Water Maker

Solar is good especially if you are near the Equator. I use 3 large panels to suppliment my house bank. They do work if properly integrated with a 3 stage solar charge converter. I have 420 watts combined between the 3 panels during peak sunlight in the summer in NJ.
Bill
 
In the Bahamas in the fall or winter, a wind generator maybe a better way to go. That way you get "free" power after dark or even on a cloudy day. :-)
 
Not to get too far off topic you will benefit from wind and solar. Wind is more efficiant. Wind can also work 24/7 especially in storms when the grid if docked can fail.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Billylll

Not to get too far off topic you will benefit from wind and solar. Wind is more efficiant. Wind can also work 24/7 especially in storms when the grid if docked can fail.
Bill

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LOL, No, haven't thought about wind or solar yet. I've got enough on my plate for this year. :D

But whomever said I will be heading off into the sunset is pretty much on the mark!

Bob
 
I based my answer mostly on my profession as I am a water treatment plant operator by trade. I have been involved in the operation of many pilot plant studies of RO and membrane softing plants. Same principle just referrers to whether the membrane is designed to treat freshwater, brackish water, or seawater and the pressure requirements to operate the type system. As most membranes go the worst thing that you can do is introduce them to chlorinated water. Chlorine will destroy most membranes rather quickly. You need to keep this in mind if you ever use city water to fill your tanks you may need a separate tank just to flush your system. On my system you have to have a separate tank as the flushing system is done manually and you have to start the system and then turn a y valve in the seawater line with separate tubing going to a tank of water made from the system. I use a couple of 5 gallon water jugs and just keep pouring into the one I am sucking from. There is also a lever to switch from tank 1 or 2 so it is fairly easy to fill the jugs as one tank is plumed to go to the water tank and the other I just coil the tubing up until I need to flush the system. I flush mine when I get back home after a trip so it is not really as bad as it seems. I agree that most systems you don’t need to flush after each time you run it but some are set up to do just that all depends on how many bells an whistles your unit has. Municipal systems flush on hourly run times as what you should do if you are running yours on a daily basis.
I have the HRO minipack system which is a 170 gallon a day unit. It was made in 24 of 12 volt models. The open frame model was 120 volt or 230 volt. http://www.hrosystems.com/ I bought my unit used and it was a 24 volt unit. I believe the reason I got it so cheap was because it was a 24 volt unit. After I looked at the wiring diagram I found out that the unit was just stepping down to 12 volts. I talked to the manufacture and asked them if I just changed the pressure pump motor and the feed water motor what else would I have to do to make it a 12 volt unit. Just bypass the 24 to 12 volt step down panel (the little one they said) and that should do it. So that’s what I did. Hooked up the unit and it started making water. It has salinity meter that keeps the water going overboard until the salinity is at a level then the solenoid valve lets the finished water into the tank. It wouldn’t switch even though I tested the TDS and the water was of very good quality. Well I miss one the solenoid valve was 24 volts. The vale was about $300 from HRO so the search began. Called the manufacture of the solenoid vale and got them to ship me one for about $150. It would have been a lot easier to just buy two 12 volt batteries and hook them up for 24 volts. Lesson learned.
I find that the 12 volt unit runs my batteries down rather quickly. I ended up buying a 120 volt to 12 volt converter to run the unit without killing my batteries. If I ever buy another unit it will be 120 volt unit, as I always run my genset any way to keep the ac going so the boat is nice and cool.
 
You need a charcoal filter only for the flush water genious.
Don't make this complicated it isn't.
 
Please explain why, You need a charcoal filter only for the flush water genious. I don’t know what a water genious is. Maybe you meant water, genius. Then I would know what you meant. What purpose is the charcoal filter for? The manufacture of my unit doesn’t recommend or mention anything about a charcoal filter on the flush water.
Since Bob’s original question was, I've never had a watermaker before so this is virgin territory for me. So, what should I consider, look for, think about and avoid in this part of my project?
I think he would like to know also.
I would not recommend a charcoal filter on the flush system. The reason why I wouldn’t is a charcoal filter will grow bacteria in them as they have no disinfection proprieties. After sitting a few weeks turn on the flush and it will pump the membrane full of bacteria. IMO a bad idea.
 
Randy,

Please don't cut on Bill for a few typos. You've got quite a few grammar and punctuation issues in your posts too. Let's be nice, shall we?
 
Your right Kurt, I was actually answering Bill’s question Randy what unit do you own and use? I own a HRO system minipack 170 and have used a number of systems on a municipal scale. Really not sure why the sarcastic response from him.
 
Charcoal filters on the fresh water flush line are for the most part a standard accessory on watermakers.
 
instead of dealing with a second tank just to back flush, a charcoal filter does the trick. much easier! how do you keep your flushing tnak clean anyway since you're putting clear water in?

better have a filter and use one tank, easier, safer. change teh filter every 6 months and you're done. As Cap Bill said, it's pretty much standard anyway
 
To the best of my knowledge, Katadyn units do not have a charcoal filter (at least mine doesn't). I asked the Spectra rep I met about adding one and he told me it wasn't needed. Since Katadyn units don't have a back-flush, I guess that's why.
 
quote:
Originally posted by mixman
[brSince Katadyne units don't have a backflush, I guess that's why.

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Kurt, If no back flush how do you clean out the membrane after it's run for a while? Doesn't salt and stuff build up in it?

Bob
 
Bob,

What's the percentage, 90% of the intake water is discharged as brine I think? I am assuming this process is what keeps debris from building up. My guess is that the back-flush option on some units is more about protecting the membrane from bacteria. Thus with a Katadyn, the trick is to either use it every few days or preserve (pickle) it. Pickling isn't very hard to do, so that's the state mine is in right now.

Here's something the Spectra rep also told me that I haven't been able to buy into yet. He said to feel free to use the heck out of the unit, in harbors, creeks, etc. Sure, oil will certainly ruin a membrane, but oil is on top of the water, not down by the raw water intake (except for some areas of CA where oil can come up from the sea floor). He says they've got customers running Spectras in Baltimore harbor without issue. I always thought they should only be run in "blue" water. I did run mine in the muddy creek my slip is in when I first installed it and it certainly output good, clean water, but I'm too chicken to trust that I wouldn't ruin the membrane if I did that all the time.
 
Kurt, for myself and the trips I take, pickling, I think is the best bet. A lot of our "trips" are me and the Admiral for 2, 3 or 4 days somewhere on the ICW and usually in a marina at least every couple of days.

The times I want the water maker are those 3-4 times a year when I head out alone or with a friend to some pretty remote places, usually in the Bahamas. So, I'd use the heck out of it for a month or so then pickle it for 2-3 months rather than keeping it running.

Sometimes, though, I get into some really remote places in inlets, rivers, creeks, etc. where the water is pretty silty or muddy. That's what I was concerned about.

Bob
 
Bob,

The theory is that the pre-filters are for the silt and mud. Those can be filtered out and won't harm a membrane. Oil and chlorine are the two biggest issues for damage to a memberane.
 
quote:
Originally posted by mixman

Bob,

The theory is that the pre-filters are for the silt and mud. Those can be filtered out and won't harm a membrane. Oil and chlorine are the two biggest issues for damage to a memberane.

Click to expand...


Ah OK, I got it. Just have to carry lots of replacement filter elements for some of the places I get too. :)

Having a shallow draft boat lets me do a lot of exploring.

Thanks,
Bob
 
There are oil pre-filters as well. But since oil floats on water it's not much of a problem unless you're in a very dirty harbor where you wouldn't want to be making water anyway.
 
Bob: A friends experience was not good using a watermaker in ICW locations. As near as we could tell the water was OK but too much silt, algae etc resulted in quickly plugging filters. Nothing fatal to the watermaker; the filters did what they were supposed to do but changing them frequently was a PITA.

Next he had the worry of bacterial contamination. Water makers are good but not perfect that’s why some add UV treatment. I also wonder how well they remove all the other chemicals we have in near shore water.

My limited experience would caution against your plan to use it when gunkholing.
 
This is the reason for my previous comments on the carbon filter.

A foreign visitor has died and at least two other people have become sick. This hotel installed a carbon filter system to remove the chlorine from the city water supply. This is why that IMO it is a bad idea because they will grow bacteria and viruses in them, then when you flush the system you can fill the membrane with bacteria.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1379545.html
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-disease-miami-hotel-brf-20091212,0,3840192.story
 
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