Installing a Water Maker

[waterdog]

Installation is complete.  

I chose a 150 gallon per day "water maker" from Spectra.    (Foster keeps pointing out to me that it doesn't make water, it just takes the salt out of it. )

The math is interesting.  Oriinally, I thought I would go with a Katadyn unit that does 40 gallons per day.   It consumes 4A compared to the Spectra unit's 9A and would have more than met our 15 gallon per day consumption requirement.  

The dealer actually gave me a good education.   We only need to run the Spectra unit for a couple of hours a day instead of 9 or 10 hours a day on the lower output unit.   More importantly, The Spectra unit is about 1.5 Ah per gallon compared to 2.6 Ah/g for the Katadyn.  

The main components are in shown in Photo 1.   From the right side clockwise in order of flow we have: 1) dedicated through hull 2) raw water strainer 3) feed pump 4) accumulator 5) 20 micron prefilter 6) 5 micron prefilter.    These components are all located in the locker under the seat forward of the main salon table.   I still have room for a lot of storage in this locker.   Also visible in the photo are a transducer (under the strainer) and the AB refridgeration in the upper left corner.   Photo 2 shows the pump unit.   Flow from these component goes forward to the Clark pump in photo 3. 

The fridge unit used to run in this compartment with no ventillation.   I added insulation on the ice box and put two 4 inch vents, one with a muffin fan wired in parallel with the fridge.   This fan and vents provide excellent air exchange and reduced the cycle time on the fridge by half.  I would still vent this cabinet for the watermaker pump motor alone if I did not have refridgeration here.   

The clark pump and membrane unit is located under the drawer in the v-berth.   5/8 inch hose brings filtered water from for input.  Another 5/8 hose goes to an above water thru hull located at the top of the hanging locker for brine discharge.   1/4 inch tubing takes the product water output to valves and guages under the sink.  

The water tastes great.   It's easy to operate.   I just open a couple of valves and turn a switch on the panel.   Water begins to flow out the sample tube.   I sample it with a salinity meter and then divert it to the tank.  

We decided that a convenient supply of fresh safe water was an important consideration for our Mexican trip.   I do not think I would want to be bothered with a water maker for ordinary cruising.   We go a week without having to fill and would generally find ourselves at a marina or fuel dock during that time frame with ready access to water.    

[waterdog]

Here's the gauge unit.   We monitor this for pressure and flow indicating when filters need to be changed.

[Rick Johnson asked about an extra bow tank and we got into a discussion about installing a watermaker. here: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5252.0.html, Stu, 10/31/09]