Potable Water Testing

You just can’t take for granted that your onboard water supply is safe and clean to drink without proper testing. We all know the importance of clean safe drinking water and this is no different for your crew onboard your ship. No one wants to risk sick crew, poor performance, and damage to their reputation.

With ship safety, performance, and crew welfare our top priority we have developed the best in portable water testing kits to ensure your crew is looked after and performing at their best. They can only do this when all the basics are in place, such as having clean drinking water.

Know the risks.

Improper storage, testing, and sanitation of your onboard water is a catastrophe waiting to happen. In fact, it’s not an uncommon occurrence in the shipping industry. Legionnaires disease – a pneumonia-like respiratory infection caused by breathing in bacteria from untreated stagnant water – has been responsible for over 50 incidents associated with shipping just in the last 30 years.

Legionnaires isn’t the only risk factor when it comes to your vessel’s water supply. With raw sewage released just 12 miles from shore, you risk contaminating your water supply with bugs such as Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, noroviruses, Salmonella spp, Shigella sp, Cryptosporidium sp, and Enterotoxigenic E. coli to name just a few.

keeping your water properly tested and treated is not something you can overlook when you know the dangers that could be lurking in it. In fact, the risk is such that you must company with regulations for water safety to operate legally.

Is it a risk worth taking?

For a company that takes the welfare of its crew and the law seriously, it’s not. Not only would it risk the lives of your crew and reduce overall performance, but you also risk a huge slap on the wrist coming with fines and significant damage to your reputation. Using Martek Marines water testing kits avoids all these risks and it couldn’t be any simpler.

The easiest compliance there is

We at Martek Marine know the importance of proper water sanitation on your vessels, that why we have developed the highest quality and most straightforward range of portable water testing kits on the market. Our testing kits are guaranteed to keep you compliant with MLC 2006 and your duty to carry out proper testing on any consumable water on board.

We use equipment that makes testing your water as easy as possible so anyone onboard can do so without training.

You won’t find a kit more suited to your needs

We want our kits to work hard for you so you can get the most for your money. Not only do we make kits that provide the most number of tests available on the market, but you can top up your kits with spares as and when you need them. You won’t need to buy whole new kits unless you need to.

Keep it ocean-friendly

While crew welfare is your top priority, the maritime industry is taking more and more responsibility for its effect on the environment and mitigating this where it can too.

So while you may try to mitigate the issue of contaminated water by using bottled water, you’re only delaying the inevitable.

Using bottled water onboard your ships is potentially unsustainable. Not only does it add to the plastic waste problem the whole world is facing, but you don’t know what regulations about the use of plastic bottles may arise.

Save yourself the headache of needing to implement water testing later down the line, and do it now and help preserve the environment while you at it.

Clean water, healthy crew

No one wants to risk their crew’s health and performance with contaminated water. Let Martek Marine help you stay on top of your water testing, keeping it clean and fresh with kits that can pick up the smallest of contamination. Rest assured no one will be picking up any bugs when you’ve got our kits on hand.

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Potable Water FAQ's

The implications of improper water management on ships can be incredibly serious. More than 50 incidents of Legionnaires disease, involving over 200 cases, have been associated with ships during the past three decades. In one incident alone, 50 seafarers became infected, resulting in one death. In addition, a high proportion of detected gastrointestinal disease outbreaks associated with ships have been linked to water consumed at sea, with contributing factors to the outbreaks including, inadequate disinfection of water and alarmingly, drinking water becoming contaminated by sewage.

If you’re no guru on this topic, don’t fear! We’re here to help you and your crew stay safe and get to grips with the ins and outs of potable water in the maritime industry. Let’s start with the basics: the top 5 questions and answers relating to potable water…

What does the term ‘potable water’ mean?

Potable water is water that is safe to drink, or use for food preparation without carrying the risk of health problems. Water that has not been adequately treated, cleaned or filtered may contain harmful bacteria and contaminants which may cause serious illness.

Why do you need to test potable water on vessels?

Access to fresh water is vital to ensure the health of those working at sea and a regular programme of potable water testing ensures that a ships ample supply of water for drinking, cooking and washing on board is safe to use.

How do ships obtain potable water?

Freshwater may be obtained from shore mains supply or water barge. Alternatively, the majority of ships employ an evaporator system that uses distillation, or a pressurised filtering system which uses reverse osmosis to convert seawater into potable water.

When the evaporator system is used, seawater is heated and turned to steam, before the fresh water condensate is collected. Alternatively, reverse osmosis forces seawater though progressively finer filtering to produce fresh water. Neither method is without drawbacks: both leave organic compounds such as benzene and trichloroethylene in the water which may be harmful to humans. The process therefore has to be managed carefully.

What are the implications of contaminated potable water on ships?

Improperly managed water in storage and distribution systems on ships can be an established route for infectious disease transmission. The importance of water was illustrated in the review of more than 100 outbreaks associated with ships undertaken by Rooney et al. (2004), in which one fifth were attributed to a waterborne route.

Furthermore, water may be a source of primary cases of a disease that might then be transmitted via other routes. Most waterborne outbreaks of disease on ships involve ingestion of water contaminated with pathogens derived from human, or other animal excreta. Illnesses due to toxic chemical poisoning of water have also occurred on ships.

Contaminated water may contain dangerous waterborne bacteria such as; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, noroviruses, Salmonella spp, Shigella sp, Cryptosporidium sp, and Enterotoxigenic E. coli, which can affect humans when ingested as drinking water. Certain bacteria such as Legionella can even gain entry to the respiratory system from washing water suspended in the air, in the form of a fine mist created by a shower head.

How does potable water become unsafe?

Potable water may become unsafe for crew due to; contaminated bunkered water; cross connections between potable and non-potable water; improper water loading procedures; poor design and construction of potable water storage tanks, as well as inadequate disinfection.

So, you now know all about the dangers of contaminated water and the importance of properly managed water in storage in distribution systems on ships and that’s all for today! Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for part 2 of our blog article where we outline all the relevant regulations relating to potable water on ships and tell you everything you need to know to ensure compliance.

If you have a burning question about potable water regulation compliance that won’t wait until tomorrow, then don’t delay! Contact us today for advice.