Page 90 - The Lost Ways

Repeat the process until the water is crystal clear (about two to three times).

Silver Coins

If silver coins were available on board, sailors would place them in the water barrels to
purify the water and kill harmful bacteria.

Silver ions found in silver coins (.999 pure silver, aka colloidal silver) can remove algae,
th
chlorine, lead, bad odors, and bacteria from drinking water. In the 17 century, sailors
would spend months at sea. Their water supply was often damaged because wooden
casks were perfect for developing rot when coming into contact with moisture. To make
the water drinkable again, they would toss silver coins into the barrels. Conventional
wooden barrels used by the sailors could fit a quantity of 30 gallons of water per barrel.
An average of two silver coins per gallon was enough to purify the water, meaning a whole
cask would require an average of 60 silver coins.

The Morgan Dollar coin weighing 26 grams contains 0.7 ounces of pure silver. This
means your one coin is enough to purify half a gallon of water.

Casks had a cylindrical shape for easy rolling on the ship. They were made of oak staves
and had a bulge in the middle, and iron hoops were used for tight bounding. Ships carried

casks of different capacities (most casks could fit up to 30 gallons of water), and the
barrels were placed in the hold to keep the ship balanced.

After consuming the fresh water,
sailors would refill the barrels
with seawater to preserve the
ballast and preserve ship
stability. When a ship reached

shore, transferring fresh water
onto the ship was rather difficult.

Since the water already on board
came in casks, emptying the
casks (which had to be refilled
with seawater to keep the boat
balanced) would wreck the boat’s ballast. Sailors had to raft the ship with a surf when

approaching the coastline. Then they would tow the casks overboard, one by one, and fill
them with fresh water from an on-shore pump.

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