Which Watermaker?

[vandal]

I am about to get a new watermaker installed. Does anyone have any special tips or recommendations please?

[Boomerang]

Vandal, cannot tell from your message if you are looking for hints and tips on install, or if you are looking for advice on the type and model. The most important thing to remember are your consumption requirements, and the units electrical consumption requirements in making your decision. Since I do not know your boat type, on board tankage, and your thoughts related to your needs, all I can do is tell you what we have done on Boomerang!

After thinking about and creating a spreadsheet on the above info, I came to the conclusion that the Katadyn PowerSurvivor 40E was the perfect unit for us. With its low power consumption, and our consumption of approximately 15 gallons (avg) per day (inclusive of sea-showers, dishwashing, 2 gals per day of drinking water each, etc, this fine unit provides more than adequate quantities for our needs. That said, there are generally only two of us....when friends are on board, obviously that can change, hence the avg...but then, we rarely have more people on board when we are out there, you know, cruising! I know that utilization may sound like a lot to some...but then that is why we went the route of a watermaker. My little Jib Chick like to take showers, and keep her hair sparkling clean, so.....!

It fit easily in our lazarette (getting a little crowded now with the generator(which we hardly use); It works exceptionally well for us, has been no trouble, is easy to maintain, and the spare parts kits are mostly easy to get anywhere in the world....that said we keep a spare parts kit on board at all times....and when we use a part, we replace that part(s) as soon as possible.

Hope that helps....

[Delezynski]

Take a look at our web page at: http://www.svguenevere.com/2006/gear/gear2...akers_and_power

Originally Posted by vandal

I am about to get a new watermaker installed. Does anyone have any special tips or recommendations please?

[vandal]

Hi Boomerang,

This is indeed very helpful. The Powersurvivor is in fact the one my yard recommended but until then, I had not heard of it, focussing more on Schenker, Aquafresh and Spectra. Your needs sound very similar to ours-mainly 2 alone but my Jib chick also likes to keep herself spruce! In fact, we may go up step or even two to the 80E or 160E just to be on the safe side when the boys visit. The rationale for going all the way to the 160 is that apparently you get twice the production(25lph vs 13lph) of the 80 for 2/3 of the draw (12amp vs 8 amp) for just 15% more investment (4165 euros vs 3570 euros, prices cif Gibraltar). Do these stats sound reliable and have you heard of any problems with these models? Thanks again!

[Boomerang]

Vandal,

I like your thought process, but the larger the system, the more amperage you use, the higher your charging requirements, and the more utilization of overall limited battery life. Not sure of your alternator config, or how you charge your batts. We have a 130A alternator, a Xantrex 2500 Watt/100A inverter/charger, and a total of 600AH of house batts. Due to the limited AH of the house system, we chose to go with the lighter system...less draw, less water, but more than fulfills our general requirements. We carry approximately 200 gals of water, and with our general usage, using the PS40e more than keeps us topped off, and does not use much in the way of energy...

We all have our preferences, but I would strongly suggest that you consider the draw on your house system...and we just don't like to run the engine....it really is not good for it to be on and off, on and off...that's why truckers leave them running all the time at truck stops... Just sayin...

[vandal]

Thanks again for the comment, Boomerang. My set-up is almost identical to yours(2x80A amp alt plus 665A house bank) and like you, I switch the engine on with reluctance but if I take your consumption pattern and divide it by the 40E production number, I come up with a daily usage of 8-10 hours! Am I missing something? I would have thought it better to go with the heavier draw for shorter periods, coinciding with usage of the engine for general charge (I also have an engine belt driven freezer compressor). The other point is that the web site says the 40E produces 1.5gph for 4 amps (12v) whilst for 12 amps, the 160E delivers 6.7gph, which sounds like you get more water bang for your amp buck and again at less than twice the price. Again, please tell me what I am missing?

[JeanneP]

Originally Posted by vandal

, we may go up step or even two to the 80E or 160E just to be on the safe side when the boys visit. The rationale for going all the way to the 160 is that apparently you get twice the production(25lph vs 13lph) of the 80 for 2/3 of the draw (12amp vs 8 amp) for just 15% more investment (4165 euros vs 3570 euros, prices cif Gibraltar).

We had a 4 litre per hour watermaker, clearly only for emergencies since it used a lot of power for the product obtained. We crossed from Ecuador to Easter Island in 19 days on a 75-gallon water tank, 3 people. That forced us all to be frugal with water.

I personally would not get an oversized watermaker just so people could have as much fresh water as they wanted to shower and waste. Nothing wrong with teaching them some restraint. The way I look at it, there is a lot to be said for asking all visitors to your boat to take up some of the responsibility for a smoothly-running visit. It might even carry over to their land-based living.

Hobby horse comments follow.

We got into the habit of being very careful with water very early in our cruising. I continue to use as little water as possible, even when we are on land with unlimited water. Recently I found myself biting my tongue to keep from making a snide remark towards a woman in the ladies' room of (someplace). She spent a good 3 to 5 minutes brushing her teeth with the water running the entire time. The waste of water bothered me.

Water is a valuable resource, and even when it is in plentiful supply it should be used sensibly, not wastefully, or one day we won't have a plentiful supply.

Now I'll step down from my soapbox.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Boomerang

our consumption of approximately 15 gallons (avg) per day

I think I'm misunderstanding something. My understanding is that the output of the 40E is rated at 1.5 gallons/hour. You are running your watermaker 10 hours a day? (or more because usually they get less than the rated output)

I'm curious because we were recently discussion output of watermakers vs. how long we could stand to run one how often and if you are running yours that much of the day with no problem perhaps we need to rethink things.