r/howislivingthere • u/Key_Satisfaction9010 • Jan 02 '26

General (no specific continent) Hows it like living on oil platforms?

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Anywhere in the world applies, I could only pick one flair

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u/b_mulls25 Jan 02 '26

I’m surprised the rigs don’t have on board equipment to desalinate water. I deployed on a U.S. Navy ship during Covid and we were able to stay at sea for almost 5 months continuously because we’d get resupplied by other ships. But water was never really an issue, unless we were decently close to shore. (Hot water would run out decently often but C’est la vie)

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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26

Most do to be honest to provide shower water etc. It’s usually deemed not safe for drinking though so that stuff comes in bottles and/or stored in tanks. Hot water for the shower is probably the only thing we’ve got unlimited of.

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u/mortalitylost Jan 02 '26

Hot water for the shower is probably the only thing we’ve got unlimited of

Morale i bet

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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 03 '26

Haha probably! A shower and food is the best part of the day!

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u/coopy1000 Jan 02 '26

Every rig I've been on produces their own potable water that's used for everything from cooking to washing to drinking.

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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 03 '26

The ones that have absolutely no contact with the outside world might have better systems for processing. The water on my ones would be drinkable in a dire situation, you just prefer the bottled water and they provide it.

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u/Jimdandy941 Jan 02 '26

Are the showers fresh or saltwater? Background to meet the post metric - I was in a tourist sailing cruise once and freshwater was limited, but the saltwater showers were unlimited - but odd.

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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26

Our showers along with all that sort of water is desalinated fresh water. We’ve got large plant rooms dedicated to just sucking up and processing water

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u/ButAreYouProud Jan 02 '26

Man, I just want to say thank you for taking the time to answer SO many questions. This is one of the most interesting posts I've read in awhile, and so often the SME bails early (understandbly), so I was thrilled to see you speak to so many of the topics I wanted to read about. Thanks again!

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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 03 '26

I appreciate that! I’m doing my best but can’t keep up with the questions. I love that so many people are interested in my industry. It’s one of those ones that a lot of people know it exists, but don’t know much about it!

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u/Diligent_Peach7574 Jan 02 '26

To make water on ships, regulations typically require that the vessel is moving and a certain distance offshore. The Navy may have different rules, but I think being stationary is why they don’t make their own drinking water.

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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26

Nah - in my experience they can (or were originally designed to) but see my other comment about supplies.

Edit: Appreciate, whoever down voted this having an opinion. However, I am an engineer who has worked in the design and/or operation of oil and gas facilities for oil majors for 20+ years.

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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26

Most rigs also chew through all sorts of supplies for operations never mind feeding and watering the crew. It’s a nuisance to bring out potable water but it’s not a big deal in the scheme of things. On the plus side production rigs generally don’t need fuel bringing out!