400
600
8.3 gal / 32 lit
16.7 gal / 63 lit
25 gal / 95 lit
130 lbs / 59 kg
145 lbs / 66 kg
155 lbs / 70 kg
125 lbs / 59 kg
140 lbs / 63 kg
150 lbs / 68 kg
For additional information please contact our Sea Recovery consultant:
+31 (0)24-3667473
Modern technology has brought us many new devices that make the cruising life much safer and easier. Since we are not interested in camping out while cruising, obtaining safe and clean fresh water has always been a major priority, especially overseas. The three most common ways of obtaining fresh water on a cruising boat are: 1) an effective rain collection system, 2) from shore via a hose, or 3) a watermaker. Given reasonable storage capacity and a good filtration system, a high-capacity watermaker is the most efficient — especially if you are a boonies cruiser.
A reverse-osmosis watermaker takes clean seawater and, by pushing it through a specialized membrane (special filter) at relatively high pressure, makes fresh water. This means that no longer do we have to carry hundreds of pounds of extra fresh water just to ensure we don’t run out. Also, we no longer must get up in the middle of the night to catch rainwater, or search out places ashore where we can jerry-jug water from sometimes expensive or suspect sources.
Watermakers suitable for use on a cruising boat can be obtained from a number of sources depending on your budget and tolerance for electronics gadgetry. But they all do the same thing: make fresh water from seawater. We think that if you are going to have a watermaker aboard, it should have bulletproof — and mainly mechanical — equipment with minimal electrical and electronic parts; use commonly available (not proprietary) components; make the most water practical in the shortest time (40 gallons per hour is our choice); and be repairable with onboard spares, tools and skills.
As an example, we use about 50 gallons of fresh water a week for daily cooking, drinking, showering and cleaning. A 40-gph watermaker with two 40-inch membranes can make that in one and a half hours with setup and flushing time included. Smaller units can take significantly more time to do the same work, thereby seriously affecting a cruiser’s free time.
A well-laid-out system like this one will make operation and troubleshooting easier. | A watermaker Hypro pump mounted on a slide under the engine crankshaft pulley. |
An engine-driven pump Because the power needed to run this volume through the membranes is more than 2 hp and a 12V motor won’t handle that, we have chosen to belt our watermaker pump to our main engine on our last two boats. This is similar to an alternator arrangement. You can drive a watermaker pump with a generator, but using only a generator puts another expensive, sometimes cantankerous and complicated piece of mechanical/electrical equipment between you and fresh water. If the generator fails, as they sometimes do, you are back to spending hours per week manually collecting fresh water from rain or shore.
We most often run the watermaker when underway and moving the boat. Infrequently, we run it at anchor and sometimes just flush it with fresh water to satisfy the once-a-week run requirement that prevents biologic buildup on the membranes.
We average less than 10 hours per year in the tropics using the engine just to operate the watermaker.
If you decide to make your own watermaker, there are several sources of information on the Internet, including my guide. Fifteen years ago, it took me quite a bit of time to engineer the specifications, develop a parts list, and then find and purchase the equipment. By that time, I had seen two successful DIY units, so I knew it could be done. I used a mix of some used and some new parts, mainly because I was on a tight budget. Since then, I have refined the unit somewhat, installed two units on our boats and helped several other cruisers do their own using my information.
Extensive engineering details are on our website under “CSY Workshop,” and we have a PowerPoint slideshow in our “Presentations” section. There is also a Seven Seas University webinar I did for SSCA a couple of years ago, with the slideshow narrated.
The elements of an engine-driven watermaker system are shown in this schematic. |
Better than the WHO standard My first unit on Soggy Paws , our CSY, was still in service after eight years when we sold the boat in 2016. It had the original pumps, membranes and fittings, and was belted to our 60-hp Perkins. It was still producing fresh water that tested to about 250 ppm (parts per million solids content). The World Health Organization standard is 500 ppm.
Because I was careful never to run my watermaker in dirty or silty locations, in addition to having two pre-filters, I never had to clean the membranes in eight years.
The second installation on our catamaran is now belted to a 27-hp Yanmar 3GM30. It has a different mounting configuration, and after four years of use still produces water at less than 200 ppm. There are many ways to mount a pump to an engine; you just need to be able to tightly tension the belt drive around the crankshaft pulley. You want to use an appropriately sized pulley to run the watermaker at near full rpm from an engine running around 50 percent of its maximum rpm.
Left, membrane tube end fittings. Right, a watermaker high-pressure manifold. Note how Dave McCampbell has labeled the system elements, which allows new crewmembers to more easily learn the system. |
Once you have all the parts, any competent cruiser should be able to install a watermaker in a week. It took me two weeks — but then I never claimed to be competent, just thorough.
As with ground tackle, we think bigger is better, within reason. So if you don’t have a watermaker yet, consider easing your cruising workload and making the crew happy by obtaining a watermaker. Then you can wash dishes in fresh water, take freshwater showers every day, and not worry about using too much water — just like normal people.
Dave McCampbell is a retired U.S. Naval diving and salvage officer with over 40 years’ cruising and eight sailboats’ worth of maintenance experience. He and wife Sherry, currently cruising in Southeast Asia, spent eight years crossing the Pacific via Easter Island, Hawaii and Micronesia. Prior to that, they circumnavigated the Caribbean over four years. Their most recent excursion was a 7,000-nm journey from the Philippines to the lower Solomons via eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Four years ago they sold Soggy Paws , their CSY 44 monohull of 19 years, and moved to the “enlightened side,” purchasing a new Soggy Paws , a St. Francis 44 catamaran. Their extensive website is at SVSoggypaws.com .
Fresh water is one of the few things the human body cannot do without. A person can survive several weeks without food but only three or four days without water. This is why the logs of explorers such as James Cook are filled with references to anchorages where rivers were found, descriptions of long days working to replenish the ship’s water supply and worried remarks about the number of casks found sour in the hold midocean. The tales of voyaging yachts, such as John Guzzwell’s Trekka and Frank Wightman’s Wylo, also devote paragraphs to rain catchment and refilling the tanks in port. This was our situation when my husband, Seth, and I set off as cash-strapped college kids to circumnavigate aboard a vessel much more akin to the home-built Wylo than anything on the market today. We tried catching rain, we took seawater showers and we spent long days in remote anchorages hauling buckets of fresh water from shore to our boat.
In spring 2014, however, as we were preparing for our current voyage to the Arctic on our new-to-us boat, Celeste , Seth and I learned of Katadyn’s PowerSurvivor 40E, an efficient, low-draw watermaker. We’d been worried about our water supply for this journey because Celeste carried only half the water capacity of the heavy-displacement vessel on which we’d circumnavigated and yet the Arctic is a desert — water would be expensive or even impossible to obtain there. We debated filling the bilge with gallon jugs, à la cruiser Annie Hill, but didn’t want the extra weight pushing down our waterline. So, we approached Katadyn (now called Katadyn Group, with watermakers branded under the name Spectra) with a sponsorship proposal for our Arctic voyage and were soon the owners of a new 4 amp, 1.5-gallon-per-hour desalinator that we could operate manually in the event of a power failure.
Compact and relatively lightweight, the PowerSurvivor was simple and straightforward to install. Seth and I decided to fit it in a locker in the head, and we found that we could still stow the locker’s previous contents (mostly toilet paper and paper towels) without any trouble. We chose the head locker for several reasons: It was a convenient location for installation and servicing; it provided easy access to a saltwater intake and a drain; and it was a dry area free of fuel vapors or excessive heat, as stipulated by the owner’s manual. Our classic cutter was on the hard when we performed the installation, although it would be simple enough to do in the water; the only difference is that you would have to close the seacocks.
As with many boat projects, the key to a hassle-free installation is the preparation: It’s important to configure as many of the hoses and electrical connections as possible before affixing the watermaker itself. The PowerSurvivor came with everything we needed that was not specific to Celeste , including valves, hoses and hose clamps. Our first step was to fit a strainer and T-valve on the saltwater intake hose. This allowed us to use the intake either for its original function of flushing the head or for the reverse-osmosis system (though you wouldn’t want to do both at the same time!). The through-hull had the advantage of being at a low point on our hull, minimizing the chance of air intake while heeling or in rough conditions. It was also ¾ inch wide, satisfying the requirement of at least ½ inch for the desalinator, and of course, it had a seacock for safety.
We then cut our sink’s drain hose and fit another T-valve for the briny waste to exit the boat. We also mounted a three-way valve for the fresh water coming out of the desalinator. This let us run the fresh water either through a ¼-inch-inner-diameter tube to test the water or to fill jerry jugs, or — once we’d tested the desalinated water’s quality — through a 3⁄8-inch reinforced plastic hose to a T-valve we inserted into our starboard tank’s vent.
Next came the electrical connections. Using 14-gauge tinned, stranded copper wire, we ran power from our main circuit-breaker panel to a terminal bar in the locker with the watermaker. Once we had hooked up the wires that came with the PowerSurvivor to that terminal bar, the watermaker had its own switch on the breaker panel to turn it on and off.
We then mounted the pre-filter below the pump intake, as recommended by Katadyn’s engineers, to allow air bubbles to pass easily. There was plenty of room for it alongside our pressure-water hoses, and even room to mount a silt-reduction filter if we needed it for brackish or shallow water, inland waterways or areas of glacial runoff, this last being the most likely on our present voyage. The pre-filter should be mounted vertically and through-bolted with stainless-steel hardware. Its three-way valve — which allows you to choose between seawater intake for regular operation and another hose for membrane-cleaning solution — should be sealed with nonhardening paste, such as Loctite 5331, for an airtight seal. We also mounted the pre-filter in a part of the locker that’s easily accessible for maintenance, which includes inspecting and emptying the housing, cleaning the filter regularly and treating the membrane any time we won’t be using it for a week or more. In the tropics, this time frame is closer to three days, but in higher latitudes, the cold water and air keep algae growth down a little longer.
With all that completed, it was time to mount the drive assembly/pump/membrane unit. The trickiest part was holding the 25-pound device in place while Seth marked its position. Seth then drilled the holes in the bulkhead, after which I held up the PowerSurvivor while he fitted the first two ¼-inch stainless-steel bolts. With the desalinator firmly in place, the second two bolts were easy. We made sure to mount the desalinator with the long axis of the membrane in a horizontal position; to do otherwise would risk ruining either the drive assembly (if the pump developed a seawater leak) or the pump (if the drive assembly developed an oil leak).
Because we had installed all the hoses in advance, the only thing that remained was to plug in the unit. We connected the 3⁄8-inch saltwater intake hose from the pre-filter, the 3⁄16-inch freshwater hose from the end of the membrane canister to its three-way valve, and the 3⁄8-inch briny-waste hose out to the T in the sink drain. Then, we attached the electrical wires from the drive unit to the terminal bar (with the breaker switched off, of course). The owner’s manual recommends either leaving enough hose coiled next to the desalinator so that you can pull it out for manual operation without undoing your installation, or assembling a separate set of hoses so you can move it to any location for manual operation. We originally left lots of hose coiled up but decided after the first operation to shorten our hoses to decrease the distance the intake water had to travel. We opted for assembling a separate set of hoses for emergencies.
Treating the membrane to prevent biological growth had been a mystery to Seth and me before owning a watermaker, but as it turns out, that too is easy. First, we lifted the lever on the pump’s cleaning valve. According to the manual, you are supposed to use 2 quarts of desalinated water from the PowerSurvivor for the preserving process in order to avoid using chlorinated (city) water that could damage the membrane. We had neglected to keep enough water from our last use of the desalinator (and were now in the marina where we planned to keep Celeste for the winter and where we didn’t want to run the unit), so we bought a gallon of distilled water. We prefer to use more than 2 quarts to ensure that plenty makes it through the unit, since some stays in the pre-filter. Into this we mixed — according to its instructions — the membrane preservative solution that had come with the PowerSurvivor. We positioned the three-way valve so that the product water would run through the testing hose rather than into our starboard tank. Then we turned the lever on the pre-filter’s three-way valve so that it would use the membrane cleaning intake hose rather than the saltwater intake. This intake hose has a small strainer attached at the end; we put this into our container of distilled water and membrane preservative. Then it was a simple matter of running the desalinator until all the preservative solution had been drawn through and foamy water was coming out the reject-brine hose. Because we were leaving Celeste in the Aleutian Islands, we continued to run the watermaker until air was coming through the brine hose as a precaution against freezing conditions.
The PowerSurvivor has been a big success for us so far. It takes up hardly any storage room, it’s easy to operate and maintain, the water is as pure as it should be and the desalinator produces its promised 1.5 gallons per hour at an average of 4 amps. The manufacturer warns that it might require more power upon first operation (we found that it did not) and that its output might decrease in water below 57 degrees Fahrenheit. The chart in the owner’s manual shows capacity dropping to about 90 percent at 55 degrees and 60 to 80 percent in water below 40 degrees. In our first summer with the desalinator — during which the coldest water temperature we experienced was 49 degrees, in the Bering Sea — we did not see any noticeable drop in output or increase in current draw, and thus found the watermaker to be very reliable in normal circumstances. In summer 2015, we tested the machine at the edge of the polar pack ice, at 71.4 degrees N in the Arctic Ocean above Barrow, Alaska. With the sea temperature at 37 degrees, we did find a modest decrease in output: 5 liters per hour instead of the usual 6, which equates to 83 percent of normal and thus better than the engineers’ predictions. In other words, the PowerSurvivor has more than lived up to our expectations.
Having sailed long distances both with and without a watermaker, I’m now convinced that the half-day project of installing the PowerSurvivor and the minor task of servicing it when needed is well worth it. We no longer spend our first day after a passage hefting buckets of water. During our summer in the Arctic, we didn’t refill our tanks from shore for seven weeks and yet we never rationed ourselves — in fact, we took frequent freshwater showers. Now, if we want to anchor and avoid tying up to a dock, we can. If we doubt the quality of the shore water, we don’t have to fill up with it. And all this with only the power produced by our solar panels. Capt. Cook would have loved it.
Ellen Massey Leonard and her husband, Seth, have circumnavigated the globe and cruised extensively in Alaska and the Arctic. Ellen chronicles her adventures at gonefloatabout.com .
Innovative watermakers since 1998.
Established in 1998 Schenker is a leading manufacturer of high quality watermakers based on an energy recovery system . Our company owns 4 patents for unique small scale energy efficient solutions.
Why choose us.
Energy consumption can be reduced up to 80% compared to conventional systems.
An ultra thin design is ideal for space restrictions and provides easy access for maintenance.
Our watermakers are powered directly from batteries without the need of a generator, our products, marine watermakers.
Schenker watermakers are simple, quiet, compact, efficient and fully automatic. A Schenker watermaker will allow you – whether you own a yacht, a sail boat or any vessel – to extend your cruising duration and increase your independency from marinas, thus enjoying more time at sea. Schenker’s three-years warranty is backed up by our international network of sales and service representatives.
Portable marine watermaker
Quiet, small, efficient, inexpensive
Smart, light and affordable
A very compact units for all needs
Emergency portable solutions.
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Last Updated by Daniel Wade, October 1, 2021
With the right Watermaker, the ocean becomes an almost immeasurable supply of fresh and clean drinking water to keep you hydrated during your offshore sailing adventures.
Many sailors do spend a lot of their time and money on various parts of the sailboat including the sails, engine, electronics, and generators especially when preparing for long-distance voyages.
While there's absolutely nothing wrong with this, they often overlook one crucial part of general human survival: having an ample supply of fresh drinking water.
Whether you have freshwater drinking tanks on your sailboat or planning to cruise in areas where you can easily access clean drinking water, the hassle involved in having to come to the dock to fill the water tanks can be quite overwhelming.
This is exactly why you need to find the best watermakers for sailboats.
Like many other nautical technologies, watermakers have significantly advanced in the last few decades to become very efficient and more reliable. They're no longer a luxury on your sailboat but a necessity. Better still, watermakers have become relatively affordable and are meant to keep you hydrated as you explore areas that do not have clean and fresh drinking water.
In this article, we'll take a look at how watermaker systems work, highlight their benefits, and highlight the best sailboat watermakers on the market right now. At the end of this read, you should be able to choose the best watermaker for your sailboat.
The freedom and security that come with having full water tanks on your sailboat are of immense importance, especially if you're cruising in an area where fresh drinking water is hard to come by and quite expensive when you do. As such, having a watermaker aboard your sailboat is no longer a luxury like it used to be in the past. With a steady supply of fresh and clean water, your life on the sailboat will be a lot better. This is because you'll have enough clean water to drink, cook, wash, and shower, which is beneficial if you want to enjoy your sailing adventures.
Honestly speaking, many sailors do not actually need a watermaker. Well, if you're planning to sail just near the shores, then there's a chance that you can easily access fresh and clean water by the dock. But this can be limiting if you've been dreaming of going off the grid and sailing to some exotic and unknown places in the world.
With that in mind, a watermaker makes a lot of sense to most sailors. You won't have to worry about having to carry aboard gallons of freshwater for cooking and drinking during your voyage. You won't have to treat freshwater as a precious commodity that must last until you can refill at the next port. With a watermaker, you can simply go ocean crossing without worrying about running out of water.
A watermaker allows you to have a steady supply of fresh and clean water to keep everybody well-hydrated and healthy. You can clean the water anytime you feel like and all you have to do is replace the filter once in a while and you'll be good to go. In essence, a watermaker is probably one of the most important equipment to have aboard your sailboat, so installing it is of great importance if you're a serious sailor.
Modern marine watermakers essentially follow the principle of reverse-osmosis to produce pure, drinking water from seawater. During this process and through very high pressure, seawater is forced through a semipermeable membrane that only allows freshwater molecules to pass through it but not salt, bacteria, or any other organic material. The newly made pure, drinking water is then piped to the sailboat's water tanks while the leftover (brine) is discharged overboard.
Even though marine watermakers may differ in the type of pump that's employed and how it is driven, this is one of the most important features in every watermaker. In most cases, water can be electrically pumped or powered directly off the boat's engine. If you have an AC generator or alternator on your boat, it would make much sense to use the AC output to drive the watermaker directly. You can also choose the DC-powered models if you rely on renewable energy from solar or wind. Alternatively, you can still go for AC-powered watermakers but you'll have to buy an inverter.
All in all, DC-powered watermakers are more efficient since they integrate a power-saving energy recovery system (ERS). You must, however, keep in mind that your energy consumption levels might be quite high if you're sailing in colder and saltier areas. This is because the water purification process might be a bit slower in such areas. As such, you should consider investing in a more high-powered watermaker system if you will be sailing in colder and saltier areas than if you're planning to sail more in warm and less salty areas.
As far as an engine-driven watermaker is concerned, you should mount the high-pressure pump on the engine so that it can be belt-driven using an automatic clutch. An engine-driven watermaker should be your first option if you want large quantities of fresh drinking water. This is more productive than AC or DC-powered watermakers. Even with a relatively small engine, this setup has an automatic regulator that constantly pumps the water. With that in mind, engine-driven watermakers are ideal if you want to reduce your energy consumption. To put it into perspective, an engine-driven watermaker can lower energy consumption by an enormous 80%, especially when compared with conventional AC or DC-powered watermaker systems.
There are many factors to consider when looking for the best watermakers for your sailboat. Here are the most important things to consider.
Your Freshwater Needs
One of the most important things to consider before spending your money on a watermaker is your freshwater needs. What quantity would be enough to keep you going on your sailing adventure? While the quantity might differ from one sailor to the other or from one boat to the other, you should consider the number of gallons that a particular watermaker can produce per day. This will help you in choosing the ideal watermaker; a model that will ensure that you never run out of water. Do not underestimate your water needs, especially if you're planning to sail with your children or if you're planning to stay on the boat for an extended period of time.
Do you have enough space on your vessel to accommodate the type of watermaker you're looking to buy? While most watermakers are designed to fit in the smallest of space, you should consider the actual size of the watermaker and find out whether you have enough space on your vessel to fix it.
Watermakers can run on electricity, renewable energy such as wind and solar (if you have them on your vessel), or both. When looking for the perfect watermaker, you should consider how to power it and whether or not the watermaker has low-energy consumption, which is definitely a great feature. Again, there are also engine-driven watermakers, so it's important to know exactly what you're going for.
Maintenance
Watermakers have a reputation for being difficult to maintain. Fortunately, the equipment and components have improved in the last few years so you should go for a model that's easy to maintain. You should use the watermaker in water bodies that look good, You should avoid using the watermaker in dirty harbors as you may have to change the filters every so often or even damage your watermaker altogether.
Let's take a look at the best watermakers available on the market right now.
Engineered by limited electrical options that can run on either DC or AC, THE Ultra Whisper by Sea Recovery is one of the best watermakers currently available on the market. In addition to being very quiet, this watermaker features an automatic operation that requires very minimal operator adjustment.
This watermaker is ideal for small powerboats and sailboats since it can serve as an efficient water supply. This model boasts about a 75% reduction in power consumption, especially when compared to other models.
Smooth and quiet water production
Can produce up to 2,280 liters per day
Ideal for small boats
It is energy efficient
It might not be perfect for large boats
If you want a watermaker model that can produce 60 liters per hour flawlessly and with no maintenance apart from changing the filters, look no further than the Echotec Watermaker. This model is designed for ultra-reliable performance and easy customer installation.
This watermaker is made from high-quality components that can withstand the continuous harsh marine environment, making it one of the most durable watermakers on the market. This is essentially a series of modular watermakers ranging from 12-volt to 24-volt DC-powered models. They bring forth energy efficiency, a computerized energy recovery system, and ultimate reliability to ensure that you never run out of fresh drinking water while out there on the sea.
Energy efficient
Cost-effective
Comes with a very low speed
Not ideal for large boats
As a compact and energy-efficient watermaker, the Spectra Katadyn PowerSurvivor is arguably the most affordable watermaker currently available on the market. We are talking about a model that only requires 4 amps to desalinate water for your sailboat. It can produce 1.5 gallons of fresh drinking water per hour, which is an excellent return for a watermaker of its size.
It is also one of the most portable watermakers around. You can choose to either install it permanently or temporarily in case you want to take it somewhere else. This portability is also essential if you're looking for a space-saving model that can fit in the smallest of compartments. Its simple but rugged design is essential in ensuring that it can perform at its best even in harsh marine conditions. In terms of its power capabilities, this is the only model on the market that will convert to a hand-operated system or manual power if there's a power shortage.
Portable and lightweight
Rugged design to withstand harsh marine environments
Efficient and reliable
Can revert to manual power if there's a power shortage
Perfect for off-grid sailing
Gasoline or diesel can easily damage the semi-permeable membrane
Whether you're looking for a watermaker for your small sailboat or looking for a watermaker that can efficiently serve those huge yachts, the Village Marine Little Wonder Series provides everything. This model is meant for experienced sailors who are looking for various capacity options. This watermaker weighs just about 69 pounds but can produce nearly 180 gallons of fresh drinking water each day.
Designed with a low RPM high-pressure pump, this model remains one of the most efficient and economical watermakers on the market. That's not all; this watermaker is designed with corrosion-resistant features and is one of the most serviceable watermakers in the game. It is reliable, quiet, and portable; all factors that make a watermaker great.
Easy to operate
Corrosion-resistant
Easy to maintain
Quiet and versatile
It doesn't have automatic adjustment controls
This is one of the most versatile watermakers on the market. It can use both electricity and renewable energy. This model is engineered to be lightweight and energy-efficient and its compact and modular design makes it a great option if you're looking for a watermaker that's easy to use and install in confined spaces.
The Ventura 150 watermaker is highly efficient as it can produce over 6 gallons of water an hour, which makes it quite perfect for small vessels. This sailboat watermaker features a controller that allows you to operate and monitor the device remotely. It also has the auto store button that will automatically flash the system after every five days.
This watermaker is quiet and surprisingly compact despite its ability to produce about 150 gallons of water per day. It also gives you the option of going for the automated manual or manual model.
Very versatile
Can use both electricity and renewable energy power
It is smooth and quiet
It is compact and lightweight
The manual model has analog controls
To this end, it's easy to see that having an ideal watermaker aboard your vessel is one of the first crucial steps towards being self-sufficient and sustainable. With a watermaker, you'll be able to access fresh drinking water at all times when sailing even in far-flung places. Most of these models are well-constructed and incorporate some of the best technologies that make them efficient, reliable, and easy to install, use, and maintain.
So when it comes to choosing the best watermaker for your sailboat, it may all come down to what is ideal for you in terms of energy consumption, efficiency, the quantity of water produced, among many other things. With an ideal watermaker, you can remain off the grid for as long as you want without ever worrying about running out of water and this is of great importance in enjoying your sailing adventures.
James Richmond on bluedotliving.com
Flanigan's Eco-Logic Convo Featuring James Richmond
Horsepower VS. Torque
A series of three new electric monohull commuter ferries have already begun operational sailings on the Moskva River in the Russian capital Moscow.
Built by Russian shipyard Emperium, sister vessels Sinichka , Filka , and Presnya – all named after rivers in Moscow – are being operated by the Moscow Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development (Moscow Deptrans). They are the first units of a planned fleet of 20 vessels that will serve the capital city and other nearby communities. The new ferry system will be the water transport system to be operated on the Moskva River in 16 years.
Each vessel has a welded aluminium hull, an LOA of 21 metres, a beam of 6.2 metres, a draught of only 1.4 metres, a displacement of 40 tonnes, and capacity for 80 passengers plus two crewmembers. Seating is available for 42 passengers on each ferry, and the main cabins are also fitted with USB charging ports, wifi connectivity, tables, toilets, and space for bicycles and scooters. The cabin layout can be rearranged to allow the operator to adjust the distances between the seats and to install armrests of varying widths.
An open upper deck is also accessible to passengers and is the only area on each ferry where smoking is allowed.
The ferries are all of modular construction with each ferry's wheelhouse, main cabin, and other structural elements being built as complete, separate components. This enables the ferries to be easily dismantled for transport to anywhere in Russia by rail and then quickly re-assembled within seven days.
The ferries are also ice-capable. Recently completed operational trials on the Moskva showed that the vessels can also easily navigate under mild winter conditions with broken surface ice, though year-round operations are planned for the entire fleet.
The ferries are each fitted with 500kWh lithium iron phosphate battery packs that supply power to two 134kW motors. This configuration can deliver a maximum speed of 11.8 knots, a cruising speed of just under 10 knots, and a range of 150 kilometres.
Emperium said the transfer of rotation of electric motors to the propeller is carried out by direct drive. As a propulsion installation, a pulling rotary propeller-steering column with double screws is used. The installation of double pulling screws, with similar power, allows an operator to increase the efficiency of the propulsion system to deliver a slightly higher speed or to reduce energy consumption. This arrangement also provides the ferries with enhanced manoeuvrability necessary for navigating in close quarters.
The batteries themselves have projected service lives of 10 to 12 years and are fitted with safety features such as built-in fire extinguishers and gas vents. Quick-disconnect features allow the batteries to be easily removed for replacement or maintenance.
Some of our readers have expressed disquiet at our publication of reviews and articles describing new vessels from Russia. We at Baird Maritime can understand and sympathise with those views. However, despite the behaviour of the country's leaders, we believe that the maritime world needs to learn of the latest developments in vessel design and construction there.
Click here to read other news stories, features, opinion articles, and vessel reviews as part of this month's Passenger Vessel Week.
Type of vessel: | Commuter ferries |
Flag: | Russia |
Operator: | Moscow Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development, Russia |
Builder: | Emperium, Russia |
Hull construction material: | Aluminium |
Length overall: | 21 metres |
Beam: | 6.2 metres |
Draught: | 1.4 metres |
Propulsion: | 2 x 134 kW |
Maximum speed: | 11.8 knots |
Cruising speed: | 10 knots |
Range: | 150 kilometres |
Batteries: | Lithium iron phosphate, 500 kWh |
Accommodation: | Cabin; toilets; bicycle/scooter area |
Crew: | 2 |
Passengers: | 80 |
Operational area: | Moskva River, Russia |
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Spectra Katadyn PowerSurvivor. As a compact and energy-efficient watermaker, the Spectra Katadyn PowerSurvivor is arguably the most affordable watermaker currently available on the market. We are talking about a model that only requires 4 amps to desalinate water for your sailboat.
The newly made freshwater is then pumped into your vessel's current water tank, while the leftover "brine" is thrown overboard. Most marine watermakers differ with regards to the method in which the water is pumped. Typically, the water can be either electrically driven (either AC or DC) or powered by your boat's engine.
The best sailboat watermakers for liveaboards. The Rainman naked 12V watermaker is a great option for anyone looking for a compact, efficient way to produce fresh water. The unit is simple to set up and use, and it produces up to 30 litres of fresh water per hour for a smaller unit, or up to 140 litres per hour for a larger one.
A freshwater flush kit-highly-desirable in any installation-is a $125 option. The 12-volt booster pump, drawing 1 amp, is a $120 option. An extensive cruising kit, including 12 pre-filters, rebuild parts for the high-pressure pump, cleaner, preservative, and other spares, costs $330. SKs pricing is very competitive.
Welcome to SeaWater Pro, the premier provider of high-quality watermakers for boats and portable watermakers for all your marine adventures. Our cutting-edge technology and reliable products will ensure that you have access to clean, purified seawater wherever you go. With our easy-to-use and reliable watermakers, you can say goodbye to bulky storage tanks or worry about running out of fresh ...
A watermaker on a yacht converts seawater into fresh water through a process known as reverse osmosis (RO). A high-pressure pump pushes seawater through a semi-permeable membrane that filters out salt, organics, and bacteria. The fresh water is pumped into your water tanks while the remaining brine bi-product is discharged over the side of the ...
1. Katadyn Power Survivor 40E Watermaker Desalinator. Small yet powerful, the Katadyn Power Survivor 40E is a reliable workhorse designed for boats with a small crew population of 2 to 3. This modular unit provides 1.5 gallons of water per hour, and draws only 4 amps from a 12-volt system, making it one of the most energy efficient desalinators ...
Rainman Watermakers are a compact system designed to generate a fresh potable water supply from seawater. They can be installed in a minimum footprint configuration or kept portable for maximum flexibility. We use only top quality components in the build process from the best manufacturers: Honda, General Pump, Filmtec, and Noshok. Our filters ...
The ideal watermaker should provide the daily fresh water demand of the boat in about 3-4 working hours. On his turn, the daily fresh water demand is based on the number of people onboard and the type of boat. The typical fresh water demand in a sailing boat if about 30-40 lit/day, whereas it is 50 -60 lit/h in a power boat or catamaran.
The semi-permeable membranes found on today's watermakers are rated to work in temperatures up to 120F, which means they will do fine in your boat's engine space. The fact that they contain water and are continuously receiving a fresh supply of the stuff when in use only makes them all the more heat tolerant.
Since all of the watermakers that are currently available for cruising sailboats use this process for desalination, the major differences between the systems are how you power the high-pressure pump and the user interface. Powering options include 120/220-volt AC, 12- or 24-volt DC and engine/belt driven. All have their pros and cons.
Katadyn-owned Spectra produces a wide range of watermakers, from the hand-operated Survivor 06 to a commercial AC model capable of producing 10,000 gallons per day. The most suitable units for cruising yachts are its DC/AC-powered Ventura, Catalina and Newport models, offering production rates of between 6.3 and 41gph.
Watermakers. Blue Water Desalination offers six distinct lines of watermakers to suit the needs of the most discerning mariners, from the day fisherman up to the long-range sailor and transoceanic yachtsman. Within the six lines, we offer dozens of models of varying capacities in both frame and modular style configurations along with high ...
Advantages of this watermaker are the quiet operation and simple control and operation. The filtration process of the Ultra Whisper is also based on reverse osmosis process. Quiet water production. Available in 12VDC and 24VDC. Water production: 768 to 2,280 litres per day. Ideal for small leisure boats.
The three most common ways of obtaining fresh water on a cruising boat are: 1) an effective rain collection system, 2) from shore via a hose, or 3) a watermaker. Given reasonable storage capacity and a good filtration system, a high-capacity watermaker is the most efficient — especially if you are a boonies cruiser.
The drive assembly and membrane housing are the heart of every watermaker system, and some of the largest components. The membrane housing must be positioned horizontally. In the installation above, the briny discharge hose comes out of the membrane housing and makes a loop to tie into the boat's sink drain. Ellen Massey Leonard.
Schenker's three-years warranty is backed up by our international network of sales and service representatives. RANGE: 30 LIT/H. Portable marine watermaker. Checkout all models. RANGE: 30-50-100-200-300 LIT/H. Quiet, small, efficient, inexpensive. Checkout all models. RANGE: 30-60-80-100 LIT/H. Smart, light and affordable.
Spectra Ventura 150 Deluxe 12v/24vDC 6.3GPH Marine Watermaker VT150D. VT-150-D. Find the best prices online on all Spectra Watermaker systems at Seatech Marine Products, Inc. We offer professional technical support and customer service on all brands of watermakers.
Last Updated by Daniel Wade, October 1, 2021With the right Watermaker, the ocean becomes an almost immeasurable supply of fresh and clean drinking water to keep you hydrated during your offshore sailing adventures.Many sailors do spend a lot of their time and money on various parts of the sailboat including the sails, engine, electronics, and generators especially when preparing for long ...
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The new ferry system will be the water transport system to be operated on the Moskva River in 16 years. Each vessel has a welded aluminium hull, an LOA of 21 metres, a beam of 6.2 metres, a draught of only 1.4 metres, a displacement of 40 tonnes, and capacity for 80 passengers plus two crewmembers. Seating is available for 42 passengers on each ...