Hi
I installed a
katadyn 40e watemaker on our
boat beacause it only uses 4 amps/ hour and the idea was to leave it running a few hours a day even under sail.
There are only two of us
living aboard so it seems a good choice, and it has worked flawlessly for 3 years.....
We have now moved into the medeteranean...........
I always let the unit run and check the ppm before collecting the
water in 5 liter plastic bottles . When in northern
europe we got a steady 120 ppm and could run the unit all day with no problems.
Then we hit the med! The ppm starts at 280 and rises as time goes on. The
water for the first hour smells fine and tastes fine and we drink it with no problems.
After that first hour the water starts to smell of the sea and the ppm goes up to 360 and beyond. it is not a rotten egg smell, more like the seashore!!
The unit still makes the designed 5liters per hour and uses 4 amps, so i think the diaphram is ok.
We now have to swap out filters every hour or so which seems odd. We are very careful not to run it near shore or if we see dirty water ahead we turn it off. The filter does have a strong smell of the sea when taken out, but this goes after a clean and dry out in the sun and works ok again for an hour or so.
Does anyone have any ideas? What are others getting ppm wise? Is the
med a problem for others too?
Maybe i am used to the lovelly clean water in the scottish highlands!!!
Charlie.
Charlie.