Let me say first off, Magnolia does NOT NEED a water-maker. This is completely a peace of mind convenience level of modification. Magnolia carries 135 gallons of fresh water in our main tank and another 25 on deck for emergencies. At our 6 gallon per-day consumption rate (which includes a daily hot refreshing shower) that takes us right to 3 weeks. That does not allow for any fresh water deck wash-down other than a good rain fall nor fresh water in in the heads (salt water is not the best thing choice for flushing) but is available. Previously we needed to pull into a marina or I haul jugs it in the dingy as below in the Bahamas. It is a fair amount of work to haul 135 gallons or 1035 lbs of water……
In terms of water-makers there are essentially two types, high-power/high-output (120volt-AC) or low-power /low-output (12volt-DC). Since Magnolia is equipped with a Westerbeke 8.Kw generator we opted to go for the high-power/high-output unit made produced by Cruise RO.
The unit is broken down into individual components to accommodate many different mounting configurations in many different boat layouts.
In Water-Maker Part #2 we will commence with the actual installation of the unit and configuration in Magnolia. We me luck, because at this writing we have not begun as of yet!!!!