Which Watermaker To Choose

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Wow that sounds like the life for me.............NOT! But conserving water that gets "produced" in land sources and from the municipal water supply is a LOT different from making fresh water from seawater.

I'm going to have the biggest practical watermaker I can support on the boat and not feel bad at all by using all the water I can with it!

Don,

I thought you would just love bathing in the galley sink.

Leave some seawater for me.

[Lagoon4us]

The sun makes our water, cannot get simpler or cheaper, day to day, than that.

Costs of installation are absorbed as part of the eventual worth of the boat so really not an issue, i.e. the boats value is higher due to it's sustainability.

We shower every day and cook, wash dishes with fresh however we maintain a minimum of one tank always full.

Putting up with water from dock outlets with varying chemicals/pollutants is not part of our scene nor is using dock hoses that may have in-advertantly been placed in the waste outlet of the previous boat, YUK!

Different strokes for different boats i guess but my advice is to set up so solar does it for you via batteries/inverter etc....

[wolfenzee]

To get back on thread "which water maker to choose" It depends on your water usage needs (good to test this first), power production capabilities and budget
Talking about tankage, making sure you have enough water in case of water maker failure, how you use you water, alternate means of getting water or whether or not you even need a water maker,etc....are all "end use" and not part of the question.

[Lagoon4us]

Bahaaa if ever i've seen a thread hijacked Wolf it is by you....... Nearly fell off me seat laughing!

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Bahaaa if ever i've seen a thread hijacked Wolf it is by you....... Nearly fell off me seat laughing!

+3

[x-ray]

I try to build a DIY-Dieselmaker, any experience here ?

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by x-ray

I try to build a DIY-Dieselmaker, any experience here ?

Just buy Bunker C, warm it up in your bunk while you're sleeping, and you're good to go with fresh warm homemade diesel.

[settingsun]

Originally Posted by stevensuf

Would i prefer a higher output water maker, hell yes!!!!
...
if you have a generator then a decent output 110/240v system is the way to go.

Or... as I've mentioned but want to say again since this thread has gotten very long... an engine driven watermaker is another great way to go.

We make 60 gallons in one hour, so we run our watermaker for about an hour or so every 4 days or so, and we use a heck of a lot of water without every thinking about conserving.

Every week or so we wash the deck of the boat and the cockpit - buckets of water, boat soap, brushes and all. This requires running the watermaker for an extra hour or two.

For those who haven't cruised in the sweaty, sultry tropics, it is really really nice to have a relatively unlimited water supply without having to rely on going into expensive marinas.

Our watermaker came from EchoTech in Trinidad. It cost $7k. There are other manufacturers who make engine-driven watermakers. The hardest part is fabricating the metal brackets to hang the pump off the engine. We were lucky to have a phenomenal metal fabricator in Ensenada, Mexico, who helped us shoe-horn the pump into the engine compartment with 1/8 inch to spare...

But it was soooooooo worth the effort to get the brackets made and install the rest of the system ourselves...

We have anchored out for more than 10 months without going into a marina for a single day.

[daddle]

Originally Posted by settingsun

We make 60 gallons in one hour, so we run our watermaker for about an hour or so every 4 days or so, and we use a heck of a lot of water without every thinking about conserving.

Good datapoint. You consider 15 gallons per day to be profligate. The two of us could use that much if it was easy to make. That demand could be filled by a small watermaker working quietly while the sun shined on my solar panels. Or a very small unit working full time. I wish a quiet low power watermaker existed.

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

The sun makes our water, cannot get simpler or cheaper, day to day, than that.


Putting up with water from dock outlets with varying chemicals/pollutants is not part of our scene nor is using dock hoses that may have in-advertantly been placed in the waste outlet of the previous boat, YUK!
.

That is NO JOKE! I saw that happen, watched someone use a dock hose to clean out a plugged macerator. At the time, I thought it was the boat owner's hose but latter learned it was the common dock hose!

[settingsun]

Originally Posted by daddle

Good datapoint. You consider 15 gallons per day to be profligate.

We actually use about 20 gallons per day, not including the water used to clean the deck and cockpit (that would bring the average up to about 30 gallons per day.

Our watermaking sessions are about an hour to an hour and a half, usually around an hour and 20 minutes, making about 80 gallons. We fill two 35 gallon holding tanks and another 10 or so one-gallon jugs for drinking water (old habit from our RVing lifestyle to keep drinking water in gallon jugs). We also fill the sinks for laundry and other washing purposes. So all in all we make anywhere from 70 to 100 gallons at a time, and run the watermaker "about an hour or so" with an emphasis on the "or so."

If we also wash the deck and the cockpit, then we make about 40-60 extra gallons of water into 5 gallon containers... and run the watermaker an extra 45 minutes to an hour...

This is very light use for the watermaker, averaging something like 6-9 hours of use per week or 25-35 hours per month... We swap out the pre-filters about once a month, less in clear water like the Sea of Cortez...

One of the best things is that since installing the system 3 years ago we haven't put marina water in our tanks.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by foggysail

That is NO JOKE! I saw that happen, watched someone use a dock hose to clean out a plugged macerator. At the time, I thought it was the boat owner's hose but latter learned it was the common dock hose!

The day charterers here do it often, people just aren't aware of what goes on.

[Barra]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

The day charterers here do it often, people just aren't aware of what goes on.

well thats it im defo putting the watermaker in before next med summer!

What kind have you got onboard? im looking for efficient 12volt alternatives to spectra without the price tag - was quoted 7k euro the other day for the spectra and thats not even intalled!

[downunder]

Spectra certainly seem to be the best and most efficient of the 12 volt from thread comments.

ECHOtec seem well priced. can't speak for their efficiency.

ECHOTec. Marine Watermakers*- DC Watermakers for Yachts*12 or 24 Volt*(Modular)

[Lagoon4us]

Ours is Sea-recovery, it is an energy saver model incorporating a 12 volt flush c/w 12volt circuit board to time flush.

The pump is 240AC.

It all runs off our inverter, I wouldn't recommend Sea Recovery as they are very expensive to repair and buy parts for.

The point is if you have a solar array running a good battery bank equipped with an inverter you are making water for near no cost.

I would go for an AC machine any day powered by Gen-set/Shorepower/Inverter.