Technical details

This page is intended to be a place where various technical matters are mentioned
No particular order, more a general information area:

STERN ARCH
On the 19th March 2015 we initiated the construction of a new made-to-measure arch for supporting our dingy, solar panels, and wind generator.
Click here:  http://stern-arch-construction.blogspot.co.uk


WATER MAKER
The addition of a water maker will allow us to remain at sea for as long as our fuel lasts. We like to have daily showers so with our present 330 litres capacity we can last 10 days at most. Usage is about 20 litres each per day so we take a couple of 20 litre water containers as well.

Choice of water makers.
Our choice is determined mostly by price. Secondly on reputation of the unit based on user comments that we read in various magazines, and occasionally based on test articles that we have found in the media where the units are rated.

These are the main manufacturers:
- Katadyn > Smaller boats use these. Bit noisy.
     Power Survivor 40E 4A 5lt/hr. 80E and 160E.
- Eco System > Spanish Barcelona. Very quiet, compact, auto and remote panel.
    Compact Auto 60 or 90 ltrs/hr. 660x293 mm.
    Comp 60 Auto. £5,985 less tax.
- Spectra > Energy recovery system. Low pressure. Good service
    Newport MkII  700  100 lt/hr
    Ventura 150  24 lt/hr. 17W/Gallon, 9 Amps on 12V, 30kg.
    Cataline 300 MkII 47 lt/hr, 15W/gallon, 15 Amps draw on 12V. 42kg.
- Sea Recovery > High pressure units. Expensive. Good website with FAQ
    Ultra Whisper 600 12V 95 lt/hr
- Schenker
- Seafresh now owned by Cathelco 
    These are used by Oyster yachts.
    H2O series
    Ocean series. Ocean 60 costs £5,295 and auto £6,695
  All are high pressure. Ocean models are 12V DC.
  Most ARC installed units are the H2O series. Less expensive.
- Dessalator > traditional high pressure, robust, auto rinse. Can be AC or DC driven using two different motors.
    D60 Freedom  60 lt/hr. 32A 38kg. approx €7,877.
    Duo 100  100 lt/hr.
- Parker Hanifet
  Villagemarine
    LWM-145  22 lt/hr. 13A. 28kg. Modular
    LWM-200 30 lt/hr 17A. 28kg. Modular
    SQ-145 same as LWM 145. Non-modular
- Baitex > Rugged, quality, long warranty 3 yrs, competitive price. Energy recovery.
    Pulsar M50 20A 12V 113x30x24. 26kg
    Pulsar B50 20A 12V  67x31x30  34kg

Other manufacturers:
HRO Seafari
Aquamarine
Enwa MT
Echotec
Horizon reverse osmosis
RO watermakers
SK watermakers
Aquafresh

Yachting World Rating October 2012:
Sea Recovery Ultra Whisper approx £5,000
Seafresh Ocean approx £2,900
Spectra Ventura approx £4,700
Dessalator D60 (AC or DC) approx £4,400
Aquafresh (AC) approx £5,765
Schenker (DC) approx £3,980
Katadyn (DC) approx £2,350
HRO Seafari approx £4,500

Second hand units
These can be found on the vendor websites such as 'sailfish'
e.g Katadyn Power Survivor ATE 12VDC £3,250 incl vat

Decision
We have been to several boat shows and talked to a lot of vendors and their agents about water makers. We gather as much information as we could in order to make a choice.
Some of the vendors we met have been useful in supplying updates such as technical changes and advances, and also updates on prices. The prices of the Spectra units has dropped in 2014 due to some competition from other manufacturers and an exchange rate benefit (high value of £).
Conclusion
We decided to buy a 60 litre per hour Eco System with remote panel and automatic flushing. It was the best price for a complete unit, and it was compact enough to store under a bunk with a control panel at the chart table. We were a bit surprised by the size of the two filter units and had to think about where to position them and at the same time leave them accessible.

more on the installation of the unit to follow.