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"Many manufacturers state, in writing, that the water their units produce is for utility use only and should be segregated from potable water piping systems."

I've never seen a watermaker sold into the marine market that has this statement. Let alone "many" of them. I don't know where they got that, but I don't think they were referring to boat watermakers.

Yes, no chlorine at all over a membrane. Most watermakers have a carbon block filter to remove any residual chlorine from the tank flush water.

Cleaning/replacing the filters is as needed, and having bacteria on them doesn't bother me. Cleaning the membrane should rarely to never be necessary if good operating procedures are followed.

Mark
 
It’s nice to backflush your filters with every use and replace your filters in a timely fashion. We have a Z ion system which does help decrease marine growth throughout the tubing and filters. How long the interval is depends where your are. Obviously places with a lot of particulate in the water will require more frequent replacement as otherwise your production falls as the filter becomes clogged. Also I hate smelling or tasting sulfur from marine growth in filters that have sat for any length of time. Filters are generic across most machines so we just stock up when price is good. We only have RO water in our tanks so obviously been drinking it. Biggest thing about taste and problems is to just use the machine a lot. Know it’s counterintuitive but they seem to have less troubles the more they are used.
 
Some take out their filters and clean them . We don’t. Some use several in series with decreasing pore size( strainer, 10u then 5u) . We don’t Just a fine mesh strainer then a filter for each feed pump then carbon before the Clark pump. The paper filters are cheap. Even the carbon isn’t too bad. Inspite of using RO some place another filter before the faucet in the galley. We’ve yet to do that not seeing the need.
Interestingly use up more filters in New England than the Caribbean. Also ambient water temperature impacts rate of production. The Cape Horn does well in both places.
 
Stainless steel tanks, no watermaker, no water filters. Have been drinking municipal water from my tanks since 1994 and never had a smell or bad taste ....... except for that one time I got some putrid municipal stuff in Great Kills NJ.
 
Just a fine mesh strainer then a filter for each feed pump then carbon before the Clark pump.
A carbon filter should not be used in the seawater circuit. I'm thinking the carbon filter is only in the fresh water flush circuit, and otherwise isolated when operating with seawater?

Mark
 
Yup but he asked about filters so told him about filters. Assumed asking “ How often and how do people clean/ flush filters which may have bacteria growing on them. All I read says no chlorine at all as it wreaks the filter.”was the question so did my best to answer and be helpful not snarky. Please remove the hair across your butt. Thanks. And yes there’s a carbon before the Clark on flush
 
Yup but he asked about filters so told him about filters. Assumed asking " How often and how do people clean/ flush filters which may have bacteria growing on them. All I read says no chlorine at all as it wreaks the filter."was the question so did my best to answer and be helpful not snarky. Please remove the hair across your butt. Thanks. And yes there's a carbon before the Clark on flush
???

Wow. I was just asking a clarifying question in what I think was a pretty neutral manner. Talk about hairs...

Mark
 
One of the best things we did was put in a watermaker. No bacteria concerns. No longer stress about water usage. No need for disinfectants as nothing can get pass the filters and membrane. Given the change in lifestyle water use increased so tank water taste is gone.
Have a DC unit. Wind generators and solar suffice to make water. Expense is filters. In Caribbean need to replace is infrequent but up north where there's more sediment filters do become a real expense. Still. It's much cheaper than bottled over time, we aren't using disposable plastic containers and not lugging heavy water around. Win win all around.
I recently got my 5 year pickled watermaker up and running and it's prompted me to do a lot of thinking about different way to manage water aboard. BW (before watermaker) I was always conscious of how full my water tanks were much like automobile drivers are conscious of their gas tank level. Now, it's not as much of a concern. But there are other facets of water management that have changed too.

My 16GPH watermaker dumps into my big (135 gallon) aft tank and as you mentioned in an earlier post, after passing through the filters, the membrane, and the UV filter, it's about as close to pure as it could be. The water for my fresh water flush also comes from this tank and even though I have an inline charcoal filter for the FWF, I'd like to keep chlorine out of this aft tank if possible and don't plan to put water from the dock in it anymore, just RO water. Your comment that stated your RO water stays sweet without bleach gives me hope that will be the case for me too. Then, there are 2 smaller tanks under the port and starboard settees that have separate fills. I plan to continue to use a capful of bleach in these because they will contain both RO water that's flowed from the aft tank as well as water from various dockside water sources. Luckily, the aft tank is slightly higher than the settee tanks so when all 3 tank valves are open, the RO water from the aft tank naturally flows into those rather from them into the aft tank. Then, I have another charcoal filter in the cold water line to the galley sink so I can use this water for cooking without any chlorine taste. I thought of charcoal filtering all the water just downstream from the water pump but think I'd go through a lot of expensive charcoal filters that way, and I don't mind brushing my teeth or showering in water that has a bit of a chlorine smell. Just downstream from my UV filter and before it enters the aft tank I have a T in the line with a shutoff valve so I can refill those 2 gallon drinking water tanks that we've been buying at the grocery store with RO water. I plan to do that rather than continuing to buy and lug them to the boat.

Anyway, that's the plan I've come up with but since my watermaker has only been operational for a few weeks I haven't had a chance to see how satisfactory it will be in practice. Especially from those of you who have more experience with watermakers, does my plan sound feasible to you, and any thoughts regarding what I could do to make my system better?
 
I recently got my 5 year pickled watermaker up and running and it's prompted me to do a lot of thinking about different way to manage water aboard. BW (before watermaker) I was always conscious of how full my water tanks were much like automobile drivers are conscious of their gas tank level. Now, it's not as much of a concern. But there are other facets of water management that have changed too.

My 16GPH watermaker dumps into my big (135 gallon) aft tank and as you mentioned in an earlier post, after passing through the filters, the membrane, and the UV filter, it's about as close to pure as it could be. The water for my fresh water flush also comes from this tank and even though I have an inline charcoal filter for the FWF, I'd like to keep chlorine out of this aft tank if possible and don't plan to put water from the dock in it anymore, just RO water. Your comment that stated your RO water stays sweet without bleach gives me hope that will be the case for me too. Then, there are 2 smaller tanks under the port and starboard settees that have separate fills. I plan to continue to use a capful of bleach in these because they will contain both RO water that's flowed from the aft tank as well as water from various dockside water sources. Luckily, the aft tank is slightly higher than the settee tanks so when all 3 tank valves are open, the RO water from the aft tank naturally flows into those rather from them into the aft tank. Then, I have another charcoal filter in the cold water line to the galley sink so I can use this water for cooking without any chlorine taste. I thought of charcoal filtering all the water just downstream from the water pump but think I'd go through a lot of expensive charcoal filters that way, and I don't mind brushing my teeth or showering in water that has a bit of a chlorine smell. Just downstream from my UV filter and before it enters the aft tank I have a T in the line with a shutoff valve so I can refill those 2 gallon drinking water tanks that we've been buying at the grocery store with RO water. I plan to do that rather than continuing to buy and lug them to the boat.

Anyway, that's the plan I've come up with but since my watermaker has only been operational for a few weeks I haven't had a chance to see how satisfactory it will be in practice. Especially from those of you who have more experience with watermakers, does my plan sound feasible to you, and any thoughts regarding what I could do to make my system better?
How much water do you and those on board drink per day? I don't know where you moor or dock your boat... but most places have free potable water or it's cheap enough to buy for drinking.

I've not stored in a slip for 35 years and find that getting water is never a problem... except on the ocean. In the 35 years I would guess that I've been off shore fore less than 2 or 3 months. Going to a dock to fill up the tanks is easy peasy. Buying and carrying potable water in bottles is only a minor hassle. I've never run out of water. Our tank water is only used for cleaning... not drinking. And I am perfectly OK with that.
 
Sander, your approach has worked perfectly for us as we’ve just been coastal cruising for the past 5 years and good water is plentiful and free at most docks here in Maine, our boats tanks hold 200 gallons, and we drive right by grocery stores that sell those 2 gallon water containers like you use for drinking.
But my retirement is imminent and next year we plan to head further afield, and after a 35 year career of staying in hotels all over the world, I know that safe and good tasting water with good availability isn’t anything to be taken for granted in every city even while coastal cruising, and off course offshore it’s not available at all, and while visiting hurricane damaged islands water can be unavailable to transients or of questionable quality. Locals tend to get accustomed to the “funny” taste of their towns tap water (and what it can do to digestive systems not accustomed to it) but as I’ve traveled so extensively I’ve gravitated away from even trying to drink it, and in many places I’m not too thrilled about brushing my teeth with it and then spitting it out either. Many areas do have good water that’s available but you can’t depend on it always being available when you need it. A Watermaker allows you to control your onboard water quality and also allows you to go to docks only for an occasional fuel fillup, as well as giving you almost unlimited range because when you use up your 200 gallons or so of tanked and/or bottled water, you can always make more. 200 gallons sounds like a lot but for offshore passages I prefer to have a couple extra crew onboard to avoid fatigue from standing too long watches, so that’s only 50 gallons/person which doesn’t last long if dishes are washed and showers taken and fresh water toilets flushed as they would be while coastal cruising.
I can understand where you’re coming from and have practiced your approach for many years, but as I sail to more places, I look forward to not being tied to hoping the next dock we visit will have decent water available, or watching the water gage as we cruise and having to factor that into where we will stop for the night. It’s yet another piece of equipment that costs $$$, and requires some regular maintenance, but it seems worthwhile to me to have that control and that freedom when leaving my local cruising area in Maine. And since the Watermaker was already on my boat when I bought it, and I already have a rebuild and spare seal kit for the Clarke pump as well as a spare feed pump, all it’s going to cost me for the foreseeable future is for filters and a new membrane every several years. The energy to make water is essentially free because mine is a DC system and I have solar as well as wind generators and usually only run the Watermaker when I’m using the genset to make hot water or running the engine. I don’t think there’s any real right or wrong answer to this question, just different approaches that seem appropriate depending on the person and what kind of cruising they do. Since the title of the thread included ‘live aboard’ I assumed that usually means someone who is actively cruising and may not have regular access to bottled water or good quality dockside water fillups.
 
Sander, your approach has worked perfectly for us as we've just been coastal cruising for the past 5 years and good water is plentiful and free at most docks here in Maine, our boats tanks hold 200 gallons, and we drive right by grocery stores that sell those 2 gallon water containers like you use for drinking.
But my retirement is imminent and next year we plan to head further afield, and after a 35 year career of staying in hotels all over the world, I know that safe and good tasting water with good availability isn't anything to be taken for granted in every city even while coastal cruising, and off course offshore it's not available at all, and while visiting hurricane damaged islands water can be unavailable to transients or of questionable quality. Locals tend to get accustomed to the "funny" taste of their towns tap water (and what it can do to digestive systems not accustomed to it) but as I've traveled so extensively I've gravitated away from even trying to drink it, and in many places I'm not too thrilled about brushing my teeth with it and then spitting it out either. Many areas do have good water that's available but you can't depend on it always being available when you need it. A Watermaker allows you to control your onboard water quality and also allows you to go to docks only for an occasional fuel fillup, as well as giving you almost unlimited range because when you use up your 200 gallons or so of tanked and/or bottled water, you can always make more. 200 gallons sounds like a lot but for offshore passages I prefer to have a couple extra crew onboard to avoid fatigue from standing too long watches, so that's only 50 gallons/person which doesn't last long if dishes are washed and showers taken and fresh water toilets flushed as they would be while coastal cruising.
I can understand where you're coming from and have practiced your approach for many years, but as I sail to more places, I look forward to not being tied to hoping the next dock we visit will have decent water available, or watching the water gage as we cruise and having to factor that into where we will stop for the night. It's yet another piece of equipment that costs $$$, and requires some regular maintenance, but it seems worthwhile to me to have that control and that freedom when leaving my local cruising area in Maine. And since the Watermaker was already on my boat when I bought it, and I already have a rebuild and spare seal kit for the Clarke pump as well as a spare feed pump, all it's going to cost me for the foreseeable future is for filters and a new membrane every several years. The energy to make water is essentially free because mine is a DC system and I have solar as well as wind generators and usually only run the Watermaker when I'm using the genset to make hot water or running the engine. I don't think there's any real right or wrong answer to this question, just different approaches that seem appropriate depending on the person and what kind of cruising they do. Since the title of the thread included 'live aboard' I assumed that usually means someone who is actively cruising and may not have regular access to bottled water or good quality dockside water fillups.
I never drink tank water.
Tank water is only used for cleaning.
On passage take enough potable water in 1 or 2 gallon jugs
I had a water maker (small) and it was hardly used. More for emergency really.
Water maker is a nice luxury but I wouldn't male water from inside a harbor in any case.
 
We have a separate spigot for drinking water at the galley sink. It is on the same line as the watermaker flush and has a carbon block filter in the line to remove any bleach that might get in the tanks from shore water. There are places we go where we cannot use the watermaker so we must use shore water. I don't understand having a watermaker and buying bottled water. A watermaker, if working properly, provides water that you know is pure and safe, whereas bottled water comes with no guaranty that it is pure or safe.
 
I thought of charcoal filtering all the water just downstream from the water pump but think I'd go through a lot of expensive charcoal filters that way
We have a charcoal filter just downstream of the water pump. The filter needs changing about twice a year. They aren't expensive - ~$15-20/year.

We also use a charcoal filter on the tank fill from city supplies to remove chlorine before it gets to the tank (watermaker concerns like yours, and sediment filtration is a bonus). The only downside to that is one needs to fill the tank a bit slower for the filter to work well.

Mark
 
We have a charcoal filter just downstream of the water pump. The filter needs changing about twice a year. They aren't expensive - ~$15-20/year.

We also use a charcoal filter on the tank fill from city supplies to remove chlorine before it gets to the tank (watermaker concerns like yours, and sediment filtration is a bonus). The only downside to that is one needs to fill the tank a bit slower for the filter to work well.

Mark
That's interesting because I imagined that removing the chlorine out of all the dock/town water and the chlorine from bleach in my 2 settee tanks would go through charcoal filters a lot faster than that. Guess I've got another plumbing project on my list, but at least it's a small one. So instead of just my cold galley water being taste free, it all will be. ? Thats one of the things I like about this forum, using other cruisers experience to learn from and refine my boats systems
 
Well, I guess it has to be put in perspective on how we use it. We don't take on city water when cruising, and we do filter it going into the tank, and we don't treat our tank with chlorine.

Having said that, we are currently living on city water, not charcoal filtering the intake, and the filter still seems to last ~6 months. Even if it was changed 4x per year, that is still only $30-40/yr.

Mark
 
We have a separate spigot for drinking water at the galley sink. It is on the same line as the watermaker flush and has a carbon block filter in the line to remove any bleach that might get in the tanks from shore water. There are places we go where we cannot use the watermaker so we must use shore water. I don't understand having a watermaker and buying bottled water. A watermaker, if working properly, provides water that you know is pure and safe, whereas bottled water comes with no guaranty that it is pure or safe.
If you kept and sailed your 80's vintage boat in southern NE.... would you:
Store potable water in 35 year old tanks?
Use a water maker for drinking water only? If so how much would you make / day?
Use (filtered) town water for drinking as well as cleaning?
Use only water like Poland Spring bottled water for drinking and cooking?
 
If you kept and sailed your 80's vintage boat in southern NE.... would you:
Store potable water in 35 year old tanks?
Use a water maker for drinking water only? If so how much would you make / day?
Use (filtered) town water for drinking as well as cleaning?
Use only water like Poland Spring bottled water for drinking and cooking?
I'll take spring water over tap water any day
 
If you kept and sailed your 80's vintage boat in southern NE.... would you:
1) Store potable water in 35 year old tanks?
2) Use a water maker for drinking water only? If so how much would you make / day?
3) Use (filtered) town water for drinking as well as cleaning?
4) Use only water like Poland Spring bottled water for drinking and cooking?
1) Absolutely. Obviously they get cleaned and sanitized now and then. How many people in the US are drinking tap water from pipes older than 35 years?
2) No, for everything. Right now we make about 120 gallons a week.
3) No thanks. I know how clean my water is, I don't know about town.
4) I've never been a fan of bottled water. All that plastic and the occasional TV expose' on the actual quality of bottled water. I'll stick with the water I make, if the water the boat is in is clean enough.
 
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