Epic. Drinking water on the epic.

[Trickster999]

A recent poster on cruise critic complained about the cost of drinking water.

 

I thought I'd take an empty bottle on board and fill it from the fountains which I assume are available.

[1025cruise]

Yes, there are places for water to be gotten for no cost. Just fill a glass, then your bottle from the glass.

[KeithJenner]

Yes, they are, specifically in the buffet. Just be aware that you need to use a cup to transfer the water rather than pour it directly into the bottle.

[anandaindonesia]

We were on Epic for 14 days TransAtlantic and never buy any water. Epic water is ok for us.

 

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[fshagan]

A recent poster on cruise critic complained about the cost of drinking water.

 

I thought I'd take an empty bottle on board and fill it from the fountains which I assume are available.

 

Your cabin steward can also provide a water pitcher with the filtered ice water that you can use.

[Trickster999]

Thanks for the input

[Tedj6050]

Having been on the EPIC 5 times I believe the water onboard is very good.

Better than the water from my tap at home.no smell or odor at all.

That goes for the dispensers in the buffet,the dining rooms and even the faucet in my cabin.

[Newbcruiser1]

I have to agree on the epic water tasting just fine! I'm not a big water drinker because I'm picky with my waters (oddly, I only like my bathroom tap water at home!) and have had issues on certain ships, but really enjoyed the water on the Epic!

 

 

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[cb at sea]

Bring a wide-mouth bottle, if you want to use your cabin's water...you will need to put ice in it...tap water won't "run cold"...ever! If you are getting water from the dispensers, they are chilled.

[WashyWashyHappyHappy95]

All the water on NCL ships is fine. If the slight chlorine taste really bothers you, let it sit for a few minutes uncovered. Add some ice, and you'll think you're drinking Dasani.

[BirdTravels]

I thought I'd take an empty bottle on board and fill it from the fountains which I assume are available.

 

You should NEVER fill a water bottle from any public water source. You should ALWAYS fill clean water glasses and use that water to out in your bottles. Regardless of what you see other filthy peope do, do not contaminate public dispensers.

 

Many ships (NCL and all other cruise lines) bunker water. They hook up and fill their water tanks when in port. So if the water taste like home, it is from home.

[fshagan]

The water from the cabin is pretty objectionable to me; a pretty well respected engineer here says it is maintained at .05 ppm (much lower than pool water) but it is the same chemical used in most swimming pools. I can taste it. I have also SEEN water that has a yellowish cast to it, and smells heavily of chlorine.

 

This is not my picture, and it's unusual, but I have seen water out of the tap almost this bad:

 

 

And every now and then some poor girl has her hair turned green by the excessive level of chlorine: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214419

 

Most of the water you drink on board is made by flash evaporators that pressurize sea water, heat it to steam, and then condense the steam to produce what is normally called "distilled" water. The second most common source is sea water that is made potable by reverse osmosis. It is then chlorinated. Distilled water generally has a flat, "dead" taste, but that's offset a bit by making it taste like pool water with the chlorine.

 

Any water they take on board from shore (bunkered water) has to be segregated and tested, and cannot be mixed into the ship's water for a period of time (I think it is 24 - 48 hours). This is law, so you aren't drinking "shore water" for the first day or so, and maybe never. It's probably cheaper for them to make the water in their flash evaporators as they use the waste heat from the diesel engines to heat the water.

 

The water they serve in restaurants, at the buffet, and at the bars (and the water your cabin steward will bring you in a pitcher) is carbon filtered and tastes fine to us. We drink the water at every meal, preferring it over other drinks.

 

You can also let water "age" to lose the residual chlorine, but recommendations for fish and plants are to let your drinking water at home age 12 - 24 hours. The sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach) they use dissipates at different rates depending on exposure to sunlight, heat and the amount of the surface area exposed to air.

 

In concentrated amounts, the sodium hypochlorite is a dangerous chemical, but the levels present in drinking water are not a health hazard to most people. Don't be alarmed if you read the MSDS on it! Sanitizing drinking water with chemicals has saved many lives over the past 150 years or so.

 

It just tastes bad, can be bad for your CPAP machine (check with the manufacturer), and can harm some people allergic to it.

[easyboy]

We bring Brita water bottle.

[Loopyloo12]

Just back from our cruise on Epic and bottled water is a silly price, with service etc it was over $7 from a bar and around $5 in the room. As such we stayed clear of it and luckily bought an empty bottle on board which we filled from the water dispensers that are located at the Garden Cafe and near the towel area on the main deck.

 

As others have said you need to use glasses to fill so wider the neck the better. The only problem was forgetting the bottle but to be honest glasses of ice water can be obtained from every bar and in the restaurants and we just got into the habit of grabbing one in the way back to our room at night. If we wanted a top up overnight then the ice had melted and was fine. It tasted fine to us and was not a problem in the end...

 

Enjoy...

[chengkp75]

The water from the cabin is pretty objectionable to me; a pretty well respected engineer here says it is maintained at .05 ppm (much lower than pool water) but it is the same chemical used in most swimming pools. I can taste it. I have also SEEN water that has a yellowish cast to it, and smells heavily of chlorine.

 

This is not my picture, and it's unusual, but I have seen water out of the tap almost this bad:

 

 

And every now and then some poor girl has her hair turned green by the excessive level of chlorine: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214419

 

Most of the water you drink on board is made by flash evaporators that pressurize sea water, heat it to steam, and then condense the steam to produce what is normally called "distilled" water. The second most common source is sea water that is made potable by reverse osmosis. It is then chlorinated. Distilled water generally has a flat, "dead" taste, but that's offset a bit by making it taste like pool water with the chlorine.

 

Any water they take on board from shore (bunkered water) has to be segregated and tested, and cannot be mixed into the ship's water for a period of time (I think it is 24 - 48 hours). This is law, so you aren't drinking "shore water" for the first day or so, and maybe never. It's probably cheaper for them to make the water in their flash evaporators as they use the waste heat from the diesel engines to heat the water.

 

The water they serve in restaurants, at the buffet, and at the bars (and the water your cabin steward will bring you in a pitcher) is carbon filtered and tastes fine to us. We drink the water at every meal, preferring it over other drinks.

 

You can also let water "age" to lose the residual chlorine, but recommendations for fish and plants are to let your drinking water at home age 12 - 24 hours. The sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach) they use dissipates at different rates depending on exposure to sunlight, heat and the amount of the surface area exposed to air.

 

In concentrated amounts, the sodium hypochlorite is a dangerous chemical, but the levels present in drinking water are not a health hazard to most people. Don't be alarmed if you read the MSDS on it! Sanitizing drinking water with chemicals has saved many lives over the past 150 years or so.

 

It just tastes bad, can be bad for your CPAP machine (check with the manufacturer), and can harm some people allergic to it.

 

Just a couple of points, since you have always seemed to want to know exactly what is going on with the water.

 

As I've explained before, the discolored water is due to repairs to the piping system, and is calcium carbonate (an antacid) scale that forms in the pipes, and will generally clear in a few minutes of running water.

 

Flash evaporators don't pressurize the water before boiling it, they actually heat the water to about 140*F, and spray it into a chamber where the pressure has been reduced to a near perfect vacuum. In a vacuum, water will boil at 140*F, and doing this requires less energy and creates less scale on the heat transfer surfaces which must be periodically removed to keep the unit running.

 

Reverse osmosis units do pressurize the water, to about 3000-5000 psi to force the water molecules through the porous membrane.

 

I'm a bit curious. You say distilled water tastes "dead" and flat. Yet you say that the filtered water from the dining venues (again, mostly distilled water with the chlorine removed by the filter) tastes fine.

 

As for MSDS, in our industry we get them on virtually everything, including bars of hand soap: "Handling recommendation: do not ingest" So there, Mom, you can't wash my mouth out with it! :D

[relic2]

The water from the cabin is pretty objectionable to me; a pretty well respected engineer here says it is maintained at .05 ppm (much lower than pool water) but it is the same chemical used in most swimming pools. I can taste it. I have also SEEN water that has a yellowish cast to it, and smells heavily of chlorine.

 

 

 

This is not my picture, and it's unusual, but I have seen water out of the tap almost this bad:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And every now and then some poor girl has her hair turned green by the excessive level of chlorine: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214419

 

 

 

Most of the water you drink on board is made by flash evaporators that pressurize sea water, heat it to steam, and then condense the steam to produce what is normally called "distilled" water. The second most common source is sea water that is made potable by reverse osmosis. It is then chlorinated. Distilled water generally has a flat, "dead" taste, but that's offset a bit by making it taste like pool water with the chlorine.

 

 

 

Any water they take on board from shore (bunkered water) has to be segregated and tested, and cannot be mixed into the ship's water for a period of time (I think it is 24 - 48 hours). This is law, so you aren't drinking "shore water" for the first day or so, and maybe never. It's probably cheaper for them to make the water in their flash evaporators as they use the waste heat from the diesel engines to heat the water.

 

 

 

The water they serve in restaurants, at the buffet, and at the bars (and the water your cabin steward will bring you in a pitcher) is carbon filtered and tastes fine to us. We drink the water at every meal, preferring it over other drinks.

 

 

 

You can also let water "age" to lose the residual chlorine, but recommendations for fish and plants are to let your drinking water at home age 12 - 24 hours. The sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach) they use dissipates at different rates depending on exposure to sunlight, heat and the amount of the surface area exposed to air.

 

 

 

In concentrated amounts, the sodium hypochlorite is a dangerous chemical, but the levels present in drinking water are not a health hazard to most people. Don't be alarmed if you read the MSDS on it! Sanitizing drinking water with chemicals has saved many lives over the past 150 years or so.

 

 

 

It just tastes bad, can be bad for your CPAP machine (check with the manufacturer), and can harm some people allergic to it.

 

 

 

According to my pool guru, green hair is not caused by excessive chlorine so much as by the ph being off...either too high or too low...thereby leaching minerals from pipes. Others may know the technical jargon.

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

The water from the cabin is pretty objectionable to me; a pretty well respected engineer here says it is maintained at .05 ppm (much lower than pool water) but it is the same chemical used in most swimming pools. I can taste it. I have also SEEN water that has a yellowish cast to it, and smells heavily of chlorine.

 

This is not my picture, and it's unusual, but I have seen water out of the tap almost this bad:

 

 

And every now and then some poor girl has her hair turned green by the excessive level of chlorine: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214419

 

Most of the water you drink on board is made by flash evaporators that pressurize sea water, heat it to steam, and then condense the steam to produce what is normally called "distilled" water. The second most common source is sea water that is made potable by reverse osmosis. It is then chlorinated. Distilled water generally has a flat, "dead" taste, but that's offset a bit by making it taste like pool water with the chlorine.

 

Any water they take on board from shore (bunkered water) has to be segregated and tested, and cannot be mixed into the ship's water for a period of time (I think it is 24 - 48 hours). This is law, so you aren't drinking "shore water" for the first day or so, and maybe never. It's probably cheaper for them to make the water in their flash evaporators as they use the waste heat from the diesel engines to heat the water.

 

The water they serve in restaurants, at the buffet, and at the bars (and the water your cabin steward will bring you in a pitcher) is carbon filtered and tastes fine to us. We drink the water at every meal, preferring it over other drinks.

 

You can also let water "age" to lose the residual chlorine, but recommendations for fish and plants are to let your drinking water at home age 12 - 24 hours. The sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach) they use dissipates at different rates depending on exposure to sunlight, heat and the amount of the surface area exposed to air.

 

In concentrated amounts, the sodium hypochlorite is a dangerous chemical, but the levels present in drinking water are not a health hazard to most people. Don't be alarmed if you read the MSDS on it! Sanitizing drinking water with chemicals has saved many lives over the past 150 years or so.

 

It just tastes bad, can be bad for your CPAP machine (check with the manufacturer), and can harm some people allergic to it.

 

You can request distilled water for your CPAP. Best to request in advance.

 

BTW, the photo is my picture from the Spirit in April 2016.

[fshagan]

You can request distilled water for your CPAP. Best to request in advance.

 

BTW, the photo is my picture from the Spirit in April 2016.

 

Thanks, I'll give proper attribution next time! Did the water also smell heavily of chlorine? I'm actually wondering if it was something else in their system that was being flushed out.

[BirdTravels]

Thanks, I'll give proper attribution next time! Did the water also smell heavily of chlorine? I'm actually wondering if it was something else in their system that was being flushed out.

 

We lost water pressure for a short while, but when it came back up, the muddy color water came out of the taps all night long. We eventually brushed our teeth with bottled water before going to sleep (with brown water still flowing from the pipes).

 

The Spirit had bunkered water in Florida. So, the fresh water came from the municipal water system in Port Canaveral.

[buick1957]

is all water free in dining areas or where buffets are?