What a gallon of water costs...

Some very scary reading, a quick bit on masking, and in the "Quest for a better battery" department...

So, I just realized that I've been currently using our watermaker twice a week for the last five years and still producing water with a PPM of somewhere between 80 and 100. A fact that I actually find quite impressive.

What's more impressive is that I've spent a big fat zero in pressure pump maintenance and that the Karcher pressure washer works so well.

Admittedly, I've had some issues with booster pumps but have now settled on a cheap 12 volt ($22 dollar) fountain pump that works just as well if not better than the expensive ($400 dollar) 120V pump I replaced the supplied Harbor Freight pump with.

Sometimes I really need to take my own advice.

Anyway, the main cost of running the water maker is just the gas it takes for the generator which works out to about $0.17 a gallon and the very occasional replacement of a 20 mill of 5 mill filter. I'm guessing that might boost the running cost of water to maybe $0.20 a gallon.

As far as the membrane goes, it's still working finest kind and when it does come time to replace it the extra $150 won't exactly break the bank and only add a penny or so the the cost per gallon over its lifetime.

Listening to a whole lot of Beach Boys coverage

So it goes...

about that pump...

On the subject of climate change solutions, gun profits being the bottom line, and in the "Going mobile" department... 

A while back I wrote about getting a $22 pump to use with my watermaker. instead of the $400+ booster pump we've been using. 

So far so good and it works finest kind. Better yet it's tiny, uses a fraction of the electricity that the old one does, and it's near silent. What's not to like?

Since shit does happen I bought an extra one as a backup. Still, that's saved me about $400 and change over replacing with the previous one.

In a year or so I'll give an update on whether it's still working or not.

Listening to Joan Shelley

So it goes...

from the cockpit test lab...

Something about the real cost of gas, a big black hole, and in the "Way past time" department...

The whole problem with doing stuff on the cheap is not so much about money but finding good products to replace the overpriced crap we find ourselves having to use from the Marine trades.

For instance, I need a new booster pump for my watermaker as the one I've been using has been doing an intermittent impression of a brick. Which is not what I expect to find in a $400+ piece of gear. Doing my research I've found numerous pumps sporting the same specs that cost a whole lot less. The conundrum of various items sporting the same specs over a price spread from $20 to $800 cries out to be researched. 

So, my project for today is to test a $22 dollar pump. Which, if it works will make me a very happy camper.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Listening to Boulevards

So it goes...

Every five days...

EBM with a link to a new pinnacle of stupid, some very interesting science, and in the "Any color you want as long as it's white" department...

My two  chores for today are to check the water in my batteries and to make some water. To be honest I don't enjoy checking the water level in my batteries because they seldom need any water so, on the face of it, it seems kind of pointless. Then again on the other hand batteries are a big investment and it is prudent to check them on a regular basis.

On the other hand, making water is actually enjoyable because I get to read while sitting in the cockpit and that suits me just fine. The only real work involved is moving the product water hose from one jerry can to the next which gives me mostly uninterrupted reading in fifteen minute segments. An added bit of enjoyment is that I still take great satisfaction in how well the super simple watermaker using a cheap $100 pressure washer has worked making water every five days without problems for the last four years. 

Better yet it's a nice day and I have some reading to do.

Listening to another literary play list

So it goes...

 

Making water and some related thoughts part 2...

An election of note, a state of affairs I'd never have imagined, and since we're on the subject of Covid-19...

Back when, I used to work in a marine consignment store which taught me a whole lot about which boat products were good and which were, shall we say, problematic.

As it happens, we always had a lot of watermakers and various watermaker components on consignment and just about all of them had their very own horror story of how they wound up on our shelves. The funny thing was we never had anyone bringing in DIY watermakers but what we did get was top of the line very expensive gear that, for one reason or another, didn't work or required work or parts that were too expensive to put right.

Part of the problem was watermakers were marketed as being very high tech systems which required some sort of arcane rocket science skills to operate. The companies involved in making marine watermakers did their very best to keep folks from realizing just how simple a watermaker actually is. Which resulted in a lot of needless tech being added to make things simpler but actually made them much more prone to failure.

The thing is, a watermaker is just seawater being pumped through a couple of filters which then goes through a high pressure pump into a membrane which separates some freshwater from the seawater with a pressure regulator (which is really just a valve), a pressure gauge, and a flow meter. Can't really get much simpler than that now can we?

I mean, seriously, that's only a couple of switches on the pumps and a knob to turn until you hit the 800 psi mark on the pressure gauge. Dead simple.

Of course, anything you add to make such a simple system easier to use actually winds up resulting in more, not less complication and a much higher incidence of system failure. Most all of those consignment watermakers were there because one of those added features failed. 

Which is something you might want to think about where watermaking systems or any boat system is concerned.

Next up on the subject is putting together a very simple bombproof system and what it all actually costs.

Listening to the Spring Breaks

So it goes...

Making water and some related thoughts...

Steve Kornacki has a fan, something on the how of things, and in the "Fossil fuel extraction and fault lines don't mix" department...

Yesterday I made some water or, to be more precise, I desalinated some saltwater and turned it into freshwater. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is no big deal as I do it every five days or so.

As it happens, I don't really do anything during the water-making process but move the hose from one Jerry can to another as they fill up so not exactly a taxing chore and what I do mostly is read a good book or think about stuff. What I thought mostly about today was mainly how dead easy the act of making water was and how simple a watermaker is to build as it's really just simple plumbing.

More importantly, I thought about how a simple thing which doesn't require silly expensive components or highly skilled labor shouldn't really cost a whole lot of money.

More on the subject tomorrow.

Listening to Jon Pousette-Dart

So it goes...

an affordable watermaker for the ditch bag...

An interview worth reading, some needful thought process from John Scalzi, and a new pandemic threat to worry about...

There's currently an Indiegogo campaign for an inexpensive manual watermaker by the name of QuenchSea that you might want to check out.

It's actually pretty cool as it fits into the niche that, up till now, only the Katadyn Survivor 06 filled bringing some much-needed competition into the mix.

So here are the points that caught my attention;

Water production for the QuenchSea is stated as two liters+ per hour while the Katadyn 06 claims one liter per hour (+-15%).

The fact that the Katadyn is a hand pump with very little mechanical advantage makes the pumping system on the QuenchSea a very definite step up.

Lastly, the price of the Katadyn 06 currently lists at $1295.00 (although I've seen it on sale for as low as $995.00) which makes the projected price of the QuenchSea at £80 GBP ($99 US) something of a mind-boggling but pleasant surprise. Factor in the fact that by taking advantage of their Indiegogo pre-order offers you can get your hands on one or more for even less.

Color me impressed.

Listening to Superbus

So it goes...

internet woes and a watermaker update...

Regarding red right returning, a bit of good news, and an apt cartoon for the times...

Yesterday and today we've been having issues with our internet provider and we're being told that the problem may continue till Monday or so. Which may mean a bit less Boat Bits for a bit.

This morning I made water. Not a very exciting subject but, as we're getting on to several years of regular twice a week use of our watermaker, it makes me happy that it has worked out so well. For those with an interest, we're still making 20 gallons an hour, the Karcher pump is still pumping just fine, and our water is at 207 PPM which is not so bad for a cheapseats system that a lot of people told me I'd regret.

More soon come when we do not have to ration our internet usage.

Listening to an albums worth of Dire Straights covers

So it goes...

This certainly made my day...

Sailing Anarchy links to something you need to read, a bit of needful watching, and it was Darwin day yesterday...

How about a simple DIY passive solar-powered desalination system that someone could put together for a couple of hundred dollars?

No electricity.

No brute force power requirements.

No rocket science.

Just some simple improvements to very old technology taking advantage of modern tech and science.

Interested?

Go over to MIT and check it out.

Listening to Lucy Dacus

So it goes...

Yeah, I'm in that kind of mood today...

Not that crazy at all, some interesting battery news, and in the "make the puppet jump" department...

Some days I really find living in the consumerist nightmare that is 2018 some kinda depressing. Then again, maybe it's just me that's bothered by the relentless assault on my senses by greedy people who think I'm stupid.

Maybe...

Of late, I've been researching the finer points of watermakers, reverse osmosis systems in general, and the maintaining of such things in practice. As a result I now know a lot more than I used to which is not that big a deal because making water is actually a pretty simple subject.

That said, researching the subject is somewhat tedious because there is a whole lot of misinformation out and about that needs to be sifted through to get to the basic needful information. Misinformation, I might add, that would seem to be purposefully put out there to keep the consumer stupid because it's a whole lot easier to rip off folks if they're at an informational disadvantage.

I don't know about you but it really pisses me off when folks rip me off or try to and I've pretty much reached my limit in the whole "Just throw another boat buck at it" Stockholm Syndrome two-step.

Just saying...

More on watermakers, rip offs, and suchlike soonish.

Listening to Bombino

So it goes...

An energy-passive water harvester...

An amazing exercise in horrific tackiness while preying on and exploiting grieving families,  something very much worth a read, and some troubling Coast Guard news...

They had me at energy-passive.




Listening to Richard Swift

So it goes...

Six months with a budget $1500 watermaker...

Covering one's ass 101,  more reasons why plastic waste is so bad, and in the "Blaming the usual suspects" department...

It took me a long time to get around to purchasing a watermaker.

Part of the reason is I never felt a pressing need to get one as we are pretty frugal on the water front. Another part of the equation is I tend to balk at buying stuff if I don't already know where it's going to go aboard "So It Goes" and I could never quite make sense of how to incorporate a watermaker into our simple jerry can based water system.

Oh yeah, let's not forget the whole expensive and problematic part... Having worked at a marine consignment store for a chunk of time, I saw lots and lots of watermakers and high pressure pumps come through the door that worked badly, needed repair, or simply did not work at all. Having sold three very expensive CAT pumps to one guy over the course of a year made me very nervous about the whole idea of a watermaker aboard and their long term viability.

What confused me most on the subject of watermakers is that the reverse osmosis water making process is so simple why were so many people having so many problems and why was it so frelling expensive?

Most of the people I met who were having good experiences with their watermakers had either cobbled together simple watermakers out of stock parts or had one of the Power Survivor 12-volt low output units. Researching both options pretty much had me firmly in the "If I ever get a watermaker I'll build it myself!".

That said, building a watermaker yourself is not at all hard but trying to figure out the bits needed is somewhat problematic as everyone has an opinion and none of them agree. For instance a LOT of people think you need a super powerful pressure pump like a CAT pump because, you know HIGH PRESSURE!

Well, for me, two things come to mind...

If I only need 800psi to make water do I really need a pump capable of so much more pressure?

And, if CAT pumps are so great, why did we have so many non-working CAT pumps on consignment and why did we sell so many expensive rebuild kits?

So, for me at least, the real conundrum was all about which pump to buy for my watermaker. Well at least till I heard of a few folks who were using cheap pressure washers as their high pressure pump (like this guy). Not taking anything for granted I corresponded with several of the pressure washer folk and ascertained that the pressure washers really did work, that they held up to the wear and tear of making seawater into fresh water provided you treated them right, and that parts were available if you needed to fix them but the pressure washers were so cheap you might as well just carry an extra just in case.

To my mind, these guys were on the right track.

So, I made a list of all the bits I needed to build my own watermaker, priced it out and was pleasantly surprised at what it would all cost but never quite got around to building a system simply because I still did not know how I wanted to install it.

Then a reader wrote and asked my opinion of this SeaWater Pro system and, looking into it, it was pretty much everything on my list and all for a cost not all that much greater than my watermaker parts shopping list. Better yet, it was all from one place which saved a bunch on shipping, and all the fiddly stuff was already worked out. So we bought it.

So much for backstory. We have now been using our watermaker for six months and all of the fresh water we have used in that time period has been water we've made and we have had zero problems. We have still not installed the unit and have been using it in the assemble when needful (spelled twice a week) mode and it pretty much works finest kind. The only downside being it takes five minutes to assemble and five minutes to disassemble and put away but I hardly find ten minutes to be a problematic impact on my available time.

That said, I do plan to get around to actually installing the unit in one of the cockpit lockers one of these days when a cunning plan comes to mind as how to do it in a way that makes it easy to use while not impacting all of the stuff that cockpit lockers tend to accumulate... I have some ideas but nothing quite as cunning as I want yet.

As for the nitty gritty, the unit produces 20 gallons an hour at just under 800psi with a PPM of between 120 to 150 which is par for the course. The pressure washer and boost pump run off our Ryobi 2200 generator without issue or strain.

So, the bottom line is the watermaker works well, it's trouble free, and I see no signs of it having any issues that will become problematic in the future. I really can't see anything more that's needful and consider the $1500 well spent.

Listening to some stuff that takes me back

So it goes...

More on an affordable watermaker...

A wager of interest, something to think about, Yvon Chouinard writes a letter, and a bit of needful reading...

So, just how does an affordable 20-gallon per hour watermaker go together and work?



More information can be found here.

Listening to Los Blue Angels

So it goes...

On the subject of making water...

This really sucks, a report you may want to check out, and in the "stupid, selfish, greedy, and spiteful people" department...

I've been meaning to get around to doing an in depth review of the cheapseats (spelled $1500)  20 gallon per hour watermaker we bought but with all the after-hurricane hurly burly it will be awhile.

Still, I'll go on record in the meantime that the watermaker far exceeds my expectations, works just like it is supposed to do, and that running it for a couple of hours or so every five/six days pretty much provides us with all the water we need and then some.

Doing the happy dance.

Listening to TV Heads

So it goes...

waiting on a cunning plan...

Gonads well in hand, clueless, and this sorry state of affairs just pisses me off...

I'm currently sharing my bed with an yet uninstalled pressure vessel and membrane. The thing is, I just don't have a good idea where to install the new watermaker.

I keep waiting for a "cunning plan" to make itself apparent.

My previous not-so-cunning-plan was to set up the water maker as a portable unit and stow it in a cockpit locker. The problem (and yes dear reader there is always a problem) is that the wear and tear of unstowing, assembly, and restowing the system would be problematic as well as being an accident waiting to happen.

So, I need to install the sucker or, at least, parts of the system and all I have to do is figure out a sensible and sane place to put it.

Listening to 5 + 1 good covers

So it goes...

Need/want...

Some very needful reading, George Romero is no longer with us, and some soul-destroying duty for the Coasties...

Every once in awhile I find myself thinking that a watermaker aboard "So It Goes" would be no bad thing. This state of affairs is then followed by a perusal of the current commercial offerings, used watermakers, and DIY options available.

If I find anything of interest they are then subjected to the triage system of questions...

• Do I really want a watermaker?

• Do I really need a watermaker?

• Will a watermaker be a cost-effective system aboard "So It Goes"?

Usually, at the end of the triage process I find myself thinking that while a watermaker would be nice, the cost and hassle of installing one simply does not factor into the "need" category and short of some major change in the cost of watermakers or watermaker technology that "So It Goes" will remain watermakerless and I will continue to get a significant amount of exercise rowing to the water dock on a regular basis.

With me so far?

So, the other day, a reader of this blog dropped me a link to a very interesting watermaker and asked me what I thought...

Which triggered the whole "Gee, a watermaker would be no bad thing" cycle...

And that, of course, led to the whole need, want, and does it make financial sense triage tango...

Which then resulted in my purchasing said watermaker which, I suppose, is about to wing its way down to the Caribbean soonish...

Which is a long and roundabout way of saying that in the not-too-distant future you can expect a review of a pretty interesting, not too expensive watermaker.

But more on that later...

Listening to the Rockets

So it goes...

All kinds of interesting...

Sharecropping in America 2016, troubling, and in the "Why am I not surprised?" department...

Water water everywhere!


WaterSeer™ Indiegogo from DESIGN ALLIANCE on Vimeo.

Listening to Buyepongo

So it goes...

A project that you might want to follow...

In Palau they're doing something important, it's hard to be a whale these days, and a not the same old same music video...



Listening to Winston Jarrett

So it goes...

Does making water make sense?

A letter from the real world, the need for better liars, and Mylène Paquette became the first North American woman to row solo across the North Atlantic Ocean...

A perennial thing jockeying for position on my need/want list is a watermaker. What can I say? It sorta/kinda seems like a needful system. So, every year I run it through my need/want mark three computer and it always comes up firmly in the something I want but not something I need category.

As it happens, this ad for a used watermaker came up yesterday and it does tell a story if you do the math...

"We are done cruising the Caribbean. Slightly used (50 hours) Village Marine Little Wonder Modular 200 Water Maker purchased 2008 asking $3000/BO plus shipping or pick up near Jacksonville, FL. New pressure vessel and membrane. 12 volt DC system rated for 8.3 gallons per hour. Complete with spares, rebuilt kit, custom SS motor mounting bracket, complete for your installation, etc..."

At first look it's not a bad price so it caught my interest but, once you read it a second time, it starts telling a story all its own...

For starters, since it's only been run for fifty hours the most the system has made is 415 gallons of water (8.3 X 50 = 415). Now for comparison, we pay 10 cents a gallon for water when needful in the Caribbean so 415 gallons would cost us less than $42. Which is hardly going to break the bank but what did water actually cost the guy who has the watermaker for sale?

Since the best price I can find on this particular watermaker new is around $5000 we'll use that as the operative number (and we'll forgo the higher mind numbing math inducing costs of shipping/installation/chemicals/repairs/custom bracket/spares/replacement parts which, I suspect are substantial) so the number we get is a little more than $12 for the cost per gallon.

Can you say OUCH?

Then again, since he's selling it for $3000 he might actually get the price down to something like $4 or $5 a gallon which is quite the improvement but still a helluva long way from the 10 cents we pay for water...

Which is not to say I've completely given up the idea of a super-frugal-less-than-$500-DIY-watermaker based on a cheap Harbor Freight pressure washer but still that's going to cost a lot more than 10 cents a gallon when all is said and done..

Listening to Doug and the Slugs

So it goes...

We all should do some math from time to time...

This is scary, an interesting study, and in the “whoops — we did exactly the wrong thing, and killed the economy” department...

Webb Chilesgets down to some basic math and comes up with the number 750 strokes to get 1/2 gallon of water using a manual watermaker. I'm sure this is an important number for Webb's next voyage. Truth be told, I found his figuring to be more than a little helpful in focusing on some math I'm working on as well.

Something a lot of people often forget is boats become finite systems once they get out of sight of land and, if you were to point your boat at Europe or Tahiti, you're pretty much on your own till you get where you're going.

Of course, since we all live on a finite system called Earth, you'd think that we'd all understand the concept of finite systems and sustainability but I'm often surprised how few people actually do...

It's pretty depressing when you think about it.

It would be a good thing if more people were thinking about the whole sustainable living/sailing on sailboats gig and doing the math.

Maybe some folks need an enticement?

As it happens, I have a copy of the most excellent DVD "Ice Blink" that needs a home. So, how about we have a little contest for some out of the box thinking on how to make a sailboat more sustainable and the most interesting thought we get before the end of May gets a brand spanking new copy of "Ice Blink"?

Let's see what you got...

Listening to Cream

So it goes...