Watermaker from U.S.

Sy-Revolution

Sy-Revolution

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Hi there,
I've been looking at a watermaker made by Quality Water Works, based in the US. They have given me a price of $3595 (£1843) for an 8 gallon per hour (36litres) complete unit delivered to the UK. That seems like a very good price as I've just been quoted £4500 for a Schenker 60lpa + £666 for the analogue controller + VAT.
Here's the link: http://www.qwwinc.com/page8.html

I also have an email response to a question I had about current draw:

"Yes, the 8GPH is a 12 volt unit and draws 45 amps/hr. You can get a system with a lot less amp draw but they will foul a membrane in a short period of time. That's why you find a lot of the PUR and KATADYNE units on ebay. They don't supply enough feedwater across the membrane.
The unit I have on Ebay is a special deal. The DC motor on the high pressure pump sells for over $500.00 the 110 volt motor is $110.00.
The 10 gph DC unit would Draw 60 amps/hr and cost $100.00 more.
You can buy a 2000 watt generator that will power the 10 gph AC model.
If more info is needed email qwwinc@alltel.net
Regards,
George"

Now there'll be VAT and import duty on top of that figure, does anyone know how much the import duty would be on that sum?

Has anyone knowlege of these watermakers?

Certainly seems to fit the bill for me.......

Cheers,

Crispin.
 
[ QUOTE ]
....draws 45 amps/hr......

The 10 gph DC unit would Draw 60 amps/hr ........

[/ QUOTE ]

Amps/hr is a meaningless, nonexistent unit. I would worry about both the supplier's understanding and the actual power consumption!

I presume he means it draws 45amps when running so that over 1 hour you would take 45amphours from your battery, and over 2 hours, 90Ah.

Perhaps I am being overly anal about it, but I think not as I have to guess about what it really means - do others agree with my guess?
 
Yes.
One. thing to consider would be the initial start-up load, which I guess would be more than 45A. Having researched watermakers recently (I brought an Ecotec) I'm a little suspicious about the claimed power requirement Vs the claimed output. If you have to pay VAT and import duty I'm not sure it's such a good deal
 
Get it shipped directly to your boat and make sure the package is labled as 'ship in transit'. That way, you may not have to pay import duties and VAT. Or find a friendly foreign vessel that is genuinely in transit and ask them if you can use them for your shipping address.
 
The Schenker S60 (60 lph) is excellent kit. 45Amps draw for the 8 gals (probably US as well) is crazy.
The Schenker is 20 A per hour for 60 lts output on average.

They are also talking bs re membrane fouling (whick is worrying). The patented energy recovery system on the Schenker provied the correct 800 psi to the membrane, , but requires only a 120 psi fed leading to the vastly lower current draw.

Otherwise the unit looks ok, not sure if its an industry standard membrane (as the Schenker is) might be worh asking about replacement costs. You should add apx 10-20 percent tot he price for import duty, then vat at 17.5 %.. you would be unlikely to get awaywith yacht in transit in the uk to a uk reg vessel.
 
Check the duty rates (you can look them up on line on the customs site), I recently bought a radar unit and it was 3% duty plus vat and delivery, saved almost 50% on UK price. Only seems to work on orders over about £1000 though. When I have looked at cheaper stuff the shipping costs seem daft. I was quoted almost the same shipping costs for a batt monitor as I paid for the radar, it came to more than the cost of the unit!
 
Hi Sir
Wow ! the Schenker unit has gone up somewhat, We bought ours last year (S60) with absolutely complete spares kit, pre filters, replacements, service manual, all fittings even a full strip and rebuild kit for 4.2K inc Vat. We didnt bother with the controller as there didnt seem and point. I can vouch for superb construction and design.
Try ringing Mailspeed and asking for Dave (one of the Directors). I got mine through them - we arranged it with Mactra due to having a large order in with Mailspeed for other items, leccy winches, Eberspacher etc etc and we wanted it all shipped from one source.
It may be that the price has simply gone dramatically in the last 12 months.
Hope you get sorted,

Joe
 
Don't be so quick to dismiss the Katadyn watermakers. I have their 160E which has run for three years now without any trouble whatsoever, and the water quality is good. It is a basic, modular installation so will fit in most places, and theres little to go wrong. It produces 30 litres an hour and draws 10A at 24V. There is also a 12V model. If you look it up on wmjmarine.com you can find it for much the same price.
 
That's twice as much power as a Spectra uses for the same water output.
 
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