Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 08/22/2010 - 14:39
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International Continental Shelf Survey

i was wondering if you had something on the boat to turn salt water into drinkable water?

Sun, 08/22/2010 - 19:27

Bill Schmoker

Hi Bryce- good to hear from you!Indeed, the ship has a system to make drinkable water while we are at sea. The Healy has two evaporation systems that basically boil sea water and then condense the steam into distilled water. The system then adds back some trace minerals to make the water good to drink. (Ever try distilled water? It tastes kind of weird.) There are two systems on board that can each make up to 6400 gallons a day, so the ship's total water making capacity is 12,800 gallons a day. To help save water we take "sea showers." That means you get really wet and then turn off the shower. Then you soap up before turning the shower back on to rinse off. The goal is to only have the shower on for 2 minutes. It isn't too bad- give a sea shower a try sometime!
Best from the Arctic- Bill Schmoker