Episode two of our “things you need to cross an ocean in a rowing boat” series, is simply called ‘All About Water’! 🎬
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The crew of Jan Martens will be at sea for a really long time. So where do the guys store all that drinking water? 🤔
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This is a question that gets asked a lot – and in short – they do not! 😮
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Instead, this boat is fitted with a desalination unit, otherwise known as a watermaker. 💦
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Gone are the days of ‘water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink’, now we have the technology to make water on the fly! But how does it work? ⚙️
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Mark Devos is our watermaker guru, who knows all there is to know about these things. Put in the simplest possible terms – a pump draws water from the ocean and lifts it into the watermaker. It goes through some filters to get rid of the lumpy bits (seaweed, krill and other large contaminants, then hits a very tight membrane – so tight that under normal pressure the membrane is actually waterproof and cannot be permeated. The pump forces the salt water against the membrane at high pressure (around a thousand psi) – this forces the pores in the membrane to open slightly (and we are talking ‘slightly’ on a molecular basis!), which is enough to allow fresh water to trickle through but the salt molecules are too large and so they are sent back into the ocean as waste in the form of very salty brine. This process is called ‘Reverse Osmosis’, and is the technical term for squashing water through an impossibly fine sieve until the salt falls out! 🧂
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This magical box that makes saltwater drinkable will be their lifeline for this crossing, so it’s important that not only do they know how to fix it when it breaks, but they also have a backup manual water maker if all else fails. 👍
•
Unfortunately, the weather has once again changed, and the launch date has now had to be put back to Thursday or Friday this week. Frustrating, disappointing, but safety is paramount on an expedition like this, so it’s an important step towards a successful crossing. ⛈️
•
Huge thanks to Holland Nauta for the very speedy delivery of our watermaker!
🏎️💨
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Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
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Main partner: Libeco Belgian Linen
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Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix at www.andreleon.be
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•
The crew of Jan Martens will be at sea for a really long time. So where do the guys store all that drinking water? 🤔
•
This is a question that gets asked a lot – and in short – they do not! 😮
•
Instead, this boat is fitted with a desalination unit, otherwise known as a watermaker. 💦
•
Gone are the days of ‘water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink’, now we have the technology to make water on the fly! But how does it work? ⚙️
•
Mark Devos is our watermaker guru, who knows all there is to know about these things. Put in the simplest possible terms – a pump draws water from the ocean and lifts it into the watermaker. It goes through some filters to get rid of the lumpy bits (seaweed, krill and other large contaminants, then hits a very tight membrane – so tight that under normal pressure the membrane is actually waterproof and cannot be permeated. The pump forces the salt water against the membrane at high pressure (around a thousand psi) – this forces the pores in the membrane to open slightly (and we are talking ‘slightly’ on a molecular basis!), which is enough to allow fresh water to trickle through but the salt molecules are too large and so they are sent back into the ocean as waste in the form of very salty brine. This process is called ‘Reverse Osmosis’, and is the technical term for squashing water through an impossibly fine sieve until the salt falls out! 🧂
•
This magical box that makes saltwater drinkable will be their lifeline for this crossing, so it’s important that not only do they know how to fix it when it breaks, but they also have a backup manual water maker if all else fails. 👍
•
Unfortunately, the weather has once again changed, and the launch date has now had to be put back to Thursday or Friday this week. Frustrating, disappointing, but safety is paramount on an expedition like this, so it’s an important step towards a successful crossing. ⛈️
•
Huge thanks to Holland Nauta for the very speedy delivery of our watermaker!
🏎️💨
•
Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
—
Main partner: Libeco Belgian Linen
—
Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix at www.andreleon.be
—
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