal water supply. I have been surprised at the sediment and algae I filter out. Knowing that this General Ecology filter or a charcoal filter remove chlorine, and doesn't remove smaller bacteria and all viruses I add bleach to my water each time I fill the tank. I have talked with other boaters and many think this is excessive, but sometimes being worried is a good thing! If you are in a remote area where the water quality is not known, it may be prudent to add bleach when you fill up.

 

[BB marine]

I added a Dupont whole house filter to the boat. Purchased at Menards and I use charcoal filter. We drink the water from the tank maintaining it with periodic treatments of for bacteria and use the filter to remove sediment and filter odors so it taste good. We have used it for 4 seasons without issue and have had good tasting water. The install was very easy. I installed the filter at the water tank so all water in the boat is filtered.

 

[daveme]

Thanks for the quick responses. I"m going to be looking into the whole house filters, as they seem economical and a step more than the inline. I'd splurge for a Seagull if I could figure out how to make the faucet work.

 

[Wee Venture]

Just a thought... Small fold down spigots are available for the marine and RV market. But I don’t know about whether they would fit in your Cutwater configuration. We have a Ranger R-31 and have had the Seagull filter with dedicated spigot for about a year. Took it north with us on a four month cruise where the water can be sketchy. We love the setup, but of course the faucet doesn’t have to fold down. If you think it might work, there is a recent thread that might have useful information for you:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=14036&p=96082&hilit=21+we+faucet#p96082