demonboy - Am I correct in assuming that you don't have a watermaker? Our water usage is pretty much normal for a liveaboard couple with a watermaker. Some use a lot more and have a more powerful watermaker. On the other hand, we have some cruising friends who have been cruising since 1976 and they use around 5l between them a day. They even wash and do laundry in sea water. Each to their own, but that is NOTacceptable to us.

Talking to people who are thinking of buying a watermaker, the most common 'mistake' (at least, in our view) they make is to go for a watermaker that only gives them the meagre amount they have become accustomed to using at anchor, so they never experience the freedom of water usage you have in a house. It is not difficult or expensive to produce enough to make water economy a thing of the past.

We have two tanks and fill the main tank direct from the watermaker, keeping the smaller tank in reserve. If the watermaker failed we'd have to empty the tank and wash it out but we are not presently crossing oceans so the consequences are almost zero. The issue would be getting the parts swiftly to repair the watermaker. Spectra were very good when we had a breakdown in 2006, at anchor in Ibiza, and we were making water again in less than four days so we just went on the sort of regime we had before we had a watermaker.

When you've experienced the joy of having unlimited fresh, soft, sweet, drinkable water on tap you would never wish to be without one.