Engine driven watermaker pump

[Lepke]

I have a belt drive HP pump on a Perkins generator. Two problems I run into: If I have people on board and high water needs, I end up running the generator for hours at a very light load. Pump is probably using less than 5hp. I make all my boat fresh water. In the winter I have shore power but have to run the generator just for water. I didn't really think this out and will go back to an electric HP pump.

[Cheechako]

I wouldn't use the pump for dual use. But one advantage of engine drive watermaking is you make water when the engine's running so the noise doesn't bother you like it would with a 12V pump sitting at anchor. If you motor 4 hours you make 100 gals of water. My biggest problem was remembering to run the water maker every week or so.
If you live at a dock then yeah, not a good choice.

[john61ct]

Most 12V watermakers, certainly those with higher gph output, pull more power than you'd want to run off the battery bank for hours at a time anyway, never mind the noise.

To me the **ideal** goal would be a very high gph watermaker, plus a fast bank charging setup (ideally into LFP), both driven by a relatively quiet engine.

Whether that is a dedicated "pony" engine, or the propulsion engine, would depend mostly on the size of the boat.

None of this has to mean the WM is directly engine driven, a powerful enough alternator could handle both tasks at once.

I suppose even an underpowered smaller sailboat could use a small portable inverter genny.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Engine Driven Water Makers are known as the Siren Song Water Makers by those that give customer support to them. The problem with antidotal stories is it leaves out statistics, sure there are plenty of people that have had success with their engine-driven watermakers they can work great if installed properly. But there's the rub engine driven water makers are the number one trouble watermaker system on the market, not because of the watermaker itself but because of poor and faulty installation.

There's a reason I only have jokingly say I sell engine-driven watermakers but only after I try to talk the client out of it.

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Engine Driven Water Makers are known as the Siren Song Water Makers by those that give customer support to them.

I'm stealing that line