This method is similar to the natural water cycle, where sea water is heated by the sun, rises as steam to form clouds, and then falls back to earth as rain. The second method, osmosis, filters sea water through a fine membrane to separate pure water from salt and other minerals. Cruise ships do not desalinate water near ports or close to land, because coastal waters are the most contaminated.
After desalination, the water is passed through a mineralization plant, which adds minerals. This is necessary because the healthy minerals naturally found in drinking water have been removed by desalination. At this stage, the water is also checked for impurities, sanitized, and the pH is corrected. The water is then sent to massive storage tanks on board the cruise ship. On the Grand Princess, for example, these storage tanks hold up to 500,000 gallons of fresh water.
Next, the water is routed to hot and cold systems. Miles of distribution pipe move the water around the cruise ship.
After the water is delivered through a sink or shower, and used by cruise ship passengers or crew, it must be treated again before it can be discharged. All cruise ships must follow strict environmental laws in the treatment of waste water. Even after treatment, the water is not immediately released, but is held in special storage tanks when the ship is close to land, in port, or other sensitive environments.
It’s a complex process, but necessary in order to ensure the health of cruise ship passengers and the natural environment.
Something to think about next time you choose a cruise
Cruise ships have continued to gain popularity over the years because of the unique manner that they conduct business and pleasure. The one-of-a-kind manner of entertaining people on board cruise ships has become a statement that lured many people to spend their holidays aboard such ships. Furthermore, certain cruise ships have been designed as hospice centers fully-equipped with hospital amenities and fully-operational mortuary, solely catering to the terminally-ill individuals who preferred to be on a cruise ship and wait for their destiny rather than be confined on hospital beds.
Given the situation on a ship plying the vastness of the ocean where the ocean’s salty breeze causes one to suffer from dehydration, drinking water as well as water for bathing is always in demand. Water is very vital to human survival. A person can last about a month without food but not a week without water to drink. Furthermore, water is essential in maintaining hygiene and in accomplishing activities of daily living. With the large-scale number of passengers and crew on a cruise ship, goes with the need of a reliable water supply 24/7 anywhere on the ship. Drinking water may not pose a huge problem but water for bathroom, bathing and ship’s kitchen activities: food preparation, restaurants use, etc. certainly is another issue.
Where and how do cruise ships get their water supply? Today, cruise ships or any ship for that matter have been built with water treatment facilities or ocean-water desalination plant. Desalination, the removal of salt and other impurities from sea-water so that such water can become safe for human consumption, has been practiced hundreds of years back. plantas purificadoras