Seawater Pro Portable watermaker

[truant2]

Has anyone had experience with this new watermaker or thoughts about it after reading their specs? Also, this system vs the Rainman system? Thanks.

 

[Lepke]

They're both expensive for the output. For the price of the cheapest unit you can build a 40+gph system with common parts.
If you don't want to do it yourself, https://www.cruiserowaterandpower.com/ would be a better choice.

 

[Dougcole]

We are pretty happy with our AC powered (we run it off of our generator) high output Rainman. I get close to 35 gph out of it, which seems like pretty high output for a $5K watermaker. One thing to keep in mind when comparing prices is that there is no install cost on a portable.


I like that I can take it home and store it in my climate controlled garage when we don't use it. Also nice that you can take it to a repair facility if needed and save money over having someone come to the boat. If we move up to another boat in the future I will take it with me if the new boat has no watermaker, sell it if I don't need it. You will never recover much of the price of an installed watermaker when you sell the boat.


Downside is that it is more trouble to set up for use than a built in. It's also kind of loud.


Sorry I don't know much about the seawater pro.


Doug

 

[Flatswing]

We also have the AC Rainman. Bought it used from a transatlantic sailor. 35+ gph and very easy to use, but like Dougcole, we find it noisy. This year will use our sea water wash down hose to supply it while underway rather than at anchor.
Chris Burton - the East Coast distributor is very responsive.

 

[Dougcole]

We also have the AC Rainman. Bought it used from a transatlantic sailor. 35+ gph and very easy to use, but like Dougcole, we find it noisy. This year will use our sea water wash down hose to supply it while underway rather than at anchor.
Chris Burton - the East Coast distributor is very responsive.

Yes, I bought mine (barely) used as well, $2,000 IIRC, from the TF classifieds section. Another advantage of a portable is their ease of sale/purchase.

 

[ksanders]

They're both expensive for the output. For the price of the cheapest unit you can build a 40+gph system with common parts.
If you don't want to do it yourself, https://www.cruiserowaterandpower.com/ would be a better choice.

Rich sold me my component based watermaker years ago.

I use it every day. 365 days a year for over 5 years now.

I can tell you that as a stayaboard I would not want to deal with a portable.

 

[Dougcole]

Rich sold me my component based watermaker years ago.

I use it every day. 365 days a year for over 5 years now.

I can tell you that as a stayaboard I would not want to deal with a portable.

If I was using it every day I wouldn't want to either, a built in system is clearly the better choice in your situation.


We spend 1 to 2 months aboard in the Bahamas where we use our Rainman every couple of days. The rest of our boating year is comprised of a few weekend trips around Florida, where there is zero need for a watermaker. The portable is a better choice for us, but not right for everyone.


I checked out the seawater pro portable, and I agree that it seems expensive for an output of 10 gph. It is compact and the battery component is kind of cool on the surface. But I think I read that the battery will only run the pump for three hours between charges, so it will only make about 30 gallons of water. That's not great. Practical use tells me that you would need to keep it charging the entire time you ran it, so what's the point of the battery? It's interesting tech though. Maybe a good solution for a small boat using minimal water?

 

[Moonfish]

We are getting the Seawater Pro portable unit. We WERE going to Thailand next month and planned on testing it aboard our charter boat for a week, but covid has delayed that trip.

We’ll test it out on our boat and publish videos of our experience with the unit. The things we really like are the ability to desalinate seawater AND purify fresh (murky) water, compact design for portability (take it camping), and being able to run/charge the unit with 110 or 12V.

And we’ll be removing/selling our cantankerous old 12V Village Marine Little Wonder unit.

 

[tcoop]

Darren,

Did you have a chance to use the Seawater Pro portable unit this year?

Tim

 

[Moonfish]

No, unfortunately not. Part of the "deal" was we would test it out and write about it for Latitudes & Attitudes (in addition to our own tested videos), but last year Bob sold the magazine and the new owners cleaned house. So after 18 years I'm no longer associated with Lats & Atts.

My wife, who had been the Lats & Atts Ad Director for the last 10 years, said she'd get a hold of the owner and see if he's still interested. Will let you know!

 

[tcoop]

Thanks, the portable water makers seem like a great contingency without going through a complicated install.