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Do you add a watermaker that requires charging the batteries to make water or add a watermaker that is engine driven and makes water while charging the batteries? Last month during the Seattle Boat Show, a man asked us about watermakers during the provisioning seminar. We managed for years without a watermaker. We carry 120 gallons of water — considerably less than most new boats in our size range — and, we have salt water plumbed to the sinks in the galley and forward head. When we installed a watermaker about ten years ago, it did simplify life. We use an engine driven watermaker rather than a battery driven one. Surprising on a sailboat? Not really. Most cruisers use their engines, at least some of the time, for charging batteries through the alternator. One of the most important things about a diesel auxiliary is to use it under load and make it work when it is running. Idling along, charging the batteries is something we all do, but it isn't healthy for the life of the engine. When we added the watermaker, the fact that we frequently used the alternator as a means for charging the battery caused us to think about what made the best use of what was on the boat. Add a watermaker that required charging the batteries to make water or add a watermaker that was engine driven and would make water while we charged the batteries. The latter option made sense to us. In addition, the engine driven unit, an ASC, had a variety of components. Rather than installing a single large unit, we could install various parts in available nooks and crannies without trying to create new space. It took some creative thinking and design to install the system, but ultimately we had the system installed. The high-pressure pump is in the engine box, the secondary filters are in the aft head, the primary filter is under the sole, and the control panel is mounted above storage drawers in a recessed area where it is accessible and visible. The membrane is mounted on the coaming interior accessed through the starboard lazarette, and the wastewater dumps into the cockpit sole and drains just above the scuppers so we can monitor the flow. The product water flows from the membrane in the coaming into the water tanks that are located under the settee berths on both sides of the main cabin. Although designing and installing the system was time-consuming, it paid off in using unusable space and providing eight gallons of water per hour. After visiting aboard boats with the battery-operated system, I discovered there was another reason I liked our watermaker: it doesn't make noise. I spent an afternoon with friends while their 12-volt watermaker whined in the background. It was not a loud noise but it was definitely penetrating sound after a couple of hours. Common to all watermaking systems regardless of what powers them, is the matter of maintenance. You need to thoroughly understand this process, as it is an ongoing effort. Two major projects are part of watermaker ownership. First, the disposable filters have to be changed regularly. Using the watermaker at anchor often uses up lots of filters. Typical problems are water polluted by oil or effluents. The filter may be useless in 15 minutes. Less known is the problem created by organic matter in the water. The minute vegetation and animal life that cloud the water but doesn't obviously pollute will use up a filter almost as quickly as oil or sewage. When the filters are dirty, you have no choice but to change them. This may be a nuisance but is neither difficult nor time consuming. Not using your watermaker will create another project that is much more involved. Pickling your watermaker is essential if you are not going to use it. Depending upon the manufacturer's instruction and the size of the unit, the watermaker may be okay sitting idle for several days or you may need to pickle the membrane after 72 hours. The membrane is the heart of your watermaking system. If you don't maintain it properly, you will be faced with replacing it. We purchased our watermaker from another cruiser who had failed to pickle the unit. The new membrane that we purchased with a wholesale account cost $400. The general process for pickling requires flushing the system to clean any residue from dirty water that passed through it. This means running the system using chemicals from a mix you put in a bucket. The key to making this part of the process work is using product water, that is, water you made. Any other water will ruin the membrane. Municipal water supplies have chemicals that should not be introduced in the system.Whenever we start up the watermaker, we decant the first new water into a five-gallon jug. In an emergency, we are always prepared for the pickling process although we might not have planned on it. As a rule, we always pickle the watermaker before going into a marina unless we know it is going to be just an overnight. If we leave the boat to travel or sightsee for several days, we pickle the watermaker. If we have sufficient warning, we try to pickle the watermaker before going into heavy weather. It is one less thing to contend with when you are reefed down and need to concentrate on wind and waves. The other consideration for us is fuel consumption. On a long passage, we resort to using salt water for many tasks to make sure that our 50 gallons of fuel will see us through any emergencies. We use a towing generator on long ocean passages to charge our batteries; in addition, using salt water for cleaning, bathing, and some cooking, has served us very well. Having a watermaker is a luxury for us. In terms of priorities, it comes after good sails, a clean bottom, first-rate rigging, and a dependable auxiliary. We did our first 60,000 miles without one, and we would not let the lack of a watermaker keep us from cruising. |
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