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under sink uv filter

2K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Minnewaska 
#1 ·
Ok so youtube has my wife all in a tizzy....
One of those sailing channels showcased a under the sink uv filter, and pretty much said you need to have one.
Of course the one they have and will give a discount code for is 550.00
Seems like a uv light bulb and a stainless housing and a walwart…
We leave the dock for a few years in a couple of months, I have a watermaker already, so no chlorine in the tanks for me.

Questions, yes I did a search but was seeing 2014 answers and still didn't really get what I was looking for...

Do any of you live aboards have a uv filter? Which one?
Is this something I really need? (remember the wifey now thinks this is a must have piece of safety equipement)
How do you know the thing is doing what it's supposed to do?
I read about a warm up period, do they all have that?

When I typed uv water filter on ebay and I'm sure amazon you can get one for 70 shipped, other than they were 120vac what's wrong with those?

I would like to keep that 550 in my pocket so help me reassure my wife that we will not die drinking water!!!!

Bob
 
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#2 ·
UV is not a filter. UV will sterilize/sanitize the water. I installed one in a house that only turned on the bulb when the well pump ran. Pretty sure the ones for under the sink on boats run all the time so you will need to replace the bulb about every year. IF you go to the web site www.viqua.com there are instruction manuals that will explain installation and operation. If you have an inverter (12 DC to 120 AC) I see no reason why a 120 vac model wouldn't work.
 
#5 ·
I have sailed all over the world and have never needed an UV water purifying system. Maybe I was just lucky for the last 5 decades, who knows?
However, when I did research these units two things came to light. First, the bulb (which I thought quite expensive) was only good for a year or so and second, nothing could get through my watermaker membrane that these units would be useful in killing. Mostly it was to be used for your tank water before the sink and as you mentioned they used 115 VAC, which meant every time I turned on the tap, I'd have to produce 115 VAC from somewhere. Seems much cheaper and simpler to keep my tanks clean.
However, if I were ever to consider moving ashore in the US, one of these units might be very high on my list as I hear the water quality in many American households has deteriorated a great deal since I was a kid.
 
#6 ·
I'm not defending the one that the youtube channel was hocking but it's led and 12v, it only comes on when you use their special powered tap.

Up to the point of seeing that video I have never heard of anyone having such a device in their home or boat. But my wife is the bottled water buying type of gal.... Just that alone might save me the cost of this unit if she feels ok drinking tank water instead of buying bottled. We have been living aboard for the last few summers and she would buy bottled water, even thou I would bleach the tanks every spring....
 
#7 ·
Don't let her anywhere the internet or a TV these days then. The reports coming out on the quality of the bottled water being sold is absolutely shocking. Tap water in Grenada is less contaminated, it seems.
 
#10 ·
Be careful of the chlorine concentration. Do some research on chlorine concentration (PPM) vs health issues. Maybe a pool test kit would help.
 
#9 ·
Even more interesting is food. Unless you live in a plastic bubble and never eat ashore or eat anything that is not cooked (fruit etc), there is only so much you can do re. water. Thus, there is a point of diminishing returns; once water safety reaches a certain point, it will be something you ate, a hand shake, a sneeze... something.
 
#11 ·
Talk about unnecessary power consumption. UV purifiers are not all that good anyway. If the bacteria are shaded by a contaminant, they get past and then multiply on the other side.

In the end, this is a silly concern, which I realize you know. There are much better ways of cleaning a potable water system and keeping it sanitary. Wash the tank, replace the hoses. Done. Sterile is unnecessary and isn't even the case with any glass of water one has ever had. Have you ever cut into household plumbing or seen the inside of a hot water tank. Even bottled water isn't sterile.
 
#12 ·
Maybe this will help:
Sail Delmarva: Drinking Water Filtration--The Short Version

1. Clean the tank at least once a year. Otherwise, it's like eating from dirty plates, and bleach won't help.
2. Disinfect the tank. Once per year is plenty if you sail a lot. Even less if you do 1 and 3.
3. Secure the vent. Bugs can and do crawl in. Easy.
4. Chlorinate. Maybe not if you are on chlorinated water. Just a tiny bit.
5. Filter for cysts and chlorine. The filters are cheap and should last 2 years... but the EXACT filter matters (see link above). Filtersfast.com.

If your wife wants clean water, this multi-stage approach, similar to the city waterworks, is far more robust than UV. There are good reasons the city does not rely on UV.
 
#14 · (Edited)
At least four pluses for pdqaltair's advice.

We have done as he suggested for years except we only strain, not filter, the water coming into the tanks. (Our water comes from municipal potable water sources or rainwater collected on deck. Neither are likely to be contaminated with human pathogens.) We are now using powered Clorox for the chlorine in our tanks which we keep a residual at light swimming pool level (1-2 ppm) by smell calibrated occasionally with pool test strips. We have two taps (galley and head) with water that has gone through his recommended Flowplus 10 filters which remove anything larger than 0.5 micron along with the chlorine smell. That is what we drink. We bathe and wash dishes with water with the chlorine still present. Our water tastes better than bottled, and we have not been sick. That said, we have fully functioning immune systems. If you do not, you may need to do more. But in that case, you know that.

Oh, here is a favorite story. I've hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. My daughter, a nurse practitioner, picked me up at a trail crossing in the NC mountains. Riding in her car, I took a drink from my water bottle which was brown from iodine in it and had a few floaters. She gasped in horror. I said, "I am a mammal with an immune system just like a dog. You have seen your dog drink straight from mud puddles." She in a great comeback said, "Have you ever heard the phrase 'sick as a dog'?"

Bill
 
#15 ·
Better to use chlorine and just install a carbon filter at sink for taste and one in the water maker flush system to protect it
 
#16 ·
I just purchased a UV system used for $75.00 and paid a whopping $105.00 for a new bulb and all gaskets and replacement filters for 2 complete service intervals. the bulb is rated for full service 24-7 at 2 year replacements. I placed the UV system ahead of my tanks so I run it at the dock when I am connected to power.The name brand is Water Fixer and they sell new for $495.00. If your wife is worried about water quality don't let her read anything about the contamination in the plastic water bottles!
 
#17 ·
If your wife is that concerned over drinking water, another option is to get a drinking water filter designed for hiking. Just take water from the tap and filter it into a Nalgene or other style water bottle. I have one you hand pump and will take a dirty mud puddle and create perfectly clear, bacteria/cyst free drinking water (literally). There are others that work by gravity, etc. It would be fairly easy to make a day's worth of drinking water each morning. Of course, this means she'd still have to be comfortable with showers and cleaning with tank water.
 
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