Water Filtration Machine and power consumption

Rainstorm

I like the filtration machine. It looks cool and has sounds and all that stuff but i never use it. The rate at which it uses power is ridiculously high and you need at least 4+ solar panels to keep one fed which means you need a ridiculous amount of solar panels if you plan to get a couple going to meet your thirst requirements. Hell, 2 Bioreactors going fulltime isnt enough to keep just one filtration machine going ....

It would be much more realistic to lower the power consumption of those power-eaters to make them useful otherwise its way easier to just build a large aquarium and stick 2 airsacks in it imo ...

Sennera

Solar panels really don't produce that much power in real life; take a look at the massive arrays on the ISS and the comparatively small size of its modules and you'll be glad Subnautica's panels produce as much power as they do. The bioreactor on the other hand does produce a lot of power but it does so very slowly as its contents need to decompose pretty much. In contrast to this, the filtration machines have a lot of moving parts and are performing a rather energy intensive job.

Solar panels aren't expensive, I gathered the materials for and built 16 of them in only 15 minutes or so of time to power 2 water filtration machines and provide WAY more power than needed. If you're building a deep base where solar power generation becomes 'why bother?' then go for multiple bioreactors or go for a nuclear reactor.

Sub_Naughty

The problem is if Rainstorm is playing Xbox as all we really have is solar panels! We have the thermal plants but for most (if not all) players on Xbox the power transmitter is bugged and, as you say, bioreactors are very slow! Nuclear power isn't a thing on Xbox either I don't think sad times... this update needs to hurry up aha.

Merandix

In real life, a 250-500 litre/hour desalination plant uses about 2 kW of power (I looked up one of these on the internet). Our futuristic desalinator has a significantly lower capacity, and is way more advanced, so it will likely use significantly less than 1000 watts, more like 500 or so. That means in theory, it can be run by about 5 normal domestic solar panels (using low-yield estimates, generally solar panels produce around 100-350 watts). You need more because while providing power, you also need to save up on power for the night, but still; the way it is balanced isn't unreasonable at all, especially considering our ingame panels are a bit on the small side.

A 20000 litre per hour installation uses around 28 kW. By comparison, the 'weak' ISS solar array delivers 84-120 kW of power. That's 10,5 - 15 kW per array, and they're pretty old (and worn!) solar panels. Solar panels aren't all that bad.

I do however agree that the airsack-tank vs water filtration machine problem is a real one. I don't use much salt, so a non-power using aquarium is pretty much superior in every way. It makes more water, doesn't produce noise, requires less maintenance once running ánd uses less power. Also, it can be used to increase local airsack populations.

badgerfroth

Airsack breeding is the way forward for stress-free water drinking.
Although mid game the filtration plant comes into its own. Just don't rely on it too early.

Salyn

I don't have any problems with my water filtration machines with power. Granted, I have a nuclear reactor powering my base but my filtration machine never drains it. Besides, you get 180 water per full filtration by turning the salt and table coral into more water

SushiDiver500

Why not water generators?