[PUP] watermaker recommendations

Tue Sep 25 18:32:38 EDT 2007

----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Bulger <scottebulger at gmail.com>
To:
Passagemaking Under Power List <passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:34:17 AM
Subject: Re: [PUP] watermaker
recommendations

>Now don't get me wrong, my wife thinks she uses water
conservatively, but I suspect her idea
>of conserving is very different that
Patrick G.'s.  We routinely run through
>260 gallons of water in 4 days.  This
is without being conservative at all.
>We take showers, wash dishes without
soaking in saltwater first, we usually
>take on water at a marina.

Hi
Scott....I hope the wives aren't reading this thread!  

It  sounds like you
use water about the same as we do.  Wife washes hair everyday in the shower,
no salt water pre-rinse for dishes, etc.  We don't have a dishwater on board
but we do carry 300 g. fresh water in our tanks.  Wife prefers bottled water
for drinking so we load up at Costco before a trip.  Although the head is set
up for salt/fresh water flush, we always flush with fresh water, she cannot
tolerate any odor in the head.  If we plan to spend a lot of time on the hook,
we tend to be more conservative with water usage, but not by much.  However,
with 300 g. aboard, we can make that last for at least a week if we need to.
If we are underway, we run the watermaker everyday and use water to our hearts
content.

>  So, in the back of my mind I've always thought I
>be
replaceing the watermaker with one of the newfangled units that flushes
>itself every 3 days and is smarter than I am.

I don't know, maybe I'm doing
it wrong, but Vil Mar told me I only needed to back flush with fresh water if
I was going to leave it for two weeks or more.  I've had it for a year now,
and so far no problems.

>a.  My manual says the watermaker can only make
water from Clean, Open Ocean
>seawater.  It cautions against making water
anywhere near land.  If your on
>the hook for a week, how to you make water?
Do you use it as an excuse to
>go to sea and fish for a few hours?

The
technicians from Village Marine (Fullerton, CA) installed my unit in my boat
at the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro.  I asked them about this very question.
They said they would have no problem with making water right in Cabrillo
Marina.  This answer surprised me.  They said that all water maker
manufacturers state this caveat to protect themselves.  They said a lot of
owners will try to make water in a commercial anchorage with oil and gas
floating on the surface in addition to suspicious flotsam.  That of coarse
would be a no no.  They told me to use common sense, but you can make water in
a clean marina.  HOWEVER, I am using common sense and I don't plan to ever
make water in any marina.  If I am on the hook in a pristine anchorage away
from other boats, I don't have a problem with firing up the wm if I need to.
However, I never flush the head overboard in those situations, it all goes to
the holding tank.  My holding tank holds about 75 flushes,
 so again, that equals about a week.  BTW your supply intake for the wm should
be on the opposite side of the hull from your head overboard discharge.

>b.
In this scenario, do you size the watermaker 2 or 3 times larger than
>you
would if you planed to be voyaging every other day for 10 hours or so?
>I can
see that the time you make water and the quantity are critical in
>sizing.  Is
there a good compromise?  

I don't know how to answer that.  So far the 160
gpd unit works fine for us.

>c.  Is there any such thing as a set it and
forget it watermaker?  Mine is
>in the lazarette and it's a PITA to get to.
The thought I have to crawl
>back there and flip valves open and closed is
enough to make me sea sick.

My unit is in the e.r.  I set two valves before
I leave the marina and forget it.  The on/off switch is on the electric panel
in the pilothouse.  When I want water, I just flip the switch to 'on.'  When
on my periodic e.r. checks, I look at the wm gages to see that pressure is
normal.  I don't spend excessive time in the e.r.  That is the surest way for
me to get sick.

>Also, the amount of space dedicated to hoses and plumbing
takes a lot of
>storage away.  But, on the other hand at least I can see
everything!

You can purchase the Lil' Wonder in two formats.  One format is
in a nice metal frame with everything self contained.  I opted for the
"modular" system.  Everything is out in the open and 'naked.'  This allowed me
to minimize plumbing while getting valves and gages easy at hand at the bottom
of the e.r. steps.  Everything is mounted on a bulkhead except the pump which
has about a 12x18 footprint.

Spectra is by far the most popular unit on the
sailboats down here in Mexico.  Village Marine is probably second.

Patrick
Willard 40PH
ALOHA
La Paz, MX
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