Water Supply on Cruise Ship..How do they do it?

[sippican]

You are thinking of the types of water softeners used in homes. Generally, the only thing added back to distilled water is to neutralize the slightly acidic nature of distilled water. This acidity can erode copper piping on the ship, and leach minerals from your body if consumed over long periods. The mineral most commonly used is CALCIUM carbonate, which has no sodium in it at all. As I've stated in many posts here, chlorine in the ship's water is probably one culprit in water retention, not sodium.

 

And, if you are that interested, you can get a sodium testing device for water, for about $20. Just dunk it in a glass of water and it will tell you how many grains of sea salt per milliliter there are. Then check your tap water at home.

 

Thank you for the information. I was interested in finding out more to clear up my misconception but I have been unable to find any information supporting your claim that chlorine is the most likely culprit in water retention. Since chlorine is a common additive in public water supplies, please provide me with a source.

 

After reading more about about distilled water, and water purified by reverse osmosis, I do want more information. (What I have found, along with your explanations, just increases my conviction to stick to my own water for now.)

 

I did find the following of interest:

 

Sodium Added By Man To Water

 

Man adds sodium to food and water in various ways. Sodium is added to water during the following processes:

Water purification and bacterial control in water supplies are accomplished by adding sodium hypochlorite

The lime-soda method of softening water in municipal water treatment plants requires the addition of sodium compounds such as sodium carbonate

Home water softeners exchange calcium ions for sodium ions by using cation exchange resins

[chengkp75]

Thank you for the information. I was interested in finding out more to clear up my misconception but I have been unable to find any information supporting your claim that chlorine is the most likely culprit in water retention. Since chlorine is a common additive in public water supplies, please provide me with a source. I believe I just googled water retention, and then followed some links. I'll try to find them again. While municipal water supplies do chlorinate to sanitize, there is no requirement for there to be a "residual" chlorine level at your tap. Given the amount of miles in a system, and the fact that they are not recirculation systems, the chlorine dissipates before it gets to your home. Ship's systems constantly recirculate the water, and are required to have a residual chlorine level of 0.5ppm at the farthest point (typically the monitor is on the bridge)from the chlorination point (the engine room), so at any point along the way, your water in the cabin or restaurant may have more chlorine than this minimum. I say that chlorine is a likely culprit, since I know that there is very little sodium in the water. I know that many (you included) claim that without a change in onboard diet you do not suffer water retention when switching from ship's water to bottled, but I believe the majority of sodium consumed onboard is from the meals.

 

After reading more about about distilled water, and water purified by reverse osmosis, I do want more information. (What I have found, along with your explanations, just increases my conviction to stick to my own water for now.)

 

I did find the following of interest:

 

Sodium Added By Man To Water

 

Man adds sodium to food and water in various ways. Sodium is added to water during the following processes:

Water purification and bacterial control in water supplies are accomplished by adding sodium hypochlorite

The lime-soda method of softening water in municipal water treatment plants requires the addition of sodium compounds such as sodium carbonate

Home water softeners exchange calcium ions for sodium ions by using cation exchange resins

See, ship's water puts some calcium into the water (calcium carbonate), while home systems take this "hardness" out and add sodium.

 

Also, fluid retention can be caused by dehydration, oddly enough. It would be interesting to study how much more, if any, water you drink onboard since starting with bottled water as opposed to ship's water.

[AlanFromFL]

Cruise ships docked at Pt Everglades & POM take on water from the municipal supplies; the cruise lines pay a flat rate regardless of usage:

 

 

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-11-28/news/fl-cruise-water-20111127_1_cruise-ships-largest-cruise-vance-gulliksen

[OCruisers]

Have no fear ... LuLu is here! :D

 

I've been drinking the tap water on a variety of cruise ships for the past 51 years and I'm still around! :D

 

LuLu

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[Vampire Parrot]

"To be legal, all ship's drinking water has to be passed by the Chief Engineer". (So I've been told)

Edited November 27, 2013 by Vampire Parrot

[SantaFeFan]

"To be legal, all ship's drinking water has to be passed by the Chief Engineer". (So I've been told)

 

Hmmm, what do you mean by "passed"? Not like a kidney stone, I hope! :D

[chengkp75]

Hmmm, what do you mean by "passed"? Not like a kidney stone, I hope! :D

 

I think that was the intended meaning of the post, not the original statement. He would have to drink an awful lot to accomplish this.