Water Meter?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by BillKny

Not at all... until it happens...

For early warning of that, I have a bilge pump counter.


Which reminds me -- I have a dicey pressure/temperature blowoff valve on my calorifier, which occasionally dumps fresh water. Need to replace that ASAP.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Example?

This kind of thing:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Wa...2212/205489792
compatible hose barbs can be found from 3/8"-3/4".

[more]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, that's basically what I have been doing these past 12 years, but it's a faff, and I can't do it when I'm racing, nor is it practical in rough sea conditions.

for you best option you can program stop valve or automatic switchover after xxx liter flow

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2053...3107657d0bokRE

[rslifkin]

The 4 sensor setup shouldn't require any fancy calibration. Basically, 2 in parallel halves the resistance, 2 in series doubles it. So in series/parallel you still get the same resistance range as a single sensor. But the resistance seen by the gauge will be the average of what each of the 4 sensors is reading.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

The 4 sensor setup shouldn't require any fancy calibration. Basically, 2 in parallel halves the resistance, 2 in series doubles it. So in series/parallel you still get the same resistance range as a single sensor. But the resistance seen by the gauge will be the average of what each of the 4 sensors is reading.

That's extremely clever! I wouldn't have thought of that.


But I'm certainly not going to try to cut additional holes in my water tanks, so this is of theoretical interest only.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

This kind of thing:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Wa...2212/205489792
compatible hose barbs can be found from 3/8"-3/4".

I do use one of these on my fill hose. I find it can be off by up to 15% compared to my better-quality inline flow meter. But it certainly gives a good general idea of volumes.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I do use one of these on my fill hose. I find it can be off by up to 15% compared to my better-quality inline flow meter. But it certainly gives a good general idea of volumes.

yes, I have 2 ... one on the fill hose, and one on the tank output. What is measured going in never exactly matches what is measured coming out, but it is close enough that I'm never surprised when the tank runs dry.

[h20man]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, I can check for tank leakage (never had in 30 years) any time the boat is on an even keel.


Two gauges and isolate the tanks would give a lot more info than I get now, but still a lot of faff for poor quality info.


I think the water meter is the right solution for this problem.

The bummer about tank leakage is that it is non-existent for the first 30 years... and then ... your bilge pump works to dump all your freshwater overboard.. at the worst possible time...



What are your tanks made of (or lined with?)


For long passages I have bottled water as emergency iron rations..

JUST IN CASE...

Hope you never have an issue...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by h20man

The bummer about tank leakage is that it is non-existent for the first 30 years... and then ... your bilge pump works to dump all your freshwater overboard.. at the worst possible time...

What are your tanks made of (or lined with?)

For long passages I have bottled water as emergency iron rations..

JUST IN CASE...

Hope you never have an issue...

In the absence of a watermaker, I do carry emergency water, always. Probably 20 liters of bottled water and a couple of 20 liter jerry cans. Not to mention a bunch of emergency water in the life raft and grab bag. Running out of water far offshore is a nightmare scenario.


My water tanks are superb -- made by Tek Tanks in England, and made of HDPE, welded construction, baffled. I guess the useful life of those tanks is 100 years or more. They don't sit in the bilges; they are firmly attached to the boat's structure. I don't think it gets any better than that, and I don't worry about the tanks.


HOWEVER, there is PEX plumbing below the bottom of the tanks and there is always a chance that a pipe could split or a joint could fail, so I don't think the risk of losing tank water is trivial.

[LoftyDreams]

Sailorboy has a Spectra Watermaker for sale $2800 on another thread. A Rainman portable unit would also seem to be a logical solution to your ongoing concerns.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by LoftyDreams

Sailorboy has a Spectra Watermaker for sale $2800 on another thread. A Rainman portable unit would also seem to be a logical solution to your ongoing concerns.

I rarely need a watermaker, so I have been reluctant to invest the time, money, and space into installing one.


I really needed a watermaker during my summer in the Arctic, and I really need one for my 1000 mile ocean race. I wish I could rent one.


A Rainman would be a great solution for me -- could keep it off the boat when I don't need it. However, one drawback to all types of watermakers if not used regularly is deterioration of the membrance. So after all renting one would be the right solution, but AFAIK it's not possible in Europe.

[jtsailjt]

For your purposes you could pickle your membrane simply by pumping some -100 propylene glycol into it until you’re ready for your ocean race and it really doesn’t take much to hook it back up (3 screw on fittings), flush with fresh water, and you’re back in business. I’m in a similar situation, normally sailing where good water is plentiful. But I still like knowing for sure that the water in my tanks is pure. So, I started with full tanks last spring and haven’t been to a dock all summer but need to soon just for fuel. I never have to run the genset or engine just to make water, but while I’m running the genset to top off the batteries or heat water or run AC or am underway using the Yanmar, there’s enough spare amps available to make water at no extra cost.

Regarding the membranes…I bought my boat 6 years ago and the membrane (unknown age) had been pickled by Ocean Options 2 years prior to that. I brought it home and it sat in my basement for 5 years. Last season I got my Watermaker running and I was very pleasantly surprised that the old membrane worked just fine. Last winter I didn’t properly pickle it and some nastiness grew on the membranes surface so this year I’ve had to run product water into the bilge before each use for 15 minutes before it completely lost that nasty rotten egg smell. So I just sent it off to Ocean Options for them to analyze it and tell me whether I needed a new one. Once again I was pleasantly surprised to hear yesterday from them that as old as it is and as badly as I abused it last winter, all it needed was a cleaning that I could have done myself for about $50 and an hours time. I’m expecting it to be delivered any minute now, and 15 minutes after it’s back on my boat I’ll be making water. So the membranes aren’t quite as fragile as some would lead us to believe as long as you don’t put oil or chlorinated water in them. For offshore sailing I’ll keep my 2 under settee tanks treated with chlorine with their valves closed to be used as insurance water. My 17gph Watermaker is plumbed into my 135gallon aft tank and this is the water I’m constantly using and replenishing so since it doesn’t sit for long and the water going into it is very pure and has been treated with a UV filter, I don’t normally chlorinate it. The biggest ongoing cost is replacing the 5 and 25 micron prefilters and the downstream carbon filter but since you mostly would be using it in clean water offshore, those wouldn’t get dirty as fast. I understand your reluctance to add any more gadgets that must be maintained but I think that if you got one you’d find yourself using it whenever you’re aboard and you’d find that maintenance isn’t that much of a chore. Plus, during that 1000 mile offshore race, everyone can shower every day and you’d have less worries about running out.

UPS just delivered it so back to the boat I go. [emoji4]