Fresh Water Filters

[Stewartn]

Thought the old, 11 yrs, Shurflo pressure water pump was gone. Turned out to be a clogged filter on the intake side. (As long as I had disconnected all the plumbing, etc., I replaced the pump.) Filter was clogged with some white substance, felt soft to touch. Local experts think it's poly residue from bottom of tank when they cut the ports. The filter had same substance at commissioning, May. We flushed tanks and shocked with Clorox, rinsed with vinegar, flushed and filled. 2 months later the filter clogged again. If Peggy Hall on the net, I'd love her opinion. Any other opinions are definitely welcome. Thx all.

[Peggie Hall]

After 11 years, it's unlikely that any PE residue would just start showing up. My guess is, it's something in the water...maybe even some sediment from a water main.  Water dept will tell you that can happen if there's been an interruption in the water supply.  Recommissioning won't cure this problem.  The solution: USE your water, and clean the filter every week.  If you see it often enough, you can tell whether it's continuing problem or getting better. If it's a continuing problem, you may want to filter the water coming into the tank too.

[Ron Hill]

Stewart : I had a similar problem 23 seasons ago and it was the hard poly shavings from the tank!!
I agree with Peggy that your present problem is something in the load of water that you took, on NOT hard poly particles from MANY years ago when the boat was built.

A thought

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Stewart, here is a pic of a filter I got from Home Depot. It's called a whole house filter. I got hose fittings for the inlet and outlets. All togerher, it was under 20 bucks including the fittings and filter cartridges. All the that goes into our tanks goes through this.

Mike

[Ron Hill]

Stewart : I've mentioned this many times before - I have a filter like Mike showed to filter the water before it goes into the tank (adapted to a garden hose) and a filter on the galley faucet.   

[Stewartn]

Thx to all. If I did pick this up from the yard water at commissioning, what's the best way to flush 70 gal. of water from the tanks. That Shurflo will work forever. Anyone ever disconnect the in hose from the pump, attach a length and let it drain into the bilge? All suggestions appreciated.

[Peggie Hall]

There's no need to drain 70 gallons of water at once...just use your water till the tank is down to 10-15 gallons, then drain that.  However, I'm not even sure you need to do that...You have a temporary problem that can be solved by simply cleaning the filter every couple of weeks till whatever you picked up has been flushed out of the tank. That will also provide an opportunity to see whether the amount of stuff in the filter is diminishing or not. If it's not, you still don't need to drain the tank, you only need to filter water going into the tank.

[Ralph Masters]

Mike,
That whole house filter looks like something that should be used on every boat, I'm headed to Home Depot for one this week.

Thank you,

Ralph

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Ralph,
Just to clarify, it isn't installed permanently, I just connect it to the garden hose when filling the tanks. There are also different types of filters. Sediment and charcoal. The sediment should be all you need,as the charcoal would also remove chlorine,which sounds like a good idea at first but it's best to keep the chlorine from the city water supply in the tank to keep down some of the nasties in the tank, then use a Brita type filter at the faucet to take out the chlorine for drinking.
BTW, are you a member of the Navy Yacht Club across the bay from your marina? If not you should look into it. I just joined last month and the reciprocal privileges alone are worth it.

Mike

[Ralph Masters]

Yep, I understand that.  Hook the hose to it fill the tanks then throw it back in the dock box ready to go again.  And the way you attach the hose back to it's self prevents dirt or other contaminants from getting in.

Thanks,

Ralph

[Ron Hill]

Stewart : You can empty the tanks just like you do for winterization.
Turn on the head and the galley sink and they will empty both tanks in about 15-29 minutes.  A thought