Help with my research project

[themanemachane]

Hello there sailing community,

I am a graduate student from Texas doing some research into understand the purchasing decisions of a water maker?

If you would kindly answer the following questions on:

1) Why did you decide to buy a water maker?
2) How long did you research before purchasing your water maker?
3) Have you faced any issues with the water maker?

Thanks! Also if you have a few minutes to spare, I would love to talk to you in person (around the Houston area) or via Skype.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy.

The following is offered in a friendly tone of voice, and with sincere curiosity. Your answers may help you with your research.

I am curious.

Why did you pick boat watermakers for your research?

What is the goal of the research? For what purpose?
Your graduate degree in what field of study? What kind of degree or studies?

Is this academic research or commercial research for a manufacturer of water makers?

Are you a sailor?
Are you a boater?
Do you work for a water maker company in any capacity?
Are you getting a grade on a course or getting paid to do the research for a professor or for a consultant or for a company?

[Diesel Bill]

Male or female?
Annual income?
Own or rent?
Annual miles driven?

[themanemachane]

I totally understand since it isn't usually a common research topic.

Our group is working on a technology to generate water and I am trying to get an understanding on the current water makers in the market and see what are the decisions/motivations behind getting a water maker.

I am a chemical engineer, and I would say I am looking at commercial applications for it. My goal is to understand purchasers/consumers of water makers.

I personally don't own a boat and have minimal sailing experience but I am looking for an opportunity to find such an experience. The research is for myself and I am not getting paid nor getting a grade on it. I'll be happy to answer any more questions.

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Howdy.

The following is offered in a friendly tone of voice, and with sincere curiosity. Your answers may help you with your research.

I am curious.

Why did you pick boat watermakers for your research?

What is the goal of the research? For what purpose?
Your graduate degree in what field of study? What kind of degree or studies?

Is this academic research or commercial research for a manufacturer of water makers?

Are you a sailor?
Are you a boater?
Do you work for a water maker company in any capacity?
Are you getting a grade on a course or getting paid to do the research for a professor or for a consultant or for a company?

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by themanemachane

I totally understand since it isn't usually a common research topic.

Our group is working on a technology to generate water and I am trying to get an understanding on the current water makers in the market and see what are the decisions/motivations behind getting a water maker.

I am a chemical engineer, and I would say I am looking at commercial applications for it. My goal is to understand purchasers/consumers of water makers.

I personally don't own a boat and have minimal sailing experience but I am looking for an opportunity to find such an experience. The research is for myself and I am not getting paid nor getting a grade on it. I'll be happy to answer any more questions.

Howdy Again.

OK. Thanks for providing some answers.

I will do the same. If you really want to see the many sides of the issues for boat water makers (pros, cons, costs, problems, recommendations, DIY, reasons for, longevity, materials, products, major players, main types, etc.) then I strongly suggest you or your research assistant spend some hours reading several of the many previous discussions related to water makers on boats. There are many in the Cruisers Forum (CF) archives. The way this forum works, you need to read deeply into the past discussions. The title of the threads may not appeal to you, but within some of them there is "gold" for your project. I mean, you have to look into the threads even if the title does not immediately seem like a good fit for your project. This is because the comments posted by knowledgeable and even expert users and makers here is found embedded in these various discussions. That is what I do as I do my own research on many topics here.

Here is a list of the many threads (discussions) on Watermakers:

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=011403...ker&gsc.page=1

That should provide you with many hours of reading, and hundreds of comments from users and buyers of water makers.

Good luck on your project, and I hope you find your time here on CF helpful and this response helpful to you too.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by themanemachane

1) Why did you decide to buy a water maker?

2) How long did you research before purchasing your water maker?

3) Have you faced any issues with the water maker?



.

1. We bought a small watermaker to 1. Have clean no hassle drinking water. And 2. Be able to extend our time in remote places.

2. I fiddled around researching watermakers for years, ultimately budgetary and space constraints made the decision easier.

3. None, our little watermaker has performed flawlessly, however I'm the type that does something preventative every time I operate something. While others wait for something to break, then fix it, I spend an extra 3-5 minutes a day on various tasks cleaning, lining, etc....

[JPA Cate]

[QUOTE]
1) Why did you decide to buy a water maker?
2) How long did you research before purchasing your water maker?
3) Have you faced any issues with the water maker?
/QUOTE]

Generally, people decide to buy water makers to extend their time in remote locations, as stated above, and sometimes, a personal wm for use in a liferaft. Some people also put them in boats because they want essentially unlimited water usage. Depending on your tankage and preconceived notions, you can approach it being a luxury--or a necessity.

You do the research till you're sick of it, have learned all you think you need to know, and you still have to deal with price, size of installation vs. desired output, and potential power consumption.

We did face issues:
The housing for the pressure pump cracked. We also had difficulty one time, unpickling one.

Ann

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, themanemachine.

[Pelagic]

I think then initial reason most cruisers will invest in a reverse osmosis water maker is to provide safe drinking water when it is not available at their anchorage.

Once clean fresh water is enjoyed, they are reluctant to put municipal treated dockwater in their fresh water tanks, so the next evolution is to increase R/O units capacity so that this clean water is used for everything including the flushing of toilets.

Then the Holy Grail is to package a unit that matches your power profile so that you can consume water at 5 Star hotel levels.

Very few cruisers ever downgrade this R/O units.

[SSgtPitt]

Why can't someone ask a simple question and get a simple answer.

We want a watermaker because we don't want to run out of water somewhere and be forced to find / purchase / beg / borrow / steal water that is of questionable purity, costs us money we can't afford to spend and or have to lug 5 gal jugs across town multiple times to fill the boat up. (Mostly the last one )
So far we've shopped for two years and finally decided on the one we want. We're now saving for it's purchase.

[verb88]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Why can't someone ask a simple question and get a simple answer.



We want a watermaker because we don't want to run out of water somewhere and be forced to find / purchase / beg / borrow / steal water that is of questionable purity, costs us money we can't afford to spend and or have to lug 5 gal jugs across town multiple times to fill the boat up. (Mostly the last one )

So far we've shopped for two years and finally decided on the one we want. We're now saving for it's purchase.

Which one did ya pick?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, verb.

[themanemachane]

Thank you so much! The information has been really great in my research.

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Howdy Again.

OK. Thanks for providing some answers.

I will do the same. If you really want to see the many sides of the issues for boat water makers (pros, cons, costs, problems, recommendations, DIY, reasons for, longevity, materials, products, major players, main types, etc.) then I strongly suggest you or your research assistant spend some hours reading several of the many previous discussions related to water makers on boats. There are many in the Cruisers Forum (CF) archives. The way this forum works, you need to read deeply into the past discussions. The title of the threads may not appeal to you, but within some of them there is "gold" for your project. I mean, you have to look into the threads even if the title does not immediately seem like a good fit for your project. This is because the comments posted by knowledgeable and even expert users and makers here is found embedded in these various discussions. That is what I do as I do my own research on many topics here.

Here is a list of the many threads (discussions) on Watermakers:

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=011403...ker&gsc.page=1

That should provide you with many hours of reading, and hundreds of comments from users and buyers of water makers.

Good luck on your project, and I hope you find your time here on CF helpful and this response helpful to you too.