Thinking about adding a water maker this winter

[Destiny_4588]

We had 4 adults and 3 dogs this last weekend which is a lot for us but we use over 200 gallons a day at least with rinse off, showers, dog baths and a load of laundry ..our 50 gph has been and again was a perfect solution and kept up just fine

[SteveK]

I see now that if the supply is endless, then so is the usage. or is that vice versa?
But it explains why and how people decide on the GPH needed.

[Destiny_4588]

The more you have, the better your crew and dogs will smell, and boat will be cleaner! We also do alot of Scuba diving and fishing and so on....we use alot there to rinse the gear off on the way back so when hit the dock we get it put away as it is dry or off boat up the cars...just sharing in this area, I think bigger is better. also keeps the run time on gen set down (assuming our gen set has spare juice for the w/m which ours has plenty.

[kwb]

Honestly if I had a watermaker I probably could do a better job of keeping a shine on the boat. Not that I want to spend every day cleaning while we are using it but, I have a job that doesn't really let me get to the boat to do some of that puttering/cleaning that I should do more of. It is enough on the weekends that we don't use it to keep up on the general mechanical systems maintenance. If I wasn't going to panic my crew about using all our water onboard I wouldn't hesitate to get out the orbital and do a bit of polishing and waxing.

Don't want to get hasty here but it might even slow up the beer consumption a bit if I put myself to work with a task like that.

[Woodsea]

Here’s the pics of my install.

[ksanders]

Here’s the pics of my install.

Nice looking install!!!

That is basically how I did mine except that my control panel is in the cabin. What I did was construct a removeable cover for the membrane housings so that I cvan kneel on them to access things in the lax

Also I eliminated the carbon filter from the system because I do not take on dock water and then use that water to flush my system.

What is the grey plate that the low pressure pump is mounted on??? Where are your membranes going???

[Woodsea]

The gray plates are 3/4” marine ply covered with a 1/16” pebbled pvc cover that was used on our old docks that I salvaged from our marina scrap pile. It was in great shape and the price was right! I cut to size and epoxy coated the edges. It should last a long long time. The gray plate the boost pump is mounted on protects the steering ram. The white deck plate is to provide service access to inspect and lube the zerk fitting on the ram. The gray plate is easily removable as well. The control panel and the pad the hi pressure pump sits on is made out of the same stuff.

The single 40” (20gph) membrane is mounted out of the way against the hull outboard of the port engine. it’s accessible from my port side floor hatches.

I decided on mounting the control panel so everything I need to touch or do is in the same spot. My wife also did not want to lose any cabinet storage. In hindsight, I really like present location. My sample water is right there as well so I get to decide when to send product water to the tank based on taste and smell. It takes about 3-4 minutes to start making water and about 3-4 minutes when I’m done making water to flush. If I made water everyday, I could probably skip the flush. I’m still learning how to best use the system and match the rhythm of cooking, battery charging, gen run and making water.

[ksanders]

The gray plates are 3/4” marine ply covered with a 1/16” pebbled pvc cover that was used on our old docks that I salvaged from our marina scrap pile. It was in great shape and the price was right! I cut to size and epoxy coated the edges. It should last a long long time. The gray plate the boost pump is mounted on protects the steering ram. The white deck plate is to provide service access to inspect and lube the zero fitting on the ram. The gray plate is easily removable as well. The control panel and the pad the hi pressure pumps sits on is made out of the same stuff.

The single 40” (20gph) membrane is mounted out of the way against the hull outboard of the port engine. it’s accessible from my port side floor hatches.

I decided on mounting the control panel so everything I need to touch or do is in the same spot. My wife also did not want to lose any cabinet storage. In hindsight, I really like present location. My sample water is right there as well so I get to decide when to send product water to the tank based on taste and smell. It takes about 3-4 minutes to start making water and about 3-4 minutes when I’m done making water to flush. If I made water everyday, I could probably skip the flush. I’m still learning how to best use the system and match the rhythm of cooking, battery charging, gen run and making water.

Very nice install!!!

[gfrodel]

Kevin, and others: are you making water in the marina? At busy anchorage spots? While underway at slow speed? Can a big house bank and inverter run the watermaker?

[Uncle_Bob]

If you have a 110V watermaker, using the inverter will deplete the battery. It should be wired to bypass the inverter. You can use a watermaker underway with your genny or with a 12V watermaker like https://schenkerwatermakers.com/. If you run your watermaker in a marina/busy anchorage you increase your chances of contaminants like e coli.

[ksanders]

I make water at the marina almost every day.
I haven't taken on Dock water except for rarely in I think seven years now of being a board my boat pretty much full-time.

Making water in marina or in an Anchorage is really not a problem. If you think about the RO process, it removes literally everything except molecules of water.

[MidnightSun]

Never boated in salt except for rentals in Florida so a water maker is something I am not familiar with. I assume it is the same as a home RO system with the exception of requiring much higher pressure and larger membranes to be able to remove the salt and marine critters. I also assume you would need a rather large sediment filter at the water entrance. Is that about right?

[ksanders]

Never boated in salt except for rentals in Florida so a water maker is something I am not familiar with. I assume it is the same as a home RO system with the exception of requiring much higher pressure and larger membranes to be able to remove the salt and marine critters. I also assume you would need a rather large sediment filter at the water entrance. Is that about right?

Yep...

A marine watermaker is simply a low pressure pump pushing seawater into at a minimum a 5 micron filter, then a high pressure pump that pushes the seawayer through a membrane. The pressure is controlled by closing off the membrane waste water flow generating the pressure to permiate pure H2O through the membrabne.

[Uncle_Bob]

About e coli in marinas: Some say the bacteria is larger than salt so all is filtered. Others point out that some systems add a UV filter for extra sanitation. For me, I wouldn't make water in a marina or oil/sewage area if I could wait until more open waters. Not because I am fearful of contamination as much as why clog the filters? Some folks change filters every few days. I change a few times a season. Guess I have the luxury of not being a live-aboard in an area with water concerns.

Hans: most systems have a Perko type strainer followed by a disposable 20 micron primary then a 5 micron secondary. My system substitutes a stainless steel re-usable plankton filter for the 20 micron disposable. The plankton filter is either 50 or 75 microns. I don't remember which.

[PFW]

We typically make water underway, occasionally on the hook depending on how clean the water is, never in any marina we been in. I tested the initial install tied up at our dock. the filters were absolutely filthy after 30 minutes run time. I do have a 50 micro plankton filter prior to the 20 and 5 pre filters...... heres some pictures of our install of a cruise ro.

[ksanders]

About e coli in marinas: Some say the bacteria is larger than salt so all is filtered. Others point out that some systems add a UV filter for extra sanitation. For me, I wouldn't make water in a marina or oil/sewage area if I could wait until more open waters. Not because I am fearful of contamination as much as why clog the filters? Some folks change filters every few days. I change a few times a season. Guess I have the luxury of not being a live-aboard in an area with water concerns.

Hans: most systems have a Perko type strainer followed by a disposable 20 micron primary then a 5 micron secondary. My system substitutes a stainless steel re-usable plankton filter for the 20 micron disposable. The plankton filter is either 50 or 75 microns. I don't remember which.

Being a live aboard I have two choices.

A. Use the marina water, which was turned off for 6 months out of the year in Alaska, and in much of Mexico is not potable.
B. use my watermaker.

It's funny but at Marina La Paz i have sometimes used their dock water because it is desalinated, from water in the marina, just because I was a bit lazy, got low and needed water right ow for laundry.