Leopard installing water purification technology

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The drinking water tap is beside the main tap

All new Leopard catamarans now feature an innovative water purification technology, which allows owners and guests to enjoy drinking water directly from the tap. South Africa’s Robertson & Caine builds all Leopard catamarans, with some adapted and renamed for use within charter and ownership programmes at sister companies The Moorings and Sunsail.

Of the 700 catamarans in The Moorings fleet (among a total of 2,500 ‘Leopards’ delivered worldwide), more than 100 are already equipped with the new water purifier. As the charter company renews its fleet and retrofits other units, the charter company aims to have 100 per cent self-sufficient drinking water on all its catamarans by 2026.

The new system is also on Leopard powercats

As well as convenience for the owners and guests, a reduced provisions list and less storage space used, the new water purification technology significantly reduces the ecological impact of plastic water bottles.

In sunny climates, charter guests are advised to allow for 1.5 litres of water per day per person. With almost 100,000 guests relying on The Moorings for at least a week’s sailing each year and sometimes up to two or three weeks, that equates to about 1 million one-litre plastic bottles of water.

Drinking water tap on the Leopard 46 Powercat

The increasing presence of water makers on boats, which makes the freshwater resource almost limitless, led to the new Leopard project. The water coming from the osmosis process is pure H2O and does not contain any trace elements – unlike mineral water found in the shops – and is fed into the usual freshwater tanks.

Leopard places a water purifier between the tanks and an additional tap in the galley. The large refrigerators on the powercats are also connected to the water purifier. Without chemicals or electricity, the technology developed by General Ecology called Structured Matrix eliminates microbiological risks and chemical contamination, and produces water as clear as it is drinkable.

Drinking water tap on the new Leopard 40 Powercat

The pressure at the outlet of the sophisticated tap provides a flow rate of 7.6 litres per minute, so personal water bottles can be quicky filled. The cartridge installed under the sink has a purification capacity of 8,000 litres, so will only need replacing after more than a hundred weeks of cruising.

www.leopardcatamarans.com

www.mooringsyachtownership.com