# watermaker



## oysterbay2 (Jan 13, 2008)

Hi All,

We are going to sail creece and turkey and are looking to buy a watermaker, is ther anyone who has experience in ahving one that is easy on energie and easy to maintane??

thanks

Marc


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## svsirius (Jan 14, 2007)

We have a Sea Recovery Ultrawhisper. Fits both of those requirements. they are available between 200 - 400 gal per day driven by 12v or larger driven by 110/220v. General Maintenance is changing filters, everything else is automatic. Very happy with performance.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Oysterbay-

Most of them area about the same when it comes to maintenance. Getting one that uses off-the-shelf parts is a much better idea than one that is all proprietary parts. I've installed and worked on one brand that is specifically designed to use off-the-shelf parts, to minimize maintenance costs.

Also, get a larger watermaker than you think you need, since they're generally far more energy efficient. For instance, if you need 20 gallons a day, it is often better to get a larger one and run it every two to three days, rather than running a smaller one every day. One reason for this is most watermakers need to be backflushed with water to clear the RO membrane. Running a larger one every other day means you waste less water backflushing the membrane. 

BTW, if you do get a watermaker, make sure that the tank it is connected to is never filled with tap water. The chlorine in tap water will destroy the RO membrane in the watermaker.


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## Freesail99 (Feb 13, 2006)

Sk watermakers use off-the-shelf parts and it is a nice unit.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

FS99-

I think SK was the brand of the one I installed... just couldn't remember the name.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

We have a Spectra watermaker and it works fine. In warm water it seems we need to clean the filters often. We have started to wash them each time we use the watermaker (about every 3rd day or so) and never if we are in a marina).
Sailingdog is correct about the effect of chlorine on the membrane, but ours is connected to our tank and we do fill it with tap water, but we have a charcoal filter (as recommended by Spectra) in the line for the flushing water.


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## speciald (Mar 27, 2007)

Cosider the cost. You can buy alot of water for what the watermaker costs. The membranes have a finite life and will need to be replaced, the frequency determined primarily on hours of use. Having said that I have a Village Marine that runs on 110v. and makes 20g./hr. It has been maintenence free over 4 years. I can keep the water tank full with generator time needed to charge batteries and chill the fridge/freezer so their is no measurable fuel use to make water. In a survey done by Bluewater Sailing, the watermaker was the system that was mostlikely to give a cruiser a problem. I run any water going into my tank not from the watermaker through a carbon filter to guard against chlorine and use hydrogen peroxide as a sterilizing agent. One advantage of a watermaker not often considered is that it allows you to carry less water and more fuel on long passages as surplus water tank capacity can be turned into fuel tankage.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

SpecialID,
Hard to buy water 786 miles off the coast of paradise. Boat boys don't come out that far.
SD,

I disagree on the size issue; don't have one yet but spec'd out one - Katadyn 80E because:
a) I need a modular unit.

b) I want to run it off DC, not the motor (I like quiet, and have solar).

c) I only need 8 amps to make roughly 4 gallons - I can make that off solar alone and never touch my batteries (don't bring out your calculators solarstik fans, 2 X100 watt panels will make 8 amps for at least a hour per day.

If I need more than 4 gals a day to drink, cook, wash with, I'll let it run for more than one hour, if not I'll play with my laptop a little more


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

BTW my 2x30 gal FW tanks lasted me 36 days of cruising and overnighting this past season, not the same as liveaboard, but doable.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

Sorry, just rechecked - the Katadyn Powersurvivor 80E puts out 12.9L or 3 gph, not the 4 I previously stated (misremembered is better than misrepresented).
It does use 8 amps per hour to make that 3 gal, and is modular.


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## Valiente (Jun 16, 2006)

I am "retanking" this year, and in addition to switching to HDPE tanks from SS, I am considering the value of having a small watermaker with a dedicated tank, plus a second tank with filtered rainwater, marina water, etc. A simple manifold could direct either tank to the galley tap (complete with Whale footpump!) and the rainwater/"city" water supply could be dedicated purely to the shower and other non-potable uses.

Should I run out of "collected" water, I can hand-pump the osmosis stuff to the other tank and keep making it until I'm nicely ballasted. If I'm approaching a known source of decent fresh water, I can pump it back. Waste not...


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Valiente-

Having a separate tank for the RO watermaker is an excellent idea. Also, having the ability to transfer water between the RO tank an the other water tanks is an excellent idea.


Valiente said:


> I am "retanking" this year, and in addition to switching to HDPE tanks from SS, I am considering the value of having a small watermaker with a dedicated tank, plus a second tank with filtered rainwater, marina water, etc. A simple manifold could direct either tank to the galley tap (complete with Whale footpump!) and the rainwater/"city" water supply could be dedicated purely to the shower and other non-potable uses.
> 
> Should I run out of "collected" water, I can hand-pump the osmosis stuff to the other tank and keep making it until I'm nicely ballasted. If I'm approaching a known source of decent fresh water, I can pump it back. Waste not...


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## Valiente (Jun 16, 2006)

Thanks, Mr. Dog. I am trying to ascend the logic tree one branch at a time...


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## sailhog (Dec 11, 2006)

What does watermaker water taste like? A little like the sea?


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Just FYI, most of the time, a slightly large watermaker will generally produce the same net amount of usable water for far less energy. This is due to the fact that a large watermaker can generate more water per unit of time, and you can often get away with running it once every other day, where the smaller one will need to be run every day, and the fact that each time you run a watermaker, you usually have to flush the membrane, and by running the watermaker less often, you use less water flushing it.


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## svsirius (Jan 14, 2007)

sailingdog said:


> Just FYI, most of the time, a slightly large watermaker will generally produce the same net amount of usable water for far less energy. This is due to the fact that a large watermaker can generate more water per unit of time, and you can often get away with running it once every other day, where the smaller one will need to be run every day, and the fact that each time you run a watermaker, you usually have to flush the membrane, and by running the watermaker less often, you use less water flushing it.


Actually I'm going to agree and disagree.

I fully agree that larger is better. Ours does 12.5 gal/hr on about 20 amps and I should have found the room for the next size up as it does 16.67 gal/hr on 22 amps.

I disagree that you have to fresh water flush after every use. Sea Recovery recommends flushing only if not using with 2 weeks of use. We run ours almost every day [when running genset or engine - so free power] and never flush between. We only flush when not going to use for more than 3-4 days between. Then it's automatic and runs the water through a charcoal filter to insure no chlorine etc gets to membrane.


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## mcollins07 (Sep 30, 2005)

*110v Home RO unit?*

I noticed that Sam's Club has 110v house (non-marine) Reverse Osmosis units for about $170, a lot less than marine watermakers. I don't remember the pressure, but I believe it operates at about half the presure of a marine RO unit. Does the operating presure effect the final purity, or just the rate/volume? Has anyone tried to adapt this type of RO unit to marine use or used with seawater?


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## ebs001 (May 8, 2006)

mcollins, these units will not desalinate, they are made to remove desolved solids from city water.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

I might have to look into a bigger unit, the figures presented by svsirus indicate that unit IS more efficient; I am however still constrained by the unit needing to be modular.


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## svsirius (Jan 14, 2007)

chucklesR said:


> I might have to look into a bigger unit, the figures presented by svsirus indicate that unit IS more efficient; I am however still constrained by the unit needing to be modular.


Both Sea Recovery and Spectra units are available in a modular configuration.. mine is


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