Watermakers for liveaboards
Liveaboard consumption is not cruising consumption. Once the boat is home, showers become daily, laundry appears, and the frugal 15 litres a head that works on passage becomes fantasy. Size for the life you actually live.
The power reality. The hard case is a liveaboard on solar at anchor: high daily demand against a finite surplus, every day, indefinitely. This is where energy per litre compounds.
What matters on liveaboard boats
Be honest about consumption
Fifty litres a head a day is normal for comfortable living aboard with a washing machine. Sizing for 20 and hoping is the most common liveaboard mistake.
Daily running changes maintenance
A system that runs every day rarely needs pickling and its membranes stay in good condition. Regular use is genuinely easier on the machine than intermittent use.
Serviceability beats specification
Over years aboard, whether you can get prefilters and a pump kit in the town you are in matters more than a small difference in rated output.
Redundancy is worth thinking about
When the boat is home, a failed watermaker is a real problem. Ask what fails, what it costs, and what you can carry.
Shortlist for liveaboard boats
The 8 best matches of 35 that suit liveaboard boats, ordered by energy per litre. Run time and energy below are for 100 litres a day.
| System | Power | Output L/hr | Draw W | Wh per litre | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zen 30 Schenker | 12/24V DC | 30 | 110 | 3.7 | $6,300 |
| Zen 100 Schenker | 12/24/48V DC or AC | 100 | 400 | 4.0 | $9,600 |
| Ventura 150 Deluxe Spectra | 12/24V DC | 24 | 108 | 4.5 | $6,000 |
| Ventura 150 Connect Spectra | 12/24V DC | 24 | 108 | 4.5 | $7,400 |
| Newport 400C Spectra | 12/24/48V DC | 64 | 288 | 4.5 | $14,500 |
| Zen 50 Schenker | 12/24V DC | 50 | 240 | 4.8 | $7,800 |
| D100 DUO Dessalatorreported | 12/24V DC | 100 | 700 | 7.0 | on request |
| D60 Freedom Dessalatorreported | 12/24V DC | 60 | 550 | 9.2 | on request |
Common questions
- How much water does a liveaboard use per day?
- Comfortable living aboard with daily showers and a washing machine typically runs 35 to 60 litres per person per day. Passage-making rations of 10 to 15 do not survive contact with life at anchor.
- What size watermaker for living aboard?
- Two people at 50 litres a head is 100 litres a day. Aim to make that in one to two hours, and check the energy against your daily surplus — on solar, that check usually points at an energy-recovery system.
- Should a liveaboard watermaker run every day?
- Regular running suits membranes better than long idle periods, and it avoids repeated pickling. A system sized to run most days is generally healthier than a large one used occasionally.
Guides that go deeper
Not quite your boat?
How the shortlist is built. 100 litres a day is 2 aboard at 50 litres each — a planning figure for this kind of boat, not a measurement of yours. The list is filtered to systems whose power source suits liveaboard boats and ordered by energy per litre. Every figure is the manufacturer’s rated output and draw; Wh per litre is one divided by the other. Methodology.