Waterworld
The movie Waterworld begins with the lead character, played by Kevin Kostner, urinating into a device which somehow converts it into drinking water. Even if such a device were readily available today it might be a tough sale for some people. Watermakers on the other hand, which are essentially desalinators, are readily available, albeit expensive bits of kit.
The advantages of having a watermaker are several:
- We can reduce the amount of water we need to carry*
- We could stay away from marinas and other water sources for longer periods of time
Disadvantages:
- Cost. This is a biggy! Even though in many cases cruisers must purchase water in the Caribbean, it is virtually impossible to justify the cost a watermaker using a dollars/gallon equation.
- Maintenance. One more thing to learn about, and take care of. I have read that some of the more troublesome components of these systems are the electronics. For this reason, and the fact that the super, duper electronic version of the watermaker we want costs over 2k more, we have decided to go for the basic version.
We have pretty much decided to invest the money, and have also pretty much decided on the make and model: A Spectra 150 DX. We have even spoken to the Canadian distributor, Ray Singh from Ray’s Marine Services in nearby Brampton, ON. The funny thing about my conversation with Ray is that as soon as I told him that we had a PDQ 32 he immediately said that he knew the exact boat and its previous owners! Small world.
*Note: I was recently involved in an online discussion about the dangers of overloading a catamaran. Water just happens to weigh a fair amount. Our boat carries 47 gallons, which at 8.35 pounds per gallon, equates to just over 392 pounds. 47 gallons is not a lot and even with a watermaker on board, we will likely need to have a second tank. Being able to produce our own potable water though will allow us to carry a much smaller second tank, and which will further allow us to allocate more of Katana’s carrying capacity to other cruising essentials, such as Rum!
Curious…
Does your solar set-up have the juice to run the water maker while on the hook for several days or a week? From what I gather (different unit) it takes 100W*hr to make 3 gallons of water, when the membranes are new (less flow later). Thus. if you have 100W of panels, you can run it ~6 hr per day in the tropics (less in Canada), assuming you use no other power. Thus, perhaps 6 gallons per day is practical.
For it to be useful, you will need big panels and perhaps a wind generator, and to figure it into your power budget.
Tanks require no maintenance and weigh very little when MT.
In the summer I swim, soap-up, and rinse on the transom shower. I like it better than the on-board shower and it uses very little water.
I leave the pressure pump off most of time and wash hands with what comes out gravity. Saves water. I wash dishes on the transom, sometimes.
Our family of 3 has gone 6 days between fill-ups with no particular discipline. We also filled the bilge in 2 hours when my daughter left the lav tap cracked. The tragedy was it also got our entire tissue supply! Moral: don’t store all the tissue in one place.
Hi Drew
You always post such thought-provoking comments. Thanks! I appreciate it.
Mike
Mike,
You will likely find that your budget, boat, location and capacities will tend to drive your consumption behavior. A few points of interest(?)
A quick look at Wiki says you each need 4 – 6 litres H2O/day to SURVIVE…of course, when you eat regularly you get water from other sources. We have seen others who manage on mere drops/day and make 6 gallons last for 6 days, but we don’t want to be that extreme.
On TabbyCat, we can’t imagine NOT having the watermaker. Yes, we will not be able to economically justify the expense, but we can justify it by reflecting on the FREEDOM it allows us to have. No marinas, no carrying (heavy) jerry jugs to and fro, no docking exercises, no worry about WHERE to find the next water supply, no worry about the QUALITY from unknown sources etc, etc. Just push the button and go! We have been unable to use our watermaker twice and it was not a pretty picture.
FWIW, our problems have never been with the electronics (but we ensured a good dry location for them). Yes, you have to learn a few more skills, and it does mean adding another complex system to the boat, but mostly you need to be able to wield a few tools (wrench, screwdriver), and the benefits…(see above)
Spectra is among the very best and their support is pretty good, too. Carry a good supply of spares (they have some good recommendations in their manual) and you should be in pretty good shape.
Drew, good points! We have 4, 110 watt panels and we regularly leave the boat with the watermaker running in the middle of the day with no loss in charge (to a slight gain).
Merry Christmas & Fair Winds,
Mike
Merry Christmas Mike, and thanks for your comments!
Although it is pretty warm for Canada here right now, I do wish we were in Grenada with you guys!
Mike
You might want to consider a home brew/DIY watermaker as building one is actually quite easy. Throw in the added advantage that having built it you know how to fix it down the line for pennies on the dollar.
As someone who is able to build a new mast for his boat, your saying that it “is actually quite easy” doesn’t carry much weight with me:)
I do agree about the advantages of building it though, and I have a couple links bookmarked discussing the process. I did consider it!
Seriously it really is simple plumbing with no rocket science. Size your system so that it can run off the Honda 2000 on your wishlist (we love ours) and ignore the impulse to add bells and whistles and you will have a trouble free and cheap system.
On the other hand you might want to look at a really simple and cheap pre made system that seems in the same ballpark pricewise of building your own… http://www.sailadventures.nl/SA/pages/BT00.htm
Truth is I’d rather build a water maker than two masts and sails but so it goes…
Thanks for the info and the vote of confidence! I will do some more research and seriously consider the possibility.
I found a used (-20hrs/2009) similar watermaker to the spectra 150, it’s a Katadyn 160E Watermaker.
If your interested email me back and I’ll give you the info from there.
Seems like a good deal.
Keep up the good work!! :0)
Thanks Michel. Email sent.