Watermaker Owners: What's your TDS/ppm????

[mvweebles]

I installed a CruiseRO 30 GPH (two membrane) watermaker 2-months ago. Have gone from Ensenada to Mazatlan and made water in remote anchorages and underway, under 400 gallons total. I'm seeing TDS of 250-270 ppm - is that typical? CruiseRO sais 270 ppm is "perfect" that anything under 500 ppm is good drinking water. My wife thinks there's a slight off-taste.

Thoughts?

[bergius]

That does sound quite high. The Berlin water we fill our tanks with in winter tests around 330ppm. With our PowerSurvivor 40E, we typically see 20-40ppm. We test in the beginning and the end of each run.

That said, 270ppm should be totally drinkable at least on the level TDS meter can say.

[Lepke]

When you make water you need to know the approximate input water temperature. Membranes are rated at 77°F ( 25°C). Warmer water more output, colder, less. See chart. The membrane is rated for max pressure difference between the 2 sides. Too much pressure can tear the membrane and you get high TDS. When you start making water you need to bring on pressure over a minute to allow the membrane internal pressures to equalize or you can tear the membranes.
My system is very similar to CruiseRO except I have a bigger pump and could run 4 membranes. But because I make water in fresh water, too, I have several prefilters including a 20, 5 and 1 micron. I think because of the prefilters I get a TDS about 1/3 of yours from salt water and almost zero in fresh water. The water I usually use is 55°F or lower, so at the correct flow, I only get about 50% of the membrane rating unless I heat the water. Also when I made the system I didn't really understand RO so I have tap for taking pressure from the product and waste lines. When I set my pressure by setting the flow rate based on the temp output table and my TDS is low and membranes over ten years old.
There are filters you can add that improve taste.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Lepke

When you make water you need to know the approximate input water temperature. Membranes are rated at 77°F ( 25°C). Warmer water more output, colder, less. See chart. The membrane is rated for max pressure difference between the 2 sides. Too much pressure can tear the membrane and you get high TDS. When you start making water you need to bring on pressure over a minute to allow the membrane internal pressures to equalize or you can tear the membranes.
My system is very similar to CruiseRO except I have a bigger pump and could run 4 membranes. But because I make water in fresh water, too, I have several prefilters including a 20, 5 and 1 micron. I think because of the prefilters I get a TDS about 1/3 of yours from salt water and almost zero in fresh water. The water I usually use is 55°F or lower, so at the correct flow, I only get about 50% of the membrane rating unless I heat the water. Also when I made the system I didn't really understand RO so I have tap for taking pressure from the product and waste lines. When I set my pressure by setting the flow rate based on the temp output table and my TDS is low and membranes over ten years old.
There are filters you can add that improve taste.

Thanks - last I made water was crossing from La Paz to Mazatlan. I'd imagine the water was in the mid-70s (F), so close to the reference temperature.

I slowly run the pressure to 800psi which I believe is the instructions. But perhaps I should try a slightly lower pressure. System is new to me. Input and advice is welcomed.

[Detazio]

We also have a CruiseRO, single membrane on ours. We've seen as low as 170 with typical around 220. We have had as high as 270. Cruising year round Gulf coast, Bahamas, Mexico, Belize.

[GordMay]

My wife’s chief complaint, with our R/O water, was it’s bland lack of taste.

[Tin Tin]

Originally Posted by GordMay

My wife’s chief complaint, with our R/O water, was it’s bland lack of taste.

You can add some zest to your RO water with a mineralizer cartridge, adds back minerals your body expects from a clear mountain stream! We did this and the water tastes much better.

[DenisHeinrichs]

Our system, based upon CruiseRO (actually half the parts are from them), gave us about 170ppm between Ensenada and Mazatlan. Up in Canada we were seeing under 50ppm (a lot of fresh water in Desolation Sound).


We run our water through a carbon-block filter which removes any 'odd' tastes as well as removes any chlorine from dock water for our fresh water flushing.


From what I know, the pre-filters affect throughput more than the TDS, as the membrane will remove particles way smaller than any prefilter can. It is however, important to keep them clean as the membranes need good flow to stay healthy.

[s/v Jedi]

I recommend you adjust pressure for rated output of the membranes, not for a specific number.

When you adjust for rated output, you’re always good regardless of salinity levels. Adjust rated output for temperature.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

I installed a CruiseRO 30 GPH (two membrane) watermaker 2-months ago. Have gone from Ensenada to Mazatlan and made water in remote anchorages and underway, under 400 gallons total. I'm seeing TDS of 250-270 ppm - is that typical? CruiseRO sais 270 ppm is "perfect" that anything under 500 ppm is good drinking water. My wife thinks there's a slight off-taste.

Thoughts?

I believe I normally have around 100 ppm in Bahamas. I also feel the water is a little "off tasting", but is much better tasting going through a standard carbon drinking water filter. It also tastes better to me when it is cold.

[motion30]

I have a similar size system and in the florida keys my numbers are very close to what yours are. Mayan are just a touch higher. If I go further North Hollywood or Palm Beach the numbers are much lower.

[sv_Zanzibar]

We’re in the Virgin Islands with an Aquatec 135 watermaker and have been seeing 200-250ppm. Crew agrees that the water tastes great, better than normally available shore or bottled water.

[sailcrazy]

We're in /st Thomas, just made water yesterday...with our CruiseRO 30. We had TDS of 189. We've seen TDS, here in Caribb waters, from 170 to 490...always at 800psi. Can't tell you why the big variation, but if its 600 or less(Rich says 500 or less) we use it. We did replace our 2 membranes a couple of years ago, and we pickle it every year over the hurricane season, FWIW.

[argonauta1]

Depending on the salinity of the sea water, nominally 25000 PPM,( I would get a product around 200/250 PPM. 500 PPM suggests an aging membrane. The WORLD Health Organization (WHO) suggests a max of 1200PPM for long term use. We always made our drinking water via a line directly into a dedicated jerrry jug rather than using it from the main tanks.

[CaptainMarkS]

When we were making water in your area with our Sea Recovery Quiet Whisperer the TDS was consistently between 150-200. We only change our RO membrane once the TDS exceeds 800. Lime juice is amazing at removing any funk in the taste!

This time of year one has to be be careful monitoring red tide around Mazatlan. That will affect your taste and membrane health. If contaminated, follow instructions on how to remove biological contamination.