Watermaker

[rodcat]

Looking at the 12vdc echotecwatermakers.com is there any feedback on these they seem quite good

[kolya]

Very rudimentary for the price, you can build the same thing for less than or close to a grand, here's a few links for you to browse if you're interested, all though it may be worth it to you to have something with a warranty and all.

http://www.westward-ii.com/PDF's/How...watermaker.pdf

http://www.albin25.eu/our-a25ak-dido...dos-watermaker

http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/D...ermaker./33568

http://www.svdaydreamer.com/Watermaker.htm

[svnakia]

I call Bull S**t on this. If you have a parts list, complete with suppliers, for a $1000 12VDC watermaker. I want to see it.

None of the links you gave will get you a $1000 water maker.

[foggysail]

Anyone claiming to build a watermaker for $1000 (there are claims for less than $700) is misleading. Many times they suggest purchasing expensive components for pennies on EBay but rarely are those parts on Ebay for token prices if at all.

A better forum for this question is the Plumbing forum where watermakers are discussed.

[capngeo]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Anyone claiming to build a watermaker for $1000 (there are claims for less than $700) is misleading. Many times they suggest purchasing expensive components for pennies on EBay but rarely are those parts on Ebay for token prices if at all.

A better forum for this question is the Plumbing forum where watermakers are discussed.

Thread moved to plumbing.... Feel free to use the report button if a thread is in the wrong place!

[svnakia]

I forgot to say, that a friend had a EchoTec watermaker and he loved it.

John

[kolya]

Originally Posted by svnakia

I call Bull S**t on this. If you have a parts list, complete with suppliers, for a $1000 12VDC watermaker. I want to see it.

None of the links you gave will get you a $1000 water maker.

1,500 is much closer to 1,000 than it is to 6,000 .

[Juniper]

You can just hook up a pressure washer to a membrane/housing and some valves and it will make water, not well but it will work for a while,
Now to get something that works well for a long time that is easy to work and use as little power as possable now that adds to the cost a bit.

[Overlord]

I had one in 2003 , made 20 gal per hour.Was 110v.Made a hell of a lot of noise but was simple and the water was good

[svnakia]

Originally Posted by kolya

1,500 is much closer to 1,000 than it is to 6,000 .

Who said anything about $6000?

Or are you comparing the 24VDC, 32 gallon/hour unit made by EchoTec ($6000 on their web site) to the pressure washer based, AC powered, 8 gallon an hour unit in one of your links (home built for $1500)?


I have no doubt that you can build a pressure washer based water maker for about $1500. And it would work, for a while. I've considered doing this same thing myself as an emergency water source. But the fact is that we haven't needed a water maker yet and I can't justify the cost for this kind of backup.

Note; when I say we haven't needed a water maker, I mean we haven't needed a water maker since 2004, cruising full time. We've been to Mexico, Central America, South America, Galapagos, French Polynesia, Hawaii and are now back in Mexico. We have never had a problem getting clean water. I've never had to carry water more then 20ft. And if I add up all the $$ we've spent on water in the past 7 years, it comes to less then the maintenance costs for a water maker.

I'm sure one day, when we're far from any village or town, anchored with a couple friends in a beautiful spot, we'll need a water maker. When that day comes, I plan to go over to my friend's boat (because nearly everyone has a water maker these days) and ask if he'll fill my tanks for $100 (~100 gallons). I bet he'll think I'm the sucker.

John
S/V NAKIA