Watermaker recommendations

[Freespool]

Hello all

I am giving good up on throwing good money at my 17 year old Village marina watermaker and ready to buy a new 800 gallon per day unit to match the current capacity.

I am looking for a recommendation for a unit that you are pleased with. Any thoughts?

 

[ktdtx]

I had a Cruise RO unit. Somewhat modular and can install yourself if so inclined (I didn't). Great support and parts can be purchased anywhere--nothing really proprietary.
I was happy with it.
BUT--it was my only water maker--nothing to compare it to.

 

[menzies]

I had one of these put in at the end of last year - so first season using it. I got the remote station thrown in as a boat show special.

Very happy with it so far.

I have the Legend 475 (20 GPH) model. Plenty enough for us.

https://www.bluewaterdesalination.com/

 

[cardude01]

I don’t have a watermaker so for the Exumas was just planning on bringing enough drinking water for the entire trip in those bigger 2.5 gallon containers with the valve. I figure about a gallon per day for drinking water between the two of us, so that’s 12-13 of those containers. Not sure where I will put those. lol.

My fresh water tanks hold a total of 130 gallons so will probably have to refill those somewhere if gone for a month. Are there enough places to refill water tanks between the Berrys and Exumas?

Edit:
Sorry for that thread drift. Realize this is a watermaker-related thread but saw Menzies post so wanted to get my question in there. [emoji51]

 

[Commander Nomad]

I had Village Marine. It was great 20 years ago when nothing better was available. Now they are overpriced energy hogs with expensive proprietary components.

Decide if you want 12v or 120v.

120v, CruiseRO is best bang for the buck.

12v, Spectra is the leader in efficiency.

 

[Freespool]

Thanks for the replies, please keep them coming. Ironically we are in the Exumas and I can tell you that getting water here has been pretty painless. We are paying. 40 cents per gallon and have been able to buy it in all of the marinas. This includes Stanley, Emerald Bay and Georgetown.

 

[motion30]

Prowatermaker out of ft lauderdale. Check them out

 

[twistedtree]

A bunch of us Nordhavn folks have switched to FCI water makers for that sort of capacity. I don't have enough runtime to really judge, but reports so far are good. Support is excellent. I can say that with certainty.


I was (and mostly still am) a fan of Spectra, but my last one I think was pushing the limits of their Clark Pump technology. I had a Newport 1000 which ran at a higher pressure than the smaller Newports, and the Catalina that I previously had. I had a variety of issues with the Newport 1000 including cracked cylinders, and a variety of persistent leaks. I think it was just being pushed too hard. Support was good, but ended up being more than I wanted. Interestingly at FLIBS I saw that Spectra is now using more conventional high pressure pumps for their higher capacity water makers.

 

[Ken E.]

I've had a Village Marine unit for 15 years and use it throughout the summers mostly to top-up the tank between marina stops. Mostly trouble-free use, but as TT and others say, there are better units now available and I probably wouldn't buy another Village WM product, now Parker Hanifin.