London boat show - found an interesting gadget...

[Biggles]

On another forum that I can't find now a bloke had used a mechanical power take off from his DC genset to a water maker so he got power and water from his Diesel $

 

I have seen water filter systems for make clean water using reducing filters then UV sterilisation. Not sure this was potable though.

[Captain Fizz]

Whitbread Brewery developed a system to turn potable water into pee

And very successful it was too.

[Victor Vectis]

I'll say it makes good tea!

Does it make a good laxative as well?

 

[Kwacker]

Reverse Osmosis (RO) process perfected by NASA I believe to turn astronauts urine back into drinkable water.

 

The one on my previous boat used a 3kW AC motor to provide the 600 psi needed on the RO membranes, in turn yielding 16 litres of product water per hour from seawater at 25°C.

 

Kill 2 birds with one stone?

[PaddingtonBear]

And his name is Kevin, FTS, and is a jolly fine chap and he occasionally posts on here. It was a General Ecology set up btw.

Edited January 9, 2014 by PaddingtonBear

[bargemast]

I know of a couple of set ups on nbs, one is a General Ecology, although they use it to treat the tap water. The other is owned by a guy with a very long beard and is home made (like everything else on his boat). Every time his water tank runs low, he tosses a bilge pump over the side and refills. The shower is Teed off after the second filter, the kitchen wash tap after the 3rd and the drinking tap last in line. I'll say it makes good tea!

I would be very interested to know how his system works, what sort of filters he's using, and how much his set-up cost.

 

Peter.

[Jo_]

http://www.lifestraw.org.uk/index.html

 

£10.00

No set up needed

No power consumption

[saxplayer]

Great for sea going boats far better then the evaporator I used to steam in the RN. Problem with reverse osmosis they will removed particulars in suspension like salt but pass contaminated water ie fuel

[NB Alnwick]

Whitbread Brewery developed a system to turn potable water into pee

 

You are not getting away with that - the truth is that we discovered a way of turning potable water into cash and it is still paying my pension!

Edited January 9, 2014 by NB Alnwick

[Willber G]

http://www.lifestraw.org.uk/index.html

 

£10.00

No set up needed

No power consumption

 

That's an impressive device assuming it works. Here ia a more direct link:

http://www.lifestraw.org.uk/LifeStraw.html

"Is a point-of-use water treatment system intended for routine use in low-income settings Filters up to 18,000 litres of water, enough to supply a family of five with microbiologically clean drinking water for three years."

[Ron T]

If everyone had them wouldn't it drain the canals?

[bargemast]

Surprising to read how much safe drinking water these devises can produce, and all that for only a small price.

 

It doesn't seem very practical to fill a big watertank with one of these devises, but perfect to make your day to day supply.

 

Peter.

[fudd]

I know of a couple of set ups on nbs, one is a General Ecology, although they use it to treat the tap water. The other is owned by a guy with a very long beard and is home made (like everything else on his boat). Every time his water tank runs low, he tosses a bilge pump over the side and refills. The shower is Teed off after the second filter, the kitchen wash tap after the 3rd and the drinking tap last in line. I'll say it makes good tea!

Does he moor on the Stort?

[Captain Zim]

I'd love to fit something like this. Obviously it's easier just to go to a tap but what about in the event of a breakdown or stoppage? I was stuck at Berkhamsted last year and getting water was a nightmare. Because in general there is more space on a narrowboat than a yacht and again, in general, a narrowboat is more stable, would it be possible to have a pre-filter tank on the roof somewhere? Raw water could goin and filter through a more traditonal gravel/sand filter before entering the purifier?

 

Also, fisher panda say that uv kills 99.8% of viruses etc. what are the 0.2% they don't kill?

[John P]

I'd love to fit something like this. Obviously it's easier just to go to a tap but what about in the event of a breakdown or stoppage? I was stuck at Berkhamsted last year and getting water was a nightmare. Because in general there is more space on a narrowboat than a yacht and again, in general, a narrowboat is more stable, would it be possible to have a pre-filter tank on the roof somewhere? Raw water could goin and filter through a more traditonal gravel/sand filter before entering the purifier?

Also, fisher panda say that uv kills 99.8% of viruses etc. what are the 0.2% they don't kill?

Warning: scientific explanation ahead!

With uv exposure, the rate of killing is proportional to the number of viable microorganisms left. Thus plotting the number of survivors against time gives an exponential curve. Steam and many chemical sterilisation techniques show the same kinetics. As a result you can never say that all the microorganisms have been killed, no matter how intense or prolonged the treatment. Instead industry, hospitals etc. work to a (very small) chance that there is one survivor per container, item etc. for example, a 1 in 1000000 chance is often used for saline drips, injectable drugs and so on.

This is why a certain disinfectant is advertised as killing "99.99% of household germs"

[MtB]

I'd love to fit something like this. Obviously it's easier just to go to a tap but what about in the event of a breakdown or stoppage? I was stuck at Berkhamsted last year and getting water was a nightmare. Because in general there is more space on a narrowboat than a yacht and again, in general, a narrowboat is more stable, would it be possible to have a pre-filter tank on the roof somewhere? Raw water could goin and filter through a more traditonal gravel/sand filter before entering the purifier?

 

 

 

 

Don't forget you can buy water in Tesco. It costs 17p for 2 litres of Tesco 'Value' water....

 

You can buy one helluvalot of Tesco water for the price of that Fisher Price reverse osmosis gadget toy, and I bet Tescos don't break down as often!.

 

 

MtB

[Captain Zim]

Yeah but you still have to lug the water bottles to the boat...and then get rid of all that plastic.

 

John P thanks for the explanation. I'm keen on this.

[ditchcrawler]

Going off topic, on the BCN I watched a young pike rise up out of the weeds and take a fish near the surface. That's three foot of water, about ten foot off to the side.

 

Amazing

 

Richard

I was amazed how clear it was last time I went that way.

[Giggetty]

 

Compared to the overall cost of boating £1200 is background noise...

 

6 litres an hour is 144 litres a day. Plenty big enough output for a narrerbote. How much power does it take? I bet this is the deal breaker....

 

And who mends it when it breaks?

 

 

MtB

I saw this too-it's a reverse osmosis device. Currrent consumption of the medium size one was 8A