I had no way of testing the watermaker I installed a few months ago (a Katadyn 40e PowerSaver) as I have either been on the hard (no salt water) or in the marina (too dirty). I did take a quick sail in November, but I was reluctant to test it then because it would have been necessary to pickle the system for a four month storage. Yesterday I tested the system for the first time and it works! The TDS was 450 ppm (high, but drinkable) and the water tasted fine. While it is my plan for now to use it mainly to produce water to rinse dishes, wash clothes, bathe, and clean the windows of the hard dodger, I celebrated this morning my making myself a bath of chai tea.
The watermaker is just about the smallest one on the market (does not take up much space in the engine room). But, it has the advantage of being a single unit without hoses to leak, has the fewest moving parts and seals to fail, and it consumes an amazing little power. It produces 1 1/2 gallons/hour and only consumes 4 Ah (2.66 Ah/gallon). I could produce 150 gallons of water and not even use 10% of my house battery bank. In practice, I can run it for an hour in the middle of the day (when the solar panels are producing most effectively) and not even notice the power consumption. The advantage of running it every day is I don’t have to worry about pickling it for storage. But, I have plumbed it to take fresh water to flush it out (which is fine if you’re not going to use it for a week or two. However, it is important to use fresh water that has been produced by the watermaker. If you use other sources (e.g., tap water), you run the risk of introducing chlorine, which would destroy the osmotic filter.
The watermaker is just about the smallest one on the market (does not take up much space in the engine room). But, it has the advantage of being a single unit without hoses to leak, has the fewest moving parts and seals to fail, and it consumes an amazing little power. It produces 1 1/2 gallons/hour and only consumes 4 Ah (2.66 Ah/gallon). I could produce 150 gallons of water and not even use 10% of my house battery bank. In practice, I can run it for an hour in the middle of the day (when the solar panels are producing most effectively) and not even notice the power consumption. The advantage of running it every day is I don’t have to worry about pickling it for storage. But, I have plumbed it to take fresh water to flush it out (which is fine if you’re not going to use it for a week or two. However, it is important to use fresh water that has been produced by the watermaker. If you use other sources (e.g., tap water), you run the risk of introducing chlorine, which would destroy the osmotic filter.
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