Watermaker

[Hankthelank]

There are a number of Katadyn -35 watermakers currently on ebay and other sites. These are army new old stock. Anybody have any past experience with these?

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Hankthelank

There are a number of Katadyn -35 watermakers currently on ebay and other sites. These are army new old stock. Anybody have any past experience with these?

They are the PUR survivor Hand pumpers

Katadyn 35 Watermakers

[Captn_Black]

I've been recommended this 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis RO Water Filter + Pump + TDS! on eBay, also Water Filters, Small Appliances, Kitchen, Home Garden (end time 27-Jan-09 16:31:05 GMT)

It's from ebay UK, but i'm sure u can find them in US or talk to the seller and ask about international postage...

[senormechanico]

Hank,
If it was a car, it would be a Chevy Vega.
If it was a sewing machine it would be a Brother.
If it was a boat, it would be a Bayliner.

My first water maker was a PowerSurvivor 35
My second was a PUR (same thing) 80 Much better!
Current one is a Spectra. Different league entirely!
Save up your grickles and buy a Spectra.

Steve B.

[Captn_Black]

Hmmm, but don't the hand-pumps leave you with a nasty taste? Reverse osmosis seems the way to go to me (although a hand pump would be useful for a life raft) but at 30w/gallon for fresh water, it seems worth it for cruisers when u consider the weight of a months supply of water....

[Hankthelank]

Thanks for your reply's. I was thinking more along the lines of putting in my escape bag, not for regular use. $300 dollars seems to be good for an emergency watermaker.

[Captn_Black]

Ah, yea. Tho I saw a brilliant tip for a homemade solar still, basically, the same as a regular floating still, but instead of just sea water in the regular reservoir area, they used soaked cloth to stop seawater spilling into the fresh water collecting area... Though I certainly wish I could afford one of these hand pumps for emergencies instead...

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Captain Jaz

I've been recommended this 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis RO Water Filter + Pump + TDS! on eBay, also Water Filters, Small Appliances, Kitchen, Home Garden (end time 27-Jan-09 16:31:05 GMT)

It's from ebay UK, but i'm sure u can find them in US or talk to the seller and ask about international postage...

Capn, those are for fresh water fed household needs, won't work on a boat stting in salt water. Most of the Katadyn RO units on E-Bay are old stock. But I do throw a 35 in my ditch bag. As for making onboard RO water in amounts you'd be happy with their smaller units don't put out much water. I agree with senormechanico and save your bucks for a real watermaker. But give this thread a few hours and there are those here that will point you into making your own. From reading your previous posts you might be interested in that.

[Captn_Black]

I certainly am interested in that kind of thing, I may of posted the wrong link, I know there are reverse osmosis pumps capable of getting pure water from sea water, and from the research I've done on it it seems that you should always go for one that's more than what you need for durability's sake. Happy to be pointed in the right direction tho, and to do the work myself. And yea, I wasn't thinking of a grab-bag water purifier when I posted here, but rather for everyday use...

[Captn_Black]

I built an air filter using graduatingly smaller screens and activated carbon before, i assume that something along these lines would be what you'd be thinking for a self build water filter? Though if I can buy one for less than $200 I'd rather do that, as I'm certainly not short of items on my things to do list!!

[Captn_Black]

I shall do some more research on this, and possibly phone some manufactures tomorrow, and report. Anyone with more info on this please let me know...

[Captn_Black]

For anyone interested in the science behind these machines :- Optimizing the Efficiency of Reverse Osmosis Seawater Desalination

[Captn_Black]

EMWC - Reverse Osmosis - 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis water filter system (RO5EW)
The first link was cheaper, but this link shows that it will remove 99% of salts from water. I shall phone them tomorrow to confirm, but I'm pretty sure this works with seawater.

[Captn_Black]

After speaking to the guy who sells them, the warranty would be void if you used these at sea because not all the parts are stainless steal... I shall continue searching, but am expecting to pay alot more for an appropriate machine...

[Captn_Black]

Though the idea of devoting or building a storage locker to an evaporation based desalination machine with the use of a sea-water aquarium heater to speed things up is looking more and more like a feasible solution... (at least for my budget...)