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04-04-2020, 11:18 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
City: La Conner
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 120
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Plugging prefilters
Does anyone have advice on how to extend the life of your watermaker prefilters in plankton/algae rich water? My 20 micron plugs after several hours of running.
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04-05-2020, 05:48 AM
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#2
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Guru
City: Fort Myers, FL... Summers in the Great Lakes
Vessel Name: Slow Hand
Vessel Model: Cherubini Independence 45
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 12,834
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Have you considered switching to a larger filter housing? Maybe post a picture of your current filter and housing.
Ted
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Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush.....
"Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters
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04-05-2020, 07:49 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
City: PNW
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 196
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TwistedTree should chime in shortly with his media filter solution. It works, down side is that it takes up quite a bit of real estate.
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04-05-2020, 08:02 AM
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#4
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Guru
City: Oconto, WI
Vessel Name: Best Alternative
Vessel Model: 36 Albin Aft Cabin
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 3,145
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I had the same problem. I got rid of the filter. I never drink the water from my tanks, just use it for washing and sometimes boiling corn.
Coffee, drinking, iced tea, tooth brushing and pill swallowing uses bottled water.
pete
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04-05-2020, 09:48 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
City: La Conner
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 120
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I've heard about the use of a sand filter. Would like to find a diagram and one small enough.
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04-05-2020, 10:04 AM
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#6
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Guru
City: Gibsons, B.C., Canada
Vessel Name: Island Pride
Vessel Model: Palmer 32'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,414
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Many filter mfgrs. make several different sizes of filter housings that can take some LARGE elements. Maybe also twinning those housings would do the trick.
Just choose a suitable element for the housing that will remove the offenders. You likely won't find them on sites like Amazon although I won't say can't.
Considered an industrial type filter? Some can be backwashed although that may be more than you want/need and they will be larger, maybe too large.
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04-05-2020, 10:09 AM
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#7
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,680
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What size and type filter does the manufacturer recommend? We use a pleated vs a wound prefilter. The pleated filters have more surface area than a wound filter and are easier to clean.
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04-05-2020, 01:48 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
City: PNW
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 196
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I sourced a 7x35 tank and a manual valve from here.
https://aquatroltech.com/
Using Twisted's suggestion, instead of sand I used Micro Z.
Last summer was my first year and it worked great.
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04-05-2020, 02:13 PM
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#9
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,121
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We made great water offshore and in the Bahamas - no problem. When we got back to the ICW it was all over. There was so much crap in the water that it simply was not worth the effort. Plus apart from the algae etc, there is coliform contamination, oil, etc. Your RO membranes are not capable of efficiently removing coliforms or other bacteria. We did find we could rinse (back flush) prefilters a few times using a hose on the swim platform. Do not honestly think you will achieve much by having sequential prefilters with tiered porosity.
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04-05-2020, 02:24 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
City: Portland, OR
Vessel Name: Serendipity
Vessel Model: 1977 37' Puget Trawler
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 147
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I made all my own water for years and developed a system.
1) use 30 micron filters. Buy them from Home Depot or similar, instead of from a water maker manufacture or marine store. Much cheaper and well suited to purpose.
2) Change them all the time. More often than you need to. But don't throw them out, just tie a rope to them and trail them overboard over night at anchorage, they will rinse themselves.
3) Do NOT make water in anything other than clear ocean water. If it has algae in it your membrane will not last long even if the filters are clean. Buy water or go out to the open ocean to make water if need be. Filtering is NOT the answer to unclean water.
4) Do not make water in a marina. yuck.
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04-05-2020, 02:47 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
City: La Conner
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 120
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Plugging prefilters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stabi
I sourced a 7x35 tank and a manual valve from here.
https://aquatroltech.com/
Using Twisted's suggestion, instead of sand I used Micro Z.
Last summer was my first year and it worked great.
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Did you put this in lieu of the 20 and 5 mic filters or did you put forward of them?
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04-05-2020, 04:47 PM
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#12
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Guru
City: Between Oregon and Alaska
Vessel Name: Charlie Harper
Vessel Model: Wheeler Shipyard 83'
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 3,023
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I use washable 20 & 5 micron prefilters and a 1 micron disposable before the HP pump. My housings are 4.5x20 and the filters go a long time between cleanings. The 1 micron last about a year and I make all my water, liveaboard, have laundry, dishwasher, etc.
I winter on the Columbia River and make water there, too. That's why I have the washable filters. No issue with silt or algae.
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04-05-2020, 04:59 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
City: PNW
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 196
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigsalmonfish
Did you put this in lieu of the 20 and 5 mic filters or did you put forward of them?
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The media filter is plumbed ahead of the 20 & 5. We were on the boat for 5 months last year and only had to rinse the 20 mic twice, never did rinse the 5. I would backwash the media filter for 15 minutes about every 10 hrs of run time
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04-05-2020, 08:16 PM
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#14
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Guru
City: Gibsons, B.C., Canada
Vessel Name: Island Pride
Vessel Model: Palmer 32'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,414
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Better advice than mine.
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04-05-2020, 08:49 PM
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#15
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Guru
City: Bellingham WA
Vessel Name: Hatt Trick
Vessel Model: 45' Hatteras Convertible
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,973
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Big, I'm in about the same locale as you and have no problems with 5 mc filters, which I change annually. The best advise was mentioned above: only make water in open water, away from anchorages and marinas. That procedure has worked for me for many years.
__________________
Ken on Hatt Trick
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04-06-2020, 06:07 AM
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#16
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Guru
City: Vermont
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10,092
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I struggled with this for years, and was forming the opinion that a water maker was more trouble than it's worth. Then I installed a media filter, and made nearly all my water for the next couple of years. To me, there is no substitute if you are in biologically rich waters.
Let me also venture a guess that you have a Spectra watermaker? By all indications, they plug up much faster and easier than other water makers.
__________________
MVTanglewood.com
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04-06-2020, 09:45 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
City: La Conner
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 120
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twistedtree
I struggled with this for years, and was forming the opinion that a water maker was more trouble than it's worth. Then I installed a media filter, and made nearly all my water for the next couple of years. To me, there is no substitute if you are in biologically rich waters.
Let me also venture a guess that you have a Spectra watermaker? By all indications, they plug up much faster and easier than other water makers.
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I have a Aquamarine About 40gph so I am pumping lots of water through the filters. A media filter seems like the solution to this. Just trying to find one that makes sense
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04-06-2020, 10:06 AM
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#18
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Guru
City: Saint Petersburg
Vessel Name: Weebles
Vessel Model: 1970 Willard 36 Trawler
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 7,179
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Knowing that TT has a fantastic blog, I found his post on media filtration. Thought I'd share - many thanks as always to a super-helpful fellow forum member!
Adventures of Tanglewood: Water Maker Media Filter
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Cruising our 1970 Willard 36 trawler from California to Florida
Join our Instagram page @MVWeebles to follow along
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04-06-2020, 10:06 AM
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#19
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Guru
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
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IMO water makers are not for use in anything but clear water. I think they are primarily desalinators that must prefilter other stuff to get to the water they properly work on.
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04-06-2020, 12:24 PM
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#20
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Guru
City: Vermont
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10,092
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigsalmonfish
I have a Aquamarine About 40gph so I am pumping lots of water through the filters. A media filter seems like the solution to this. Just trying to find one that makes sense
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Well, that somewhat blows my theory that Spectra water makers are more susceptible to this. They generally have much lower pressure boost pumps (~5-10psi) vs typical AC powered water makers with closer to 30 psi.
Regardless, in my experience a media filter is the ticket, at least for the PNW and the NE US. And it's not because of running in dirty water because I only make water out in open seas. It's all about the microbial life in the water. Basically little sea beasties.
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MVTanglewood.com
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