Home under-sink reverse osmosis on boat?

[dstrout]

I just noticed an under-sink reverse osmosis system from iSpring on amazon

Amazon.com: iSpring 75GPD 5-Stage Reverse Osmosis RO Water Filter System with Booster Pump #RCC7P, Compare to RO5P-WF, RO-PUMP, Aquatec ® RO585P: Home Improvement

Has anybody tried adapting one of these for use on a boat? It claims 92-98% removal of sodium and 75 GPD.

I know the major drawback will be power, but beyond that do you think it would work?

Thanks,
Dave.

[a64pilot]

Your not the only one that has been wondering.
I know these aren't watermakers of course, but for ensuring the quality of water form your water tank">fresh water tank is good, what's wrong with them? Some don't have booster pumps, so how do they work? Don't you have to have high pressure to "squeeze" the water through the membrane?

[thinwater]

The short answer is no. First, the inlet water spec (2000 ppm TDS) is about 15 times lower than sea water. Second, chloride reduction is typically not as good as the quoted figure, so multiple passes would be needed (different membrane). Third, I doubt the water in the Chesapeake is clean enough anywhere for ROs to run well.

It would certainly clean-up low-quality marina water.

[Tellie]

Even if you adapted this unit to your fresh water tanks you would need a salt water RO system to keep up with the waste this system would produce.

[Canibul]

The way I understand it, these are okay for lake or swamp water that's been filtered for sediment. Or questionable water from anywhere, but basically it has to be clear fresh water. I think pumps on the order of 250 psi are enough to run fresh water through a fine filter membrane. And they don't worry a lot about corrosion, from a sailors standpoint.

Sea water needs something like 1000 psi to force it through a salt-proof membrane. So hence the stainless pumps, fittings, heavy pressure vessels, lines, etc. and costs.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Tellie

Even if you adapted this unit to your fresh water tanks you would need a salt water RO system to keep up with the waste this system would produce.

Unless of course you were a weekend warrior, and a 5 gl or so tank would be enough between marina visits.
See for the foreseeable future, that's me, and the current water filter I have under the sinks cartridge is gone, and a replacement is insanely priced.
Actually water from my tank seems fine, may add simple 10" charcoal filter to remove chlorine and or odors / taste for the galley sink.

I guess these are Tellie questions, but if anyone else knows, I'd appreciate it.

Before my Father died, he was on home hemodialysis, and his RO had two huge say 5' tall by 8" charcoal tanks, I'm sure to remove chlorine before the RO got the water, really large tanks.

If I put a couple of 10" charcoal filters inline with a hose and if I filled the boats water tank slowly, like maybe a gallon a minute, would that remove much chlorine?

How else other than chlorine can you disinfect drinking water, say 150 gls? I have an aluminum water tank and I believe it's life will be greatly determined by the amount of chlorine that goes into it.