Watermaker - where and when to use?

[Networker]

Perhaps I’m not searching the rights terms on google and this forum, but I’m having a hard time finding info on general where/when to use water makers. For instance, I’m at a marina in Nassau harbor, is it safe to make water here? Any ideas or pointers on where / when it’s ok to make water? Is it true you can’t make water while engine is running?

Thank you for help!!

[Lepke]

You can make water anywhere, but the open ocean is best. Most people make water with an engine running for power. Ports and harbors can have industrial pollutants and sewage.

[cr180]

Don’t know the answer. But some common sense would indicate that potentially contaminated input may yield contaminated output. For what it’s worth, we don’t make water in the Bahamas via our water maker unless we can see the bottom.

Don’t see an issue making water with either engine or generator running.

[Sdpaddler50]

Best to do it in the open ocean, cleaner water, to avoid loading up your filters and RO tubes. Making water with other systems is on is fine.

[callistov42]

I was in Gustavia inner harbor over the holidays one year and needed water. I called my water makers customer service line on Christmas Eve and the president of the company, who just happened to be in and working answered the phone. He told me not to hesitate to make water there. His explanation was the a fecal coliform bacteria molecule is (comparatively speaking) the size of a basketball and a salt molecule is the size of a softball. If the water maker is filtering out 99.9% of the salt molecules, it isn't missing ANY fecal coliform bacteria. Assuming that your intake is 4' to 5' feet below the surface where the most petroleum based pollutants would be, it will be fine. It was! Your prefilters may get dirtier faster but the quality of the water will be the same as if you were offshore.

[Networker]

Originally Posted by callistov42

I was in Gustavia inner harbor over the holidays one year and needed water. I called my water makers customer service line on Christmas Eve and the president of the company, who just happened to be in and working answered the phone. He told me not to hesitate to make water there. His explanation was the a fecal coliform bacteria molecule is (comparatively speaking) the size of a basketball and a salt molecule is the size of a softball. If the water maker is filtering out 99.9% of the salt molecules, it isn't missing ANY fecal coliform bacteria. Assuming that your intake is 4' to 5' feet below the surface where the most petroleum based pollutants would be, it will be fine. It was! Your prefilters may get dirtier faster but the quality of the water will be the same as if you were offshore.

Awesome and thank you! 😅

[chrisr]

the cleaner the water the better, however it's really only a case of protecting your primary filter/s. such will foul up quicker in muddy or similar water

on the otherhand, they are cheap enough...

my rule of thumb is if i can see 2' down, then i make water

personally i don't bother with worries about polluants / sewage or similar in the water. the w/m filters at a molecular level (to get rid of the salt), so anything bigger than a salt molecule is removed. that's good enough for me

cheers,

[Networker]

Originally Posted by chrisr

the cleaner the water the better, however it's really only a case of protecting your primary filter/s. such will foul up quicker in muddy or similar water

on the otherhand, they are cheap enough...

my rule of thumb is if i can see 2' down, then i make water

personally i don't bother with worries about polluants / sewage or similar in the water. the w/m filters at a molecular level (to get rid of the salt), so anything bigger than a salt molecule is removed. that's good enough for me

cheers,

Awesomeness, thank you

[HeywoodJ]

Another vote for just about anywhere. We can’t always be in clean, clear water. If making water in turbid places make sure you have spare filters and swap/clean them early. The harder you push the filters the more difficult it gets to be to clean and reuse them.

In general OK with the engine on (the voltage will likely be better). If, for some reason, your engine shares an intake with the watermaker then it might cause problems to run both at the same time if not sized and plumbed properly. Otherwise can’t think of any reasons not to.

[purplesunrise]

We make water all along the East Coast (even the Chesapeake) and nearly everywhere in The Bahamas but not Nassau - especially in a marina. In many anchorages near the sea the best time to make water is on the incoming tide. We have found that our watermaker water is better than any dock water. Also, if you are concerned about coliforms in your drinking water, then add a household undersink RO to run off your pressure water system and you will have double RO and never have to worry about most, if any, contaminants.

[kiwin]

The only issues with running your watermaker in dirty water are firstly clogged primary filters, and secondly petrochemical damage. Any oils are likely floating so they are unlikely to be sucked into the watermaker inlet. If you are running Dacron primary filters you can and should backflush and wash & dry them for re-use.
In general it's better to run your watermaker than not. So if you need water, run that thing.