There is a lot of water in the ocean, only it is salty, which means it is not suitable for drinking or cooking. Modern ships are huge, and you can take a lot of supplies. Another thing is the old ships, dating back to the era of the great geographical discoveries. Much more people served on them, with smaller dimensions of the vessel. The question arises, how did people survive and where did they get fresh water from?
The main source of fresh water on a ship of the Age of Discovery is the ship's reserves. Water was loaded onto the ship along with the rest of the provisions: dried meat, crackers, biscuits, cereals, live poultry and cattle, as well as alcohol. In addition to water, ships most often kept beer, and several varieties (cheaper and more expensive). Of course, there was not enough free space on the ship to load fresh water for the entire crew for the entire duration of the trip. For example, the holds of the American frigate USS Constitution, launched in 1797, could hold a limited amount of provisions and water - 140 thousand liters. At the same time, a team of 300 people needed at least 142 thousand liters of water alone for a long journey. But the ship carried not only water.
And here we are gradually approaching the second source of fresh water - foraging. On long voyages, ships constantly replenished their supplies. And for this it was necessary to lay a route so that it went through friendly ports or through islands with fresh water sources, where the team could replenish ship supplies. The need for constant replenishment of stocks was also associated with the fact that fresh water "goes out" and blooms in a barrel after 14-20 days, becoming unusable. Part of this problem has been solved since Roman times by adding vinegar or alcohol.
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The third source of water is its extraction from natural sources right in the middle of the sea or ocean. First of all, on ships at all times they tried to collect rainwater, which is generally suitable for drinking and cooking, at least after boiling. The second important source of water is the desalination of salty sea water using a special furnace. The old distillers worked for a long time and had an extremely low productivity, but still allowed, albeit slightly, to replenish the reserves of life-giving moisture throughout the voyage. As a rule, watermakers were installed in the ship's galley.
If you want to learn even more interesting things about maritime affairs, then you should read about what are spikes for on sea mines.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/120122/61839/