Newbie water in Mexico ?

[captlloyd]

I don’t think it is accurate to say all city water in Mexico is unsafe to drink. Also 30 pesos is less than $1.50 US and a five gallon container should easily last two people a week, less than $10 a month. Food cooked with city water would be safe if brought up to a high temperature. Some people get upset stomachs drinking water from one state to the next even in the US. I don’t think it is fair to single out Mexico for bad drinking water as there are numerous places in the US were it is inadvisable to drink the water, notably Flint.

[Letterkenny]

Originally Posted by Sailor647

Attachment 235926

Still works great! No water borne illness to report.

We've had to change the filters out a few times (they will eventually plug up), but the UV light is still going strong. We are careful when stowing it so we don't accidentally break the lamp by banging it around. We are also mindful of keeping our water hose stored out of the sun and clean. We flush it briefly before connecting it to the filter system.

Since the dock water in Mexico isn't chlorinated, we sanitize the tanks and lines with household Chlorox bleach (5ml per gallon) for an extra measure of safety if the water has been sitting in the tanks unused for a while. (We made a trip back home for three months.) Then empty it out and start over with fresh water. Or buy drinking water until the chlorinated water is out of the tanks.

It's been a nice addition to our cruising life.

So to confirm you will drink this water added to your tank after it’s been through the carbon blocks and UV? Any other filtration after the tank?

[sailingabe41ds]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

I don’t think it is accurate to say all city water in Mexico is unsafe to drink. Also 30 pesos is less than $1.50 US and a five gallon container should easily last two people a week, less than $10 a month. Food cooked with city water would be safe if brought up to a high temperature. Some people get upset stomachs drinking water from one state to the next even in the US. I don’t think it is fair to single out Mexico for bad drinking water as there are numerous places in the US were it is inadvisable to drink the water, notably Flint.

Oh please spare me with the hypersensitivity....LOL...Okay lets not single out Mexico. I am from one of those latin countries and I will group most latin american countries do not come close to the quality and the high standards of the drinking water in the US. You can single out Flint......I can single out almost every city south of the border. Last time I checked most of us who travel down south need vaccination and bring your antibiotics...not the other way around.

Abe

[Training Wheels]

If the locals don’t drink the water, I ain’t drinking it!

[Sailor647]

Originally Posted by Letterkenny

So to confirm you will drink this water added to your tank after it’s been through the carbon blocks and UV? Any other filtration after the tank?

Yes, we drink the water added to our tank after it's been through our homemade filtration system. We have an additional Seagull filter at the galley sink which takes it down to .4 microns. Sometimes I use the Seagull tap, sometimes I don't. Before we started using our own filter system, we were going through a Seagull filter every few months it seemed. And they are expensive!

Also, we do buy water (refill our 20 liter jug for 12 pesos) to make ice, because the water we get at our marina has mineral in it and leave this white flaky stuff at the bottom of drinks after the ice cubes melt. Silly, I know, but I don't like it. lol (It also leaves spots on the acrylic shower door.)

We also chlorinate the water system on the boat every few months. So we drink bottle water while we are waiting for the chlorine to do its job and eventually dissipate, usually just a few days.

We did take two samples of the water back to the US for testing - one from the hose bib on the dock, and one from the faucet inside our boat. The lab couldn't test for pathogens because the sample was more than a day old, but they did test for arsenic and other harmful stuff. Both samples were safe in that regard.

Hope this is helpful. Best of luck!

[Letterkenny]

Originally Posted by Sailor647

Yes, we drink the water added to our tank after it's been through our homemade filtration system. We have an additional Seagull filter at the galley sink which takes it down to .4 microns. Sometimes I use the Seagull tap, sometimes I don't. Before we started using our own filter system, we were going through a Seagull filter every few months it seemed. And they are expensive!

Also, we do buy water (refill our 20 liter jug for 12 pesos) to make ice, because the water we get at our marina has mineral in it and leave this white flaky stuff at the bottom of drinks after the ice cubes melt. Silly, I know, but I don't like it. lol (It also leaves spots on the acrylic shower door.)

We also chlorinate the water system on the boat every few months. So we drink bottle water while we are waiting for the chlorine to do its job and eventually dissipate, usually just a few days.

We did take two samples of the water back to the US for testing - one from the hose bib on the dock, and one from the faucet inside our boat. The lab couldn't test for pathogens because the sample was more than a day old, but they did test for arsenic and other harmful stuff. Both samples were safe in that regard.

Hope this is helpful. Best of luck!

Thanks! Currently not planning on extensive Mexico cruising (though I would love to use the boat at my place in Zihuatanejo) but will likely need to refill the water tanks from time to time when doing weekend or week long cruises down to Ensenada and I don’t want to contaminate my tank. I don’t plan to use a Seagull at the sink due to the price but will have an additional tap going through a 0.5 micron carbon block. I am either debating doing a setup like yours or a RO system for filling the tanks.

[Sailor647]

Originally Posted by Letterkenny

Thanks! Currently not planning on extensive Mexico cruising (though I would love to use the boat at my place in Zihuatanejo) but will likely need to refill the water tanks from time to time when doing weekend or week long cruises down to Ensenada and I don’t want to contaminate my tank. I don’t plan to use a Seagull at the sink due to the price but will have an additional tap going through a 0.5 micron carbon block. I am either debating doing a setup like yours or a RO system for filling the tanks.

Couple of points - all tanks eventually get contaminated and grow things unless all the water is chlorinated. Water tanks are vented and air carries stuff. It happens, so just plan on cleaning them out once in a while.

We also have a watermaker onboard, which we use to fill the tanks whenever we are in clean seawater - and our preference. But sometimes, we need to fill up at a dock. Either way is a lot easier than hauling 20 liter jugs! hahaha

[Training Wheels]

Originally Posted by Letterkenny

Thanks! Currently not planning on extensive Mexico cruising (though I would love to use the boat at my place in Zihuatanejo) but will likely need to refill the water tanks from time to time when doing weekend or week long cruises down to Ensenada and I don’t want to contaminate my tank. I don’t plan to use a Seagull at the sink due to the price but will have an additional tap going through a 0.5 micron carbon block. I am either debating doing a setup like yours or a RO system for filling the tanks.

Hah, going to Jungle Pizza for dinner tonight!

[Letterkenny]

Originally Posted by Training Wheels

Hah, going to Jungle Pizza for dinner tonight!

Not too far from my place! I’m probably a 5-10 minute walk up the street on la ropa.

[Marathon1150]

We used a commercially available carbon block/5 micron filter with UV lamp produced by these people based in La Paz: https://www.cruiserowaterandpower.co...maker-options/

By using this we did not need to add chlorine to the tanks, thus protecting our watermaker membrane which we used when out cruising. Unfortunately, the dock water in Marina Palmira would be rendered safe to drink by the unit, it still tasted bad so we used bottled water (5 gallon 'garafons' were cheap and readily available).

We would shock treat the tanks with bleach annually using the method in Practical Sailor. We would wait about 2 weeks or so before using the water maker afterwards.

I don't see the unit listed on their website (we bought ours in 2012 and gave it away in 2019 when we left for the South Pacific).

Making one according to the plans in this thread looks like a very good idea.

[contrail]

Well, shoot me if you want to, but I am going to be a bit contrarian here. People all over the world want clean water, not only in the "developed" world. And, lots of places have it, but it is always easy to sell people bottled water, often out of the tap from another location, if they are made to be nervous. A glance at the YouTube "The Story of Bottled Water" might be instructive. But, back to the OP's concern. Marina's don't want you to get sick any more than you do. Ask them if they have Agua Potable, which means potable or drinkable water. You may be surprised. Twenty years ago, I managed Marina Cabo San Lucas, for four plus years. Every drop of water came from a very well maintained water maker. We were not even connected to city water. The distribution system was also well maintained, and chlorinated and then flushed, from time to time. I lived aboard and drank that water without any further filtration, every single day. Used to test it on my boat! I found that potable water, sometimes made by watermaker, sometimes filtered, whatever, was available in lots of places in Baja, and some places across the Sea of Cortez, as well. I had a watermaker, but I took on water in La Paz, Puerto Escondido and San Carlos, among other places. In eight years, I never bought bottled water, and I didn't get sick. Whilst I absolutely agree that one needs to know the source of the water, and it's awful to get a waterborne disease, I think that people are way too easily convinced that water is not potable, when, in fact, it often is. Fifty years ago, NO one bought bottled water. Then, the large soft drink manufacturers, looking for a new product to sell, began touting bottled water, by casting suspicion on anything out of a tap. The rest is History. It's the same here in the BVI, where I now live. We have a 2 million gallon per day watermaker on Tortola, which puts out more than we can use. There are places where I wouldn't trust the distribution system, but most places, I ask for tap water. And, yes, I have tested it. I remember asking a waitress on Jost Van Dyke for tap water. She refused to sell it to me, saying it was not clean, "because it was made by reverse osmosis!" Clever marketing to the uneducated! So, to the OP, I suggest that you ask the marina about their water. They want you to be healthy and happy, and they understand the need for clean water, themselves.