On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 02:48:21 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote:

I haven't really been reading this thread, but watching the headers and
wondering...why should silt be a problem in a watermaker?

I thought it only made sense to use watermakes well offshore where sea
water is deep and clean...never in coastal waters where the water is not
only shallow, but polluted by runoff...and besides, fresh water is
readily available at any marina, which puts it within only an hour or
two away at most.

Silt isn't a problem in a watermaker if one has the extra prefilter,
etc. It's no big deal to pull the cartridges and wash them out with
the sal****er pump. As I had mentioned, they last a very long time
before needing replacement.

Cruisers of my type like to find those waaaay out-of-the-way places,
where the nearest marina, by sailboat, might be two days away or more;
and the stay could be 4 or 6 months or more. Also, lots of marinas
won't just give you water; you have to buy fuel and we sometimes
burned only a gallon or two in several months and many miles. Some
places outside the US will only sell water, and some of it you really
don't want to drink.

We have "made" water even during rare stays in marinas in South FL,
where the marina water was salty and/or looked like old tea.

Rick