Watermaker pur 40

[Good]

Is it a good idea to install a Watermaker pur40 or is it a waste of money and for howe long can it last? can you please give me some input i have a 26 foot sailboat with 70 liters water and i think is too small for long trips, or go for flexible watertanks?

P.S the pur watermaker cost ca.1700 pound

 

[Guest]

Hmmmmm, 70 Liters.....I do believe that is about 17 US gallons...... about 3 days or so worth of water....maybe more if you really are stingy with it. Personally, thats barely a weekends worth of water. I know others who stretch it further, but its dangerous to allocate less than 5 gallons aday. In the tropics you will consume more than you think.

I would do both.....add the collapsible water tanks and add the Pur 40 or another simple watermaker. Afterall, if you run out of water, or refill with bad water, the watermaker will be your only source of water. I think it would be advisable to have a backup source......

Reality is the cause of all stress!!

 

[qsiv]

I'm not sure that it would be 'dangerous' per se. The minimum quantity of water needed to sustain life (outside of the tropics) is between 55 and 200 centilitres per day. The Minimum quantity needed to keep healthy is 1 litre. Higher work rates would necessitate increased uptake of water. I'have recently spoken to a number of skippers who have competed in round the world races. They allocated between 5 and 7 litrese per person per day, depending on the latitude and work rates. Surprisingly there wqas more difficulty keeping the crew hydrated in the Southern Oceans becuse people didnt 'feel' thirsty due to heat, but the work rate was high. Each crew member had a bottle which they were required to drink over a given time.

I cant argue that for comfort more water is going tobe needed, but it looks as though the mimimum mark is nearer one gallon than 5.

 

[bedouin]

Of course one of the problems with the Watermaker is that they require a lot of power to run - so to some extend fitting one means that you substitue the problem of fuel-carrying capacity for water carrying.

There is a new type of watermaker on the market that is towed behind the boat, elminiating the need for electric power.

My main concern with relying on the watermaker would be what happens if it goes wrong. They are complex beasts, and when you include the electrical system to provide the power, and the mechanical system to charge the batteries, that is an awful lot to go wrong.

 

[webcraft]

One solution I've heard of is to put drinking water aboard in 1l bottles labelled with crew names and dates so it is easy for the skipper to check that everyone is getting their one litre per day.

On e.g. a 35 day Atlantic crossing for a crew of 4 that's 140 litres, not too much of a problem to stow in bottles in all the various nooks and crannies round the boat - much of it can probably be put low down in the bilge where it will add to stability and keep cool. It means that you don't have space permanently taken up with tankage whether it's being used or not, but the downside is that it will cost you money - unless you collect the bottles and fill them from a tap. Of course, you'll have saved the money you didn't spend installing tanks.

I'd be thinking about the towed watermaker if I felt one was necessay, from the point of view of space and cost.

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue>
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