----- Original Message ---- From: Scott Bulger <scottebulger@gmail.com> To: Passagemaking Under Power List <passagemaking-under-power@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 _____________________________________________________________________________ _______ Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games. http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=monopolyherenow

We only had 150 gals with no watermaker and no washing machine on the Monk 36, never ran out, were away from fresh water sources for over a week, and had friends that didn't mind being near us. I AM amazed that 260 gals can be run through in 4 days. - Jim