tapwater on the Dream

[untailored bostonian]

Just read a negative comment on the quality of the tap water on the Dream. I assume that the filtration systems on these ships produce good quality drinking water. Comments?

[Kamloops50]

Just read a negative comment on the quality of the tap water on the Dream. I assume that the filtration systems on these ships produce good quality drinking water. Comments?

 

Have never had bad water on any ship we've cruised .

They should say what they mean by bad water .If they are blaming the water for swollen feet , it's not the water but the salt content of the food.

[chengkp75]

Just read a negative comment on the quality of the tap water on the Dream. I assume that the filtration systems on these ships produce good quality drinking water. Comments?

 

Don't know what the negative comment about the water was, but going to go over ship's water in general.

 

The ships source water in three ways:

 

Some is taken from shore. This must be from sources that are tested monthly and meet USPH requirements for water quality. This water is chlorinated onboard the ship before it goes into the storage tanks.

 

Some is made from flash evaporators, and this produces distilled water. This water is chlorinated before it goes into the storage tanks.

 

Some is made from reverse osmosis watermakers. While these units have pre-filters, they are not really filtration units, but the sea water is pressed through a membrane at about 6000psi, and the membrane has pores that only allow molecules the size of water molecules to go through. This water is chlorinated before it goes into the storage tanks.

 

At your municipal water supply, which may chlorinate or brominate the water before sending it down the water mains, where it sits in the pipe until someone opens a valve, and where the chlorine dissipates naturally over time, so there is no guarantee of the chlorine content in the water at time of use. However, on ship, the water is constantly recirculated from the tanks throughout the ship and returns to the tanks. While recirculating, the residual chlorine content is measured at the farthest point from the engine room, and USPH requires that there be a measurable residual chlorine content at that point of 0.5ppm. This ensures that the water is being sanitized at all times. This requires a continual dosing of chlorine, and the levels are recorded continually for future documentation for the USPH.

 

Now we come to the problems that passengers have with ships water.

 

Water taste is a very subjective matter. Many people are turned off by the taste of the chlorine in the water. Since the control point for the chlorination is at the furthest point, if your cabin is closer to the engine room, it may have a higher chlorine content, and more taste of chlorine. This can be resolved for your sink taps by simply leaving a pitcher, water bottle, or glass of water open on the counter or in the fridge for a couple hours, and the chlorine will dissipate naturally. The water from dining venues, bar guns, water dispensers, and ice machines all have charcoal filters to remove the chlorine, but this is for maintenance reasons, and the taste improvement is a side effect. All the water from any source on the ship is the same water, the restaurants and bars get the same water as your sink and shower.

 

Sometimes there is a whitish to brownish discoloration to the water, usually most evident when collected in a sink. This is caused when the water system, or a part of it, has been shut down for repair, and when the chlorine scale on the inside of the pipes dries out, it falls off and then is circulated around the ship. Usually, if the water is let run for a minute or so, it will clear up, as it is just in the non-flowing branch pipe right at your cabin.

 

The USPH requires that 6 samples, from random spots around the ship be taken monthly, and tested for water quality, including bacteria count.

 

Ship's water is as good a quality, or better, than most municipal water supplies.

[RuthlessBoss]

Just read a negative comment on the quality of the tap water on the Dream. I assume that the filtration systems on these ships produce good quality drinking water. Comments?

 

What did the other 4.000 people on board the ship have to say? One comment, really???

[Jana60]

Don't know what the negative comment about the water was, but going to go over ship's water in general.

 

The ships source water in three ways:

 

Some is taken from shore. This must be from sources that are tested monthly and meet USPH requirements for water quality. This water is chlorinated onboard the ship before it goes into the storage tanks.

 

Some is made from flash evaporators, and this produces distilled water. This water is chlorinated before it goes into the storage tanks.

 

Some is made from reverse osmosis watermakers. While these units have pre-filters, they are not really filtration units, but the sea water is pressed through a membrane at about 6000psi, and the membrane has pores that only allow molecules the size of water molecules to go through. This water is chlorinated before it goes into the storage tanks.

 

At your municipal water supply, which may chlorinate or brominate the water before sending it down the water mains, where it sits in the pipe until someone opens a valve, and where the chlorine dissipates naturally over time, so there is no guarantee of the chlorine content in the water at time of use. However, on ship, the water is constantly recirculated from the tanks throughout the ship and returns to the tanks. While recirculating, the residual chlorine content is measured at the farthest point from the engine room, and USPH requires that there be a measurable residual chlorine content at that point of 0.5ppm. This ensures that the water is being sanitized at all times. This requires a continual dosing of chlorine, and the levels are recorded continually for future documentation for the USPH.

 

Now we come to the problems that passengers have with ships water.

 

Water taste is a very subjective matter. Many people are turned off by the taste of the chlorine in the water. Since the control point for the chlorination is at the furthest point, if your cabin is closer to the engine room, it may have a higher chlorine content, and more taste of chlorine. This can be resolved for your sink taps by simply leaving a pitcher, water bottle, or glass of water open on the counter or in the fridge for a couple hours, and the chlorine will dissipate naturally. The water from dining venues, bar guns, water dispensers, and ice machines all have charcoal filters to remove the chlorine, but this is for maintenance reasons, and the taste improvement is a side effect. All the water from any source on the ship is the same water, the restaurants and bars get the same water as your sink and shower.

 

Sometimes there is a whitish to brownish discoloration to the water, usually most evident when collected in a sink. This is caused when the water system, or a part of it, has been shut down for repair, and when the chlorine scale on the inside of the pipes dries out, it falls off and then is circulated around the ship. Usually, if the water is let run for a minute or so, it will clear up, as it is just in the non-flowing branch pipe right at your cabin.

 

The USPH requires that 6 samples, from random spots around the ship be taken monthly, and tested for water quality, including bacteria count.

 

Ship's water is as good a quality, or better, than most municipal water supplies.

 

Thank you for the fine information! Do you happen to know is the chlorine put in as a salt such as potassium chloride or sodium chloride? Or is it put in some other form?

[chengkp75]

Thank you for the fine information! Do you happen to know is the chlorine put in as a salt such as potassium chloride or sodium chloride? Or is it put in some other form?

 

The chlorine is dosed as sodium hypochlorite (bleach) solution and hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid in weaker solutions).

[untailored bostonian]

Have never had bad water on any ship we've cruised .

They should say what they mean by bad water .If they are blaming the water for swollen feet , it's not the water but the salt content of the food.

 

They were saying don't drink Dream water, buy bottled water. Now it has been my experience that a ships water is as good as any bottled water. But this is my first cruise on the Dream so I thought I would ask.

Edited December 13, 2015 by untailored bostonian

[jimbo5544]

The chlorine is dosed as sodium hypochlorite (bleach) solution and hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid in weaker solutions).

 

 

As always, thanks for the added information.

[untailored bostonian]

[.. much removed ...]

Ship's water is as good a quality, or better, than most municipal water supplies.

 

This has been my experience and I have never felt that the chlorination was detectable. I suppose you could take a filter system with you to address it if that was a major concern. Many times bottled water is just filtered tap water.

 

I assumed that all ships now sourced their water form reverse osmosis locally. Even at that the chlorination process could be an issue.

 

I intend to use the tap water and maybe some crystal lite. Besides most of my liquid intake will be that frozen concoction that helps me hold on.

Edited December 13, 2015 by untailored bostonian

[untailored bostonian]

What did the other 4.000 people on board the ship have to say? One comment, really???

 

I searched the forum too and found nothing. But there are cities when you visit you can taste their water. At one time ship's water was chlorinated to the point you would only drink bottle water. But today with the on board desalination technologies I have not recently been able to distinguish bottle water from ships.

 

Now if several former cruise see this thread and say "yup", I might think about it. But OMG, why carry all that extra weight on board?

 

P.S. Besides...We would never have read that outstanding post by chengkp75!

Edited December 13, 2015 by untailored bostonian

[tandemcruzr]

But OMG, why carry all that extra weight on board?

 

You can no longer 'lug on all that extra weight' because Carnival no longer allows bottles (other than 1 wine per person) to be brought on. They do offer for sale a 12 pack of water for $2.99.

[chengkp75]

I searched the forum too and found nothing. But there are cities when you visit you can taste their water. At one time ship's water was chlorinated to the point you would only drink bottle water. But today with the on board desalination technologies I have not recently been able to distinguish bottle water from ships.

 

Now if several former cruise see this thread and say "yup", I might think about it. But OMG, why carry all that extra weight on board?

 

P.S. Besides...We would never have read that outstanding post by chengkp75!

 

Actually, the chlorination has nothing to do with the desalination technologies, and in fact reverse osmosis does not provide as low a salinity as evaporators. As I said, the chlorine is added back into the water. It may be that older technology didn't allow the close tolerances in chlorine dosing that you have today, or that the monitoring equipment was not monitored as closely as needed.

[Indytraveler83]

What a fantastic explanation on ship water. While it never really bothers me, I was wondering why water at the cabin tasted a bit funny but when served to me at the MDR it tasted perfect. Now I know.

 

Very insightful and cool answer. Glad to know the ships water really is monitored so closely!

[untailored bostonian]

You can no longer 'lug on all that extra weight' because Carnival no longer allows bottles (other than 1 wine per person) to be brought on. They do offer for sale a 12 pack of water for $2.99.

 

 

I though they allowed pax to carry on some soda and water. ...12 cans of soda and sparkling water. I guess water-water could be in a can... 12oz or less.

[untailored bostonian]

Actually, the chlorination has nothing to do with the desalination technologies, and in fact reverse osmosis does not provide as low a salinity as evaporators. As I said, the chlorine is added back into the water. It may be that older technology didn't allow the close tolerances in chlorine dosing that you have today, or that the monitoring equipment was not monitored as closely as needed.

 

 

I understand the chlorination is a post "production" step. DO you know how low that salinity might be. For some pax i would think it could be a health issue if too high.

[chengkp75]

I understand the chlorination is a post "production" step. DO you know how low that salinity might be. For some pax i would think it could be a health issue if too high.

 

Distilled water from the evaporators is usually in the <1ppm range, and from a reverse osmosis unit usually the alarm is set to dump at 10-20ppm. To give perspective, NYC latest water quality report shows 7-10ppm as "normally occurring, road salt, etc", and the highest found in Boston's water was 34ppm in the last year.

[cb at sea]

The water is fine. Much of it is municipal water they get from port. The rest, they make onboard. It's to American water quality standards.

[virginiab]

We were on the Dream last week. While I usually enjoy the water on Carnival ships, I did not care for the taste of the water this time. It was fine when it was cold, but the taste was more pronounced as the water warmed up in a glass without ice. A bit of lemon added to the water was a help. Crystal Lite should work fine also.

 

I don't think this was a chlorine issue, as I usually recognize the taste and smell of chlorine (and I'm happy to know it is there when I am traveling in unfamiliar places). Whatever it was, it was not to my taste. Your taste buds may have a different opinion.

[topofE]

I felt the same way!!

 

I got off the Dream on this last Sunday.

 

The water, from the beverage machines on Lido had a musty kind of taste to it.

 

My kid didn't mind/mention it.

 

My local water is odd tasting due to the different river levels and where we get the water from so I understand.

 

But it WAS noticeably unpleasant for me.

 

The whole cruise I wondered if it was the water or the ice...but of course I never noticed it in the other beverages. For that matter, I didn't notice it in the dining room either so maybe it was specifically the Lido beverage machines?

[topofE]

It was definitely NOT a chlorine taste. Or a "salty" taste.

 

It tasted...old? Musty is the only word I can describe it. It smelled fine. i didn't feel like it would make me sick. But I switched to the arnold palmers solely because of the unpleasant taste of the water.

[chengkp75]

It was definitely NOT a chlorine taste. Or a "salty" taste.

 

It tasted...old? Musty is the only word I can describe it. It smelled fine. i didn't feel like it would make me sick. But I switched to the arnold palmers solely because of the unpleasant taste of the water.

 

One of the things that is done to the water, is because distilled water is slightly acidic, and can corrode piping, or attract minerals from the body. To counteract this, the water is sent through a filter chamber filled with calcium carbonate (same antacid ingredient in Tums). When the carbonate is refilled, it needs to be flushed for a while to remove the silt from crushed granules. If they didn't flush this "rehardening filter" sufficiently, this could have resulted in the taste you experienced.

[topofE]

One of the things that is done to the water, is because distilled water is slightly acidic, and can corrode piping, or attract minerals from the body. To counteract this, the water is sent through a filter chamber filled with calcium carbonate (same antacid ingredient in Tums). When the carbonate is refilled, it needs to be flushed for a while to remove the silt from crushed granules. If they didn't flush this "rehardening filter" sufficiently, this could have resulted in the taste you experienced.

 

Makes sense. I was on the Dream last year and felt the water was just fine. But it was absolutely noticeably distasteful last week. Not complaint worthy by ANY means. But noticeable.

[HawkIVette]

chengkp75, I believe you must have a Phd in H2o. Thanks for all the great info.

[Kamloops50]

One of the things that is done to the water, is because distilled water is slightly acidic, and can corrode piping, or attract minerals from the body. To counteract this, the water is sent through a filter chamber filled with calcium carbonate (same antacid ingredient in Tums). When the carbonate is refilled, it needs to be flushed for a while to remove the silt from crushed granules. If they didn't flush this "rehardening filter" sufficiently, this could have resulted in the taste you experienced.

 

Never have heard that distilled water is acidific. RO water can slightly acidity. Distilled water doesn't carry any material with it during the process. Distilled water's ph is 7.000 to three decimal points.

[chengkp75]

Never have heard that distilled water is acidific. RO water can slightly acidity. Distilled water doesn't carry any material with it during the process. Distilled water's ph is 7.000 to three decimal points.

 

Pure distilled water in a laboratory setting would be Ph 7. However, once exposed to air, such as in a ship's water tanks, it starts to absorb carbon dioxide. The CO2 dissolves into carbonic acid, and the water continues to absorb CO2 until it reaches equilibrium with the atmosphere, at which time it has a Ph of about 5.8.

 

And, distilled water will carry material with it, how do you think Irish whiskey is made? Any solute that boils at or below water's boiling point will be carried over.