Garden hose filters?

[ontherocks83]

I've been thinking about more ways of keeping on board water tanks clean and aside from supplying your own clean hose to fill the tanks with. What about adding an in line filter to the hose to clean the water before it even gets to the tanks? I found several different types of garden hose filters on line but wasn't sure what people thought of the process at all. Do you think it would really make a difference to the long term cleanliness of the tanks?

Here is just one example. Obviously I am just starting my research so I don't know how good this specific product is but I am more looking for answers about the overall idea.

The EcoOne Multi Purpose Home & Garden Hose Filter

Thanks all!

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

I've been thinking about more ways of keeping on board water tanks clean and aside from supplying your own clean hose to fill the tanks with. What about adding an in line filter to the hose to clean the water before it even gets to the tanks? I found several different types of garden hose filters on line but wasn't sure what people thought of the process at all. Do you think it would really make a difference to the long term cleanliness of the tanks?

Here is just one example. Obviously I am just starting my research so I don't know how good this specific product is but I am more looking for answers about the overall idea.

The EcoOne Multi Purpose Home & Garden Hose Filter

Thanks all!

A simple under sink canister filter that one can purchase at Lowes or Home Depot inexpensively, fitted with hose fittings, is all one needs to keep sediment and debris out of ones tanks. For example:


We have been carrying one of these, together with a supply of 10mc filters, aboard for years. Regardless of the source water and canister filter, one still needs to add a purifying agent to ones tanks to preserve the water. We use unscented bleach, 2 Oz to each of our 50 gallon tanks, when we re-fill, followed up by a few ounces of AquaBon the following day. We also have a second, Pentek, fine filter between the water pumps and the fixtures and, for drinking water, a separate General Ecology fine carbon filter to a fixture on the galley counter. The use of the canister filter, above, made a huge difference to the quality of the water aboard when we began using it, in 2001.

FWIW...

[ranger58sb]

There are several recent threads on freshwater filters. A least one of those includes discussion about filtration standards, etc. Here, for example: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-127876.html

FWIW (and as reported there) we use a Pentek Big Blue household size housing with adapter fittings to garden hose threads, and a DGD-2501 (25 micron/1 micron) dual gradient filter element... followed by a GE SmartWater housing (ditto adapters) with a Pentek .5 micron carbon block filter element (I forget the number, off-hand). See filtersfast.com; no affiliation.

The latter is a bit of overkill, and affects flow rate during fill, but we don't have an easy way to add a similar on-demand filter at our taps. And I don't usually care how long it takes to fill, anyway; it's not like I have to stand there and watch.

We also use a Pur water pitcher for further filtration for drinking water, ice, and coffee water. That model happens to fit in our fridge nicely; there are other brands.

-Chris

[robert sailor]

Be careful with bleach if you have aluminum tanks.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

A simple under sink canister filter that one can purchase at Lowes or Home Depot inexpensively, fitted with hose fittings, is all one needs to keep sediment and debris out of ones tanks.

This is also standard procedure on our boat for filling from a hose. We use a charcoal filter to remove any chlorine.

Mark

[JK n Smitty]

We use this prefilter. Before we added a drinking water filter we could taste the difference. We haven't done a full cleaning of the tank so I can't tell you if we will see anything different.

[ontherocks83]

Good info so far. Thanks guys!

So in addition to the hose filter would it be worth getting a food grade hose and attaching garden hose adapters to it and running that to the spigot or does the filter negate the need for a "clean" hose?

[rwidman]

I would adapt a filter made for home use. That way replacement cartridges are inexpensive and available anywhere there's a hardware store or home center.

It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: Use only a hose that's rated for drinking water and keep it on your boat so slip neighbors won't be tempted to use it to flush their holding tanks.

[thinwater]

Yes, they really do help keep the tank clean. They won't keep it sterile, but they will keep the biomass down to where sanitizing is practical.

a. A filter should NOT be dock mounted. Most of the solids and algae actually come from the hose itself. Thus, the filter must be at the end of the hose, whichever type is chosen.

b. Walmart sells the Camco hose end filter for $10. Same filter will be 2-3 times that through marine outfitters. Will last at least a season. This is the same one Smitty referenced.

c. Filters are MUCH cheaper on-line. Filtersfast.com is one example. Everything Home Depots has, and much more, for 1/3 the price.

A very basic filter is all that is required at the inlet. More specific filters are needed at the tap.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by colemj

This is also standard procedure on our boat for filling from a hose. We use a charcoal filter to remove any chlorine.

Mark

a. Unless you have an aluminum tank, you do NOT want to remove chlorine before the tank. If you have an aluminum tank, it's a good idea to reduce it some.

b. Many of the filters do not reduce chlorine as much as you think. First, to obtain an NSF rating for chlorine reduction, only a 25% reduction is required. Second, they often get that rating at a MUCH lower flow rate (1-2 gpm, vs the normal 6-7 gpm loading rate--gotta read the fine print). Thus, I tested several new filters and saw 10-25% reduction in chlorine at normal flow rates. Real chlorine reduction requires a larger filter and/or a slow rate to allow reaction time.

[colemj]

We have both an aluminum tank and a watermaker that gets flushed from it. Chlorine is bad for both, but more so for the watermaker than the tank.

We use good-quality carbon block filters - the same ones that are also used by major watermaker manufacturers for removing chlorine - and I adjust the fill rate to <1gpm. It takes awhile, but we usually are not in a hurry.

Our fills from shore (chlorinated) water each year can be counted on one hand - even if you have lost a couple of fingers.

Explain why we "do NOT want to remove chlorine before the tank"?

Even if we were living on a dock, we would be going through the water fast enough that not having chlorine in it would not be an issue. Consider that our normal water fill sources (rain and watermaker) have no chlorine, and we get by just fine.

I understand that if one was filling their tanks and leaving them full for many days/weeks, that chlorine would be beneficial. But I see no benefit when using the water continually. If growth does occur over time, the tanks can be shocked, emptied and resumed use with no chlorinated water.

Mark

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by colemj

We have both an aluminum tank and a watermaker that gets flushed from it. Chlorine is bad for both, but more so for the watermaker than the tank.

We use good-quality carbon block filters - the same ones that are also used by major watermaker manufacturers for removing chlorine - and I adjust the fill rate to <1gpm. It takes awhile, but we usually are not in a hurry.

Our fills from shore (chlorinated) water each year can be counted on one hand - even if you have lost a couple of fingers.

Explain why we "do NOT want to remove chlorine before the tank"?

Even if we were living on a dock, we would be going through the water fast enough that not having chlorine in it would not be an issue. Consider that our normal water fill sources (rain and watermaker) have no chlorine, and we get by just fine.

I understand that if one was filling their tanks and leaving them full for many days/weeks, that chlorine would be beneficial. But I see no benefit when using the water continually. If growth does occur over time, the tanks can be shocked, emptied and resumed use with no chlorinated water.

Mark

The first 3 paragraphs are all true. I said as much.

While you can certainly "get by," not having chlorine in the tank, it is not as safe as having it, and unless you have an aluminum tank, there is no good argument not to. Having a water maker is a debatable argument, since there should be a carbon filter as part of the pretreatment train, but I'm not interested in that debate.

Yes, rapid turn over helps, but the correct place to remove the chlorine is down stream of the tank. We could argue this, or you could consult any health authority. It will also reduce biomass build up; even with rapid turn over, bugs grow.

The other reality is that you are probably not removing all of the chlorine; there is still some residual.

---However, very few sailors are at the boat every day. Even leaving the boat for a week adds risk. There is simply no reason to dechlorinate the fill water.

[colemj]

I certainly don't dechlorinate our rain or watermaker water. Not for years and we have never had any problems. Even when we do fill up at a dock, many of those places have no chlorine treatment in their supplies.

Mark

[Arthur Garfield]

Why not.Sounds doable filter system.
I do wonder why I have not seen the usage of UV inline lights to certainly kill off little little virus nasties.

[rwidman]

Those of us who get our water from city water systems drink chlorinated water day in and day out. It's perfectly safe and I see no need to remove it either before or after putting it in my boat's potable water system.

I have not found any need to do anything to my boat's potable water system other than make sure the water I put in is clean and pure and use a dedicated drinking water rated hose to fill the tanks. I have owned the boat since 2008 and I don't believe the previous owners did anything special either.