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Old 07-04-2021, 10:02   #31
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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Originally Posted by Mike OReilly View Post
A few years ago I installed a flow meter on the water line. So I know, to the gallon (or litre), how much water we use. It turns out to be amazingly consistent at just shy of 1 gallon/person/day. So for the two of us we use ~2 gallons/day.
Dang, I drink almost that much water a day.
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Old 07-04-2021, 13:14   #32
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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A few years ago I installed a flow meter on the water line. So I know, to the gallon (or litre), how much water we use. It turns out to be amazingly consistent at just shy of 1 gallon/person/day. So for the two of us we use ~2 gallons/day.

I know this is much less than what most people report. But along with the previous factors, the other big thing we have is where we cruise. We're in more northerly climes (Newfoundland), so we aren't sweating buckets all day. We also don't swim, so don't need to shower off constantly.

Our boat carries about 200 gallons of water, so at our rate of consumption we can be out for nearly three months. Even still, I would like to get a small DC watermaker. Maybe someday when the boat budget allows...
I have inexpensive flow meters all over the place. Probably not as accurate as some but they give a pretty good indication. I have one on the hose when I take shoreside water on. I have another on the delivery pump of the fresh water system. I have a third on my watermaker to measure raw water in and a fourth on the watermaker brine dump. From the last two I can see the production ratio of the watermaker - don’t know why, just interesting

We carry 250 gallons (1000 litres) of fresh in tanks when full and as I mentioned in an earlier post, we never come even close to running out. But we do use more than 4 litres/person/day.
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Old 07-04-2021, 13:39   #33
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Re: How do you save water aboard

I use that kind of meter on my intake hose Cassidy. It's very inexpensive, and not as accurate, but it's good enough to give us a measure while filling. I have a somewhat more expensive meter to measure the outflow.

We've never run out of water, and we tend to be off the dock for months at a time. And while we are not paranoid about water use, and we definitely use what we need, but we use it wisely.

While tied to a dock we tend to use almost double the amount of water. I think this is partly because the supply is endless, but more because we can't use salt water.

I'm sure if we had a watermaker we'd likely use more, but probably not a lot more. As I say, we don't consciously conserve water on board. We just use as much as is needed, and try not to waste any.
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Old 13-06-2021, 22:24   #34
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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1. Composting toilet, no water involved.

2. Dished saved up during the day are washed in the evening with the dinner dishes, only one wash per day. The dirty dishes are kept in the head.

3. Also use fresh water spray bottle.

4. Take less showers and clean only portions of my body with wet clot, some gentle soap and towel. I can wash my hair with one large glass of water. Fill glass 1/4 full, put glass upside down on head keeping it moderately tight to the skin to wet my hair down, then soap up, then with about three quarters of a cup of water, again upside down on my head, move all around to rinse. The towel down.
Agree and also want to add that you don't need glass for measuring water, the right shower head matters. There are a lot of variants with flow rate regulation(low pressure) as it determines water economy. We are using this one and we don's swim as usual
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Old 14-06-2021, 04:04   #35
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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1. Composting toilet, no water involved.
Yuk, no, just use sea water instead. There is nothing that goes down our toilet that nature can't take care of.

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2. Dished saved up during the day are washed in the evening with the dinner dishes, only one wash per day. The dirty dishes are kept in the head.
Prefer not to store food utensils in the toilet area, even if they are later washed. Those two areas should be separate.

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3. Also use fresh water spray bottle.
I prefer fairy liquid and then air dry if possible, no tea towels for drying unless rough weather, then more important to put things away quickly.

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4. Take less showers and clean only portions of my body with wet clot, some gentle soap and towel. I can wash my hair with one large glass of water. Fill glass 1/4 full, put glass upside down on head keeping it moderately tight to the skin to wet my hair down, then soap up, then with about three quarters of a cup of water, again upside down on my head, move all around to rinse. The towel down.
Your single right ? I like to sail with my wife, so we take showers and use water. There is no shortage were I sail, but each to their own.

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Old 14-06-2021, 07:47   #36
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Re: How do you save water aboard

Pete7, I guess you've never owned a composting head. There's nothing "yuk" about them. In fact, most who move one do so to get away from the yuk-factor too-often associated with standard marine heads.

rsn48's approach is a bit extreme, but we happily cruise with modest water usage, including fresh water spray bottles for dish washing, and a cockpit shower. And yes, "we" includes my wife.
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Old 14-06-2021, 10:08   #37
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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I have inexpensive flow meters all over the place. Probably not as accurate as some but they give a pretty good indication. :
I used one of these to calibrate my tank fill volume vs the ultrasonic float meter voltage reading. First, I have a 5 gal bucket that I filled with graduated quart measuring cup, and marked off gallons. The filled the bucket to 5 gallons with the meter attached, at WOT. My meter showed 4.6 gallons when bucket filled to 5 gal mark. So not far off, but we just corrected the volume when we moved to the tank.

The thing I question is how accurate they are at low flow.
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Old 06-07-2021, 10:34   #38
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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Turn off the pressure water system and use foot pumps. Will cut your water usage drastically.

Have you thought about not letting the water run while you brush your teeth. Can't see how you'd use much water brushing your teeth. All you need water for is to rinse the toothbrush when your done.
Yeah. I don’t even do that (run water while brushing) at home any more. I put a few ml, maybe 50, in a glass; apply toothpaste to the brush, dip in water, and brush. Use the water to rinse brush and swish the mouth. Also, despite TV commercials, etc, one does not need to brush with toothpaste everyday. Alternatively, try using a few ml of Listerine in the mouth and brush it around. Good way to take care of the gums. Needs no water at all. Ration the family to < 300 ml / day for brushing.
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Old 06-07-2021, 10:49   #39
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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1. Composting toilet, no water involved.
4. Take less showers and clean only portions of my body with wet clot, some gentle soap and towel. I can wash my hair with one large glass of water. Fill glass 1/4 full, put glass upside down on head keeping it moderately tight to the skin to wet my hair down, then soap up, then with about three quarters of a cup of water, again upside down on my head, move all around to rinse. The towel down.
These are called “sea showers.” Here in Southern California where it’s dry most of the time and cool, one shower a week is enough at least for the guys. In summer, the water is “warm” enough to dip in, soap up on the swim step using Joy, then back in to rinse, or gingerly use the shower attachment on the step. This assumes one is at anchor in clean water, of course. (Such as at the islands.) A two-week-long passage in the subtropics/tropics, etc., would require something different, of course, if showering is desired.
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Old 06-07-2021, 11:40   #40
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Re: How do you save water aboard

Great posts in this thread... definitely learned a lot. Thanks, guys!!

Something I do... (1) always watch the dishes in the seawater and only rinse them off in the sink, (2) when rinsing dishes, don't open up the faucet to the maximum... you'd be surprised how many people don't realize that just because you open the faucet more, it won't clean/rinse the dishes off faster, (3) don't run the water when brushing teeth (obvious, even at home with unlimited water supply), (4) only use seawater for heads, etc.

I think most of the things are obvious to each person and each person has their own wants and needs... either way, great posts!!
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Old 06-07-2021, 15:13   #41
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Re: How do you save water aboard

I have come to this thread late, and apologize if it has been discussed before. We do not have pressure water, except for the shower, which has an on demand heater. We use foot pumps. With the foot pumps, it is easy to monitor one's consumption. Each full stroke, up and down, yields 1/2 c. The pumps have been quite reliable--and they were already used when we got the boat 18 yrs. ago.

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Old 06-07-2021, 15:23   #42
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Re: How do you save water aboard

Our boat operates in 2 modes :


Offshore (=passages between continents, or from a continent to offshore locations) - in this mode water saving is simple - we have a gallon jug of water per day per two. That's what we have. And that's what we use. You can easily imagine showers are a luxury not a daily comfort. Otherwise no special measures.


Inshore (=elsewhere, and short passage up to say 1000 miles) - in this mode we do not save water. The boat will carry as much water as she does and this implies we can shower daily.


This boat is 3t light and we can take about 250 liters of water for offshore passages, about 350 liters of water for island hopping / anchoring off.
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Old 07-07-2021, 13:30   #43
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Re: How do you save water aboard

More importantly... a better question... how do you guys keep the water fresh (no bacteria; no foul smell; etc.) when you conserve it so much?

When I try to conserve my water and my water stays in the tanks for weeks at a time, the smell/taste isn't too good.

What's the best way to keep the "conserved" water fresh? Any input will be appreciated!!
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Old 07-07-2021, 13:56   #44
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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More importantly... a better question... how do you guys keep the water fresh (no bacteria; no foul smell; etc.) when you conserve it so much?

When I try to conserve my water and my water stays in the tanks for weeks at a time, the smell/taste isn't too good.

What's the best way to keep the "conserved" water fresh? Any input will be appreciated!!
We are out for months at a time and I've not yet had water go skunky on me. I've always filled from municipal water systems in Canada, so I think the standards are quite high. It's always chlorinated. I'm also careful to let the water run a few minutes to flush the system, and I also use our own fill hose for the final connections. All this limits any contamination.

Finally, we have an inline filter system which removes odour/tastes, as well as bigger contaminants (like parasites). This is done through a physical, and then carbon filter.

I guess the other factor is while my water lasts a long time, it is in constant use. So that probably helps keep it from turning ugly.
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Old 07-07-2021, 17:35   #45
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Re: How do you save water aboard

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We are out for months at a time and I've not yet had water go skunky on me. I've always filled from municipal water systems in Canada, so I think the standards are quite high. It's always chlorinated. I'm also careful to let the water run a few minutes to flush the system, and I also use our own fill hose for the final connections. All this limits any contamination.

Finally, we have an inline filter system which removes odour/tastes, as well as bigger contaminants (like parasites). This is done through a physical, and then carbon filter.

I guess the other factor is while my water lasts a long time, it is in constant use. So that probably helps keep it from turning ugly.
Great info... what does your setup look like? What filters do you use? How did you connect them? Maybe send me a PM or lets start a separate thread. But that's awesome!! Sounds like you got it figured out
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