Video: Water Maker Maintenance

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Winf

Just my two bobs worth and a couple of specific responses -

We have a Cruise RO Watermaker and love it. Ours is a 30usgph unit.

Actual water production for us has been in the range of 1.6 - 2 litres per minute (95-120 litres per hour). Production rate does depend on the water temp and actual salinity.

Cruise RO make a 240V unit and ship to Australia. You will have to pay an import duty though so factor that into your pricing.

Ours runs on a honda EU20i generator. These are a 4 stroke unit. Genset operates at close to full power to run the watermaker. I have only found fuel consumption specs for the genset at 25% loading which is 0.64litres per hour. At max revs I allow 1 litre per hour of fuel use. So one litre of fuel will get you something like 100-120 litres of water. We run ours for 2-3 hours every 3 days.

We (wife and I) are full time liveaboards with a tank capacity of around 500 litres. We use around 50-60 litres per day. That is with a shower each plus all the usual washing up water, cooking etc. We don't really try hard with water frugality. My wife likes to use water and it is ultimately to my benefit to let her!

Pickling is not a difficult operation if you need to store the system when not in use. Overall I have found the operation of the unit very easy to pick up and I had nil previous experience.

The decision to install watermaker or not for me began with the overall energy budget and boat set up. It's an iterative process with no right or wrong but it helped me to put it all on paper setting out the advantages and disadvantages/limitations of each option.

Finally, Cruise RO has been really great with the customer support and providing info. No hesitation in recommending them and so far our watermaker has been trouble free. Very refreshing to have have a company that responds so quickly and completely to emails. Good documentation also.

Winf

thank you. Yes your right, it's Four Stroke. I've not even filled it yet.

Does the Cruise RO include the generator then, can I use the one I have for that purpose?

[downunder]

Cruise Ro pricing is independent of honda. Use the one you have.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Thanks for that. Let me give you a context to my question and then I'd value your advice.

I've got ten years to prepare my boat to leave work and retire on. In the meantime at least twice a year (as holidays permit) I want to be doing one to four week trips. I've learnt already I'm not that keen on more than a week without a fresh water shower. If I can shower with fresh water after 4 or 5 days it gives me a real boost.

I have currently added two plastic inbuilt tanks total of 260 litres. There is room in the foxall to add perhaps another 150 - 200 litres (as long as the weight doesn't cause problems). I have no idea how much water I really need. I've plumbed in a 12v pump for fresh water but I'm now understanding that I should have really added foot pumps to save water, so I'll probably do that and add a foot pump for the shower too. My shower, works off the engine, but I've not tested that since I've installed it. It's certainly hot enough though.

Questions I need to consider -

Given what I saw in your video (pickling I think you called it), then am I better off adding another water tank and carrying more water rather than having a water maker?

I have on board a Honda EU20i generator which I came to me at half price from a friend who hardly ever used it. Given the price I just thought it a good back up for charging batteries, but so far I've not had cause to use it. Could this be used to power a water maker? Will it use too much 2 stroke fuel?

Being Australian, my vessel is set up for 240v power, which is our common power source.

With 10yrs before your actual cruise, there are two schools of thought on when to buy the water maker. Buy one now and start enjoying the advantages of having plenty of water OR for your shorter trips before you cast off cruising go without a water maker and learn how to conserve and at the same time learn how much water you really "need".

I can see the argument for both approaches, and I think it comes down to what it takes to make you comfortable at the end of the day. For short duration trips, I can certainly see being in water conservation mode, but what has kept my wife comfortable now on year 7 of living aboard isn't me nagging her about water conservation, it's been me running the water maker keeping the tanks full and letting her use what she wants in the shower! But being a cheap live aboard cruiser myself, heck I would put off the cost of a water maker as long as I could...sure I sell them...but I'm also not stupid about it! If you can get by comfortably without a water maker, then by all means go that route. It's easier and cheaper! Then put the water maker in the year before you go cruising to give you experience time with it.

240v...Honda EU20i....no problems.

[onthehunt]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

But being a cheap live aboard cruiser myself, heck I would put off the cost of a water maker as long as I could...sure I sell them...but I'm also not stupid about it! If you can get by comfortably without a water maker, then by all means go that route. It's easier and cheaper! Then put the water maker in the year before you go cruising to give you experience time with it.

this quote alone should have people lining up at your door to buy one (it has me) .... great information all through the thread.

[sailingmonica]

Dear SV Third Day, as I was looking for an answer to one of my (stupid, really) questions, I came upon your post, and you look to me like a man who knows what he is talking about. So, here is my question. I am building my watermaker from scratch, and I am at the plumbing part of the job. The GP high pressure pump that is attached to the electric motor has a pressure relief valve. Do I need to attach a hose to that valve so if it goes off it can drain overboard, rather than in the bilge? In other words, how often does the pressure relief valve actually start spewing water, and how much water is discarded until the pressure drops to safe levels? The way I see it, I would assume that it is the same as on a pressure cooker, or the hot water heater, where the valves only open when the pressure inside exceeds safety limit. Is that the same in this case? How do I know what the safe pressure should be for the system, and how can I control that?

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by sailingmonica

Dear SV Third Day, as I was looking for an answer to one of my (stupid, really) questions, I came upon your post, and you look to me like a man who knows what he is talking about. So, here is my question. I am building my watermaker from scratch, and I am at the plumbing part of the job. The GP high pressure pump that is attached to the electric motor has a pressure relief valve. Do I need to attach a hose to that valve so if it goes off it can drain overboard, rather than in the bilge? In other words, how often does the pressure relief valve actually start spewing water, and how much water is discarded until the pressure drops to safe levels? The way I see it, I would assume that it is the same as on a pressure cooker, or the hot water heater, where the valves only open when the pressure inside exceeds safety limit. Is that the same in this case? How do I know what the safe pressure should be for the system, and how can I control that?

Unless the pressure regulating valve is closed too much to raise the pressure close to the relief valve pop point, then nothing should flow out of the bottom. I would have no problem with running the line into the bilge, I just don't want sea water blowing on the motor and electrical.

In terms of the safe pressure. Dow states that the maximum pressure the RO Membranes should ever see is 1000PSI of they will be damage. So most companies (including us) set the relief valve to pop at 950psi.