Catching Rainwater..

An upcoming project..

WM5-50

Water makers are just too expensive, (at least $2.000) and require ongoing cost and maintenance, and seem to be overkill for my 26 footer while coastal cruising.
However, did come across the portable Nimbus Watermaker WM5-50 (left) for the surprising low cost of only $371, but each time your replace the filters will be another $140, and it's unclear how often that might be required.
EDIT - My mistake, the Nimbus above is for freshwater, so that's no help.


http://iniwijnen.com/48/

Anyway, time will come my Grampian 26 will be my live-aboard for a time, or longer. And though I don't foresee any real difficulty maintaining a fresh supply of water for drinking and cooking,  as can just carry a gallon or two each time back from shore to keep reserves topped off. (I don't think I'll be crossing oceans anytime soon.)
Still, don't want to waste that supply on showers, or dishwashing, or flushing the toilet.. and I mostly do not care for resorting to showering in saltwater...

sailmagazine.com....

Many cruisers fabricate some form of inexpensive, very low maintenance methods of collecting rainwater which is drained to a holding tank for such uses, but they don't drink it... Some drink it, but only after a filtration unit... While others don't bother with a filter, convinced that rainwater is purer and safer to drink than public tap water.

My research has thus been brief, but I already know it will be necessary to incorporate a simple rain catching method to easily maintain an ample supply of clean water on my boat. It's been done for countless centuries for free, and is still so today.
I'll be looking into this closer soon enough.