How Do Cruise Ships Manage Their Water Supply?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around how cruise ships manage their water supply, exploring methods such as water storage, desalination systems, and sourcing from destination ports. The scope includes technical explanations and comparisons with naval practices, as well as inquiries about specific vessels like ocean liners.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether cruise ships store clean water in tanks, use desalination systems, or take on water from ports.
  • Another participant suggests that cruise ships likely use similar methods to navy ships, which produce water using reverse osmosis machines or distillation and refill their tanks with municipal water.
  • A different viewpoint proposes that cruise ships utilize flash evaporators or reverse osmosis, while also maintaining a large water supply and refilling from municipal sources for cost efficiency.
  • Several participants express interest in finding references or articles about water treatment onboard cruise ships or ocean liners.
  • There are repeated inquiries about whether the water management practices differ for ocean liners compared to cruise ships.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying opinions on the methods used by cruise ships to manage their water supply, with no consensus reached on the specifics of these practices. The discussion includes both agreement on certain practices and uncertainty regarding the details.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various methods of water management without providing definitive sources or confirming the exact practices of all cruise lines, indicating a reliance on assumptions and generalizations.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals curious about maritime operations, water management technologies, and the practices of cruise ships and ocean liners.

Biosyn
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Do cruise ships store clean water aboard in tanks or do they use desalination systems? Or do they take on water from their destination ports?
I did a search online and I couldn't find any reliable sources.

Is it any different on an ocean liner?
 
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Navy ships make water using RO machines or distilling but top off their water tanks in port with city water. I can't imagine cruise ships would do any different.
 
They use flash evaporators or reverse osmosis, but I would imagine that they keep a large quantity on hand and/or fill it from a municipal source whenever possible for cost reasons.
 
Thanks for the responses!

Could anyone of you give me references/articles about water treatment onboard cruise ships or ocean liners? That would be greatly appreciated!
 
Biosyn said:
Is it any different on an ocean liner?

You can find out how it's done on the Queen Mary 2 by looking on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary_2

(are there any other ocean liners in regular passenger service nowadays?)
 
jtbell said:
You can find out how it's done on the Queen Mary 2 by looking on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary_2

(are there any other ocean liners in regular passenger service nowadays?)


Thank you! I assume it'll be the same on cruise ships by Carnival, Royal Carribean, Norwegian
 

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