On board water filtration system

[HankJordan]

Greetings all.
I would like to install a water purification system and would like your advice. My boat, a 1987 Crealock 34 has a Clearbrook system but the company is out of business and it no longer works. I have been looking at the General Ecology Seagull IV and a 3M undercounter. Any recommendations. I would like to stop bringing bottled water to the boat. Hank

[teshannon]

Originally Posted by HankJordan

Greetings all.
I would like to install a water purification system and would like your advice. My boat, a 1987 Crealock 34 has a Clearbrook system but the company is out of business and it no longer works. I have been looking at the General Ecology Seagull IV and a 3M undercounter. Any recommendations. I would like to stop bringing bottled water to the boat. Hank

There was a thread on this a while ago and someone suggested using a GE Whole House Filter system. I installed one on my boat and it works great at a fraction of the cost of a Seagull system.

[arisatx]

Hank:
I'm not familiar with Clearbrook, 3M or GE, but I do believe that the Seagull filter goes down to 0.4microns and is effective in removing bacteria compared to most others.

We put ours in line downstream of our galley foot pump and have enjoyed good tasting water w/o carrying bottled water to the boat. We also use a Shurflo sediment filter on the end of the hose when we fill our fresh water tanks.

[bowline]

We do our sailing in Florida and the Bahamas (Exumas). The water didn't always taste very good, and would sometimes deteriorate to a noticable degree before we used it, particularly the deck jerrican load.

Like some of the other posts, I decided we couldn"t really do better than a whole house filter from Home Depot or similar. I installed it below the sink, downstream from the pump, upstream from the faucets, with a plain charcoal filter. We also dose the water supply with small amounts of clorox bleach to discourage microorganisms, green weed etc. (appx. 2 tbsp/23 gal.) This leaves a faint hypochlorite taste/smell, but the filter removes this. We've had good water this way for many seasons. Only thing to watch for (down south anyway) is a grey webby-looking mold that may develop on the outside of the filter. Easily seen - if you don't catch it visually, your first indication may be that the water doesn't taste so great anymore. We go through two filters in about five months cruising down south. Up north they might last longer - but they're cheap. Keep a spare on board.

Michael Flood
"Mole End"
Bayfield 29

[HerbDB]

I have been using a Nature Pure filter with a separate tap for years. It is sold by the same people who make the Sea Gull and it much cheaper. Roughly $250 versus $500. I have had no problems with the unit and our filtered boat water tastes good. We use the filtered tap for drinking and cooking.
Seagull IV, Nature Pure Purifiers and Spark-L-Pure Micro Water Filters for Marine/RV