Watermakers

[whipper_snapper]

OK, sorry, you are going to need an engine! Is that better?

Or lots of solar power and lots of sunshine!

I reckon we could run a watermaker like that for at least 2 hours between say 10.00 am and 12.00 on a typical day and still have batteries at 100% charge by sunset without running the engine.

 

[OldBawley]

If there was a small ( Would be happy with 10 l/ H ) decently priced WM, I bought one tomorrow.
Living on a sail yacht one can be practically self sufficient. There is wind and solar power, the sea is full of food, baking bread is no problem. A lot of the time there is power to much. It is getting more and more difficult to “ Find “ sweet water. There was a time that in Greece and Turkey people with some money and eager to get to heaven had fountains and drinking water points build for passing travellers. No more of that now.
Water is big business, so we have to buy water. OK so far, the point is that I with my small boat and 200 litre tank have to pay the same as the 23 m Mobo who is taking 3000 litres and washes the boat mean while. Taking water is often a one price job.
We have entered marinas to fill up with diesel and water, buying diesel was OK, water NO. Had to take a berth for a day, than I could buy water. That was on the Italian West coast.
Lots of marina´s have a minimum berth price for 30 m² so again we have to pay for others.
The quality of the water one gets I dubious as well.
Arriving in a half finished marina somewhere on the Italian west coast. The entrance sanded up already, inside all buildings in post apocalyptic state. One guy called us, standing at the entrance, guiding us inside to “His” berths. Knowing the Italian ormeggio´s , I refused his lines and anchored in the harbour. He went complete bezerk, we had to come to “His” berths otherwise no water.
We needed water. So reluctantly I moored on his piece of the wall. Asked were the water was. There was a garden hose coming from behind one of the demolished buildings. Yes yes, goode water goode water. I followed the hose, found a lorry with a big steel tank on top of it. Climbed up to have look inside the tank. Open tank, two meters high, 1,5 meter diameter. There was a dead pigeon in the water. Eeeek. Had been in there for some time.
So I went off and anchored again. He was so angry, me not paying, he called the water police who had a boat in that harbour. Friends of his I suspect. Now it was my turn to get angry, showed them the dead bird. They calmed us both and went home.
I have a lot more water buying story’s. WM, nr one on my wish list.

 

[ccscott49]

Or lots of solar power and lots of sunshine!

I reckon we could run a watermaker like that for at least 2 hours between say 10.00 am and 12.00 on a typical day and still have batteries at 100% charge by sunset without running the engine.

To put 48ah back in your batteries, you must have a decent sized solar array, and dont use any other power for fridge or anything else.

Still it can be done I know.

 

[ccscott49]

If there was a small ( Would be happy with 10 l/ H ) decently priced WM, I bought one tomorrow.
Living on a sail yacht one can be practically self sufficient. There is wind and solar power, the sea is full of food, baking bread is no problem. A lot of the time there is power to much. It is getting more and more difficult to “ Find “ sweet water. There was a time that in Greece and Turkey people with some money and eager to get to heaven had fountains and drinking water points build for passing travellers. No more of that now.
Water is big business, so we have to buy water. OK so far, the point is that I with my small boat and 200 litre tank have to pay the same as the 23 m Mobo who is taking 3000 litres and washes the boat mean while. Taking water is often a one price job.
We have entered marinas to fill up with diesel and water, buying diesel was OK, water NO. Had to take a berth for a day, than I could buy water. That was on the Italian West coast.
Lots of marina´s have a minimum berth price for 30 m² so again we have to pay for others.
The quality of the water one gets I dubious as well.
Arriving in a half finished marina somewhere on the Italian west coast. The entrance sanded up already, inside all buildings in post apocalyptic state. One guy called us, standing at the entrance, guiding us inside to “His” berths. Knowing the Italian ormeggio´s , I refused his lines and anchored in the harbour. He went complete bezerk, we had to come to “His” berths otherwise no water.
We needed water. So reluctantly I moored on his piece of the wall. Asked were the water was. There was a garden hose coming from behind one of the demolished buildings. Yes yes, goode water goode water. I followed the hose, found a lorry with a big steel tank on top of it. Climbed up to have look inside the tank. Open tank, two meters high, 1,5 meter diameter. There was a dead pigeon in the water. Eeeek. Had been in there for some time.
So I went off and anchored again. He was so angry, me not paying, he called the water police who had a boat in that harbour. Friends of his I suspect. Now it was my turn to get angry, showed them the dead bird. They calmed us both and went home.
I have a lot more water buying story’s. WM, nr one on my wish list.

self sufficiency in water, was one of my priorities, after the western meddy and I find it priceless in the eastern meddy. I bought my watermaker on ebay. But I was very lucky with the price and thank my lucky stars.

 

[whipper_snapper]

To put 48ah back in your batteries, you must have a decent sized solar array, and dont use any other power for fridge or anything else.

Still it can be done I know.

Well, we have Very efficient water cooled fridge and laptop and autopilot. The large solar array is supplemented by a wind charger and sun and wind are very reliable. The one thing we lack is water!! If only water makers were not so expensive. Getting fresh water is a huge issue for us and fresh water showers are a wild fantasy!

 

[Sandyman]

Ok Im convinced. We need a WM. Have read all the threads on here covering WM's over the past couple of years but could never convince myself of the benefits for our circumstances. I fitted a couple of large modular ones to a Super Cat called Matau in the past, so the tech side is not a problem. I refuse to pay the stupid prices for made up systems. After all what are they, other than a couple of filters, high/low pressure pumps, a membrane in a tube, a few fitting & some pipework. So intend to construct my own with the parts bought individually. Just need to source the various items.
Now then, someone posted in a thread recently that he was doing exactly same. Anyone remember seeing the post as I cant find it or who it was. Would be good to make contact with him to see how he is going about it. Two heads better than one.

 

[ccscott49]

Well, we have Very efficient water cooled fridge and laptop and autopilot. The large solar array is supplemented by a wind charger and sun and wind are very reliable. The one thing we lack is water!! If only water makers were not so expensive. Getting fresh water is a huge issue for us and fresh water showers are a wild fantasy!

You can build your own, if you look on Ebay, there is always adverts from the states about just that, the components are not that expensive, the most expensive parts are the pressure vessels, membranes and high pressure triplex pump. But I reckon all of that stuff can be had for a lot less then "marine" prices. The actual technology and assembly of these components is neither difficult nor brain taxing. Plus you can get stuff made up for you, brackets pipes etc. The stainless stuff used in hydraulics is OK for the job and its all easy to obtain. pre filters etc are just basic filter housings and filters, no worries there, can use palstic pipe with push on fittings for delivery piping, the only high pressure piping is pump to membranes (and pressure gauge)and betwen membranes to regulator valve. everything else is low pressure.

 

[pyrojames]

It was me. Already have a high pressure pump, thanks to a gov disposal site on ebay (£300). I plan to have it engine driven by belt and electro-mag clutch. Stalled on the rest of the bits at the moment. Have to many other bits and pieces to sort out. I have quite a lot of documents compiled from previous threads and others who have made their own WMs, typically about 100lph jobs.

PM me for details.

 

[OldBawley]

Since obtaining water is by far the biggest problem for cruising liveaboards I have some questions.
First, anchored, moored, whatever we are almost always in places where the sea water is rely bad. Now anchored in the Poros lake, I doubt if the quality of the water is good enough for a WM: Do not mean bacterial but also loaded with mud. On the Galatas side of the lake, there is no sewer treatment system, the Poros side has a treatment plant with some problems.
The huge amount of fast ferry’s passing through the lake stirs up the bottom, so the water is rely loaded with mud. Some weeks ago, with the strike of the ferry´s, one could see the bottom of the lake all the sudden, normally, tree meters is max. visibility.
I only know the Eastern Med, some thoughts.
Most anchorages are heavy contaminated. Last year I met a guy in the Marmaris bay saying he used his WM. People are known to be very sick caused by swimming in the water of the bay and again hundreds big power boats in there, not to mention the anti fouling of thousands of yachts and gullets.
Fethiye Turkey, the same. Göcek, a pool of ****. The Göcek bays in winter are OK, but in summer.....It is horrible. Same for Porto Cheli, Vlicho, etc.
Is the sea water in anchorages OK for a WM ?

There are very few liveaboards that not winter in a marina. I know of 6 yachts. One in Fethiye-Göcek, two on Crete, two here in Poros, one in Orhaniye Tr. There may be someone in Porto Cheli and Vligho. All others winter in a marina or at a town quay, have a hose next to the boat. Is the remaining six months enough for the investment in a WM ?
Real small WM for yachts do not exist. I read 160 l/h, who needs that ? If it was possible to construct a say 10 l/h WM, every yacht would have one. We have wind and solar to cope with winter which means to much power the rest of the year. At noon, the battery´s are full, so the rest of the day energy ( 10 A/h x 6h= 60Ah ) is lost. Are there WM using less than say 8A/h ?
It seems to be possible to make real small HP pumps for an affordable price ( Look at the cheap HP cleaners ) but I believe they only go up to 2500 Psi.
Looks as if I will have to row or sail the dingy to get water as before. Some call it sport.

 

[Tradewinds]

?
Real small WM for yachts do not exist. I read 160 l/h, who needs that ? If it was possible to construct a say 10 l/h WM, every yacht would have one. We have wind and solar to cope with winter which means to much power the rest of the year. At noon, the battery´s are full, so the rest of the day energy ( 10 A/h x 6h= 60Ah ) is lost. Are there WM using less than say 8A/h ?
It seems to be possible to make real small HP pumps for an affordable price ( Look at the cheap HP cleaners ) but I believe they only go up to 2500 Psi.
Looks as if I will have to row or sail the dingy to get water as before. Some call it sport.

Small watermakers do exist but you are still talking 14 -18amps to produce 20+ l/h.

See Little Wonder Watermaker.

Like others we ran the watermaker when motoring. We also used it extensively at anchor & didn't experience problems. You have to keep an eye on the filters (which can be washed & re-used). Obviously if you are are anchored in a highly polluted area it would be wise to make other arrangements (or move on).

PS 20 l/h was plenty for us (2 adults + 2 kids) - our tank was usually always full.

 

[DaiB]

Just a thought

4.1.3 Freshwater from low pressure evaporator or reverse osmosis plant- Water from such plants should in general only be produced when the vessel is at least 20 miles from land or remote from any risk of estuarial pollution which in some sea areas can extend well in excess of 20 miles from land. The sea water suction to evaporators or reverse osmosis plants should be separate from other sea suctions eg machinery cooling water inlets, fire pump suctions, etc and sited forward and on the opposite side of the ship from sanitary or bilge discharges. It is important to note that any chemical used in an injection system to a sea suction intended to prevent the growth of organisms in the ship's piping system serving water making apparatus should only be of a type spec*ifically approved by the Department for that purpose. It is a condition of the Department's approval and fitting of low pressure flash evapor*ators or reverse osmosis plants on board United Kingdom registered ships that the constraints described are closely observed. All water-making plants producing freshwater from seawater require to be fitted (subject to 4.1.4 below) with an automatic chlorination unit and although formerly the Department has been prepared to grant exemption to allow an ultra-violet sterilizer unit to be fitted in lieu of the auto-chlorinator unit this policy is now discontinued. Ultra-violet sterilizer units will continue to be accepted as a supplementary sterilization system in both new and existing ships but an auto-chlorination unit (subject to 4.1.4 below) will be required in new ships in accordance with the Regulations. In existing ships already exempted on the grounds of an ultra-violet sterilizer unit being fitted a regular routine for the chlorination of freshwater tanks to maintain 0.2 ppm concentration should be established similarly to ships obtaining their water only from shore or water barge. (See Notice No. M.1216).

 

[zefender]

Little watermakers

I have a Katadyn 80. It produces about 14l/hr and draws about 8amps. So, on passage, running the engine for battery recharge and producing water is enough to top up the tanks.

 

[DaiB]

LOL

in which case the desalination plant in Jeddah should be moved from its current location on the shoreline to 20 miles off shore.

LOL!
___________________________

Just maybe the guys who build coastal de-salination plants do a survey and check for sewage outfalls, industrial pollution, etc before they site it, possibly they could even have an extended suction line offshore.

just maybe the guys who wrote the M notice at the DOT thought, how would a ships Captain know where the sewage outfalls are, how would they know if there was industrial pollution where they had anchored. Better warn them to be careful, even if they do LOL at us.

As far as I am aware de-salination plants where the product if for drinking have a post production chlorination or steliization facility.