Water Maker recommendation

I have a GB 59 Aleutian and want to add a water maker. A contractor offered me a sea recovery water maker AWPC 450-1 220/60/1 PLNGR for $7,000. Seems like too much money. Anyone have a suggestion or an opinion? Thank you.

Is that the installed price? If it is, it’s not that bad. It takes a day plus to install one.

No. He said a day install. Plumbing, through hull and electric are all there. Just needs a unit. Do you know anything about the make or model? Thanks

No first hand knowledge but I know Sea Recovery has been around for a long time.

I suggest you get the right water maker for your intended use, and also for the boat’s intended mission. We all sell our boats someday. Sure the price is important, but more important - does it fit where you can maintain it, is the water production sufficient, are parts and service available, does tech support answer the phone when you call? I don’t think the complexity of the installation is high, but there is a lot to do.

We have been happy with a Spectra 12VDC unit. 12VDC allows us to make water while running in cleaner water, drastically reducing filter service. Ours was probably a 2-3 day installation. As we typically don’t run the generator at anchor, I am happy we don’t have to make more 120VAC power to make water. The previous owner gets the credit for this.

If we were on a “generator” boat, then 120VAC for the water maker would be fine. I would still be making water in open waters.

I’m sure others with more experience will be along shortly...

Good Luck

Water makers are not rocket science. Basically just a high pressure pump, a pressure regulator, and a membrane. After that, it just gets to how much automation you want. Parker purchased a number of water maker companies, Village Marine, Sea Recovery etc. The downside IMO is that the membranes can be proprietary (Parker) and a replacement can cost 4-5 times what a standard size would cost. There are a number of companies that use off the shelf membranes. My $.02

Stabi said:

Water makers are not rocket science. Basically just a high pressure pump, a pressure regulator, and a membrane. After that, it just gets to how much automation you want. Parker purchased a number of water maker companies, Village Marine, Sea Recovery etc. The downside IMO is that the membranes can be proprietary (Parker) and a replacement can cost 4-5 times what a standard size would cost. There are a number of companies that use off the shelf membranes. My $.02

Click to expand...

Agree with your comments. I have a Village modular unit mounted on a bulkhead. All the components are easily accessible and there's no automation. In 10 years of use, it has operated fine, with one membrane change at 8 years. But the membrane, proprietary from Parker, was really expensive, I think around $300 which is abusive. If I I installed another WM, I'd build it from generic parts. There are plans available to do this and several TF members at this site are knowledgeable and could probably provide some pointers.

Take a look at Cruise RO. They don’t make a fully automated unit but there’s less to fail then. Theirs have no proprietary parts. Keep it simple!

Cruise RO Water & Power: Watermakers for Boats & Yachts

I had a cruise RO and it worked well. Model I had could produce up to 40 gph. As said nothing proprietary==get filters from Amazon, Ebay or local stores.

At 20 gallons per hour, even a simple watermaker will cost $2500 in parts. $7,000 installed for a fully automatic water maker sounds reasonable. However, I didn’t look at the model. Is it fully automatic this means you just hit the on and off button, the unit adjusts pressure and does a fresh water flush each week on its own. So, ask the question, is it fully auto or do I need to dial in the pressure, will it do auto flushes on its own?

The next thing I would advise you to do is google the membrane replacement costs. I would love to pay $300 for a new membrane, my replacements from Parker cost $1,000. Know ahead of time what the future maintenance is going to be.

Is this an AC or DC system? Do you care? My system is 25GPH, luckily this has been adequate but my next one will be 40GPH. I hate running the Genny for 4 hours making water.

Parker watermaker membranes have come way down in price since they bought Village Marine. My first replacement membrane for our VM unit was over $700. The same membrane can be had for $265.

2.5" x 38" Replacement Membrane for Village Marine Watermaker | Seawater Desalination Reverse Osmosis Membrane | Replaces AquaPro 33-0238

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BMAP0W0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_fZXMEb58RN2T1

Stabi said:

Water makers are not rocket science. Basically just a high pressure pump, a pressure regulator, and a membrane. After that, it just gets to how much automation you want. Parker purchased a number of water maker companies, Village Marine, Sea Recovery etc. The downside IMO is that the membranes can be proprietary (Parker) and a replacement can cost 4-5 times what a standard size would cost. There are a number of companies that use off the shelf membranes. My $.02

Click to expand...

Sea Recovery membranes are available from the aftermarket. They can be a generic item, mine was.

Stabi said:

The downside IMO is that the membranes can be proprietary (Parker) and a replacement can cost 4-5 times what a standard size would cost. There are a number of companies that use off the shelf membranes. My $.02

Click to expand...

That is my experience too - the proprietary membranes are hugely marked up, as are many of the parts. Check out Cruise RO. The membranes and most parts are generic.

Also, the $7K price sounds good for a unit that produces 30+ gph and includes automatic flush, etc.

Lots of threads on this subject and again Cruise RO has worked great for us!

I recently replaced my Dow 40” X 2.5” membranes at around $700 for TWO of them, including new o rings, and a tube of i think silicone grease after several years of extensive service.

I chose Cruise RO to supply my watermaker components because the components are all off the shelf items. Rich at Cruise RO put the right parts together to work properly, and he has GREAT tech support so he gets my business.

I chose a modular watermaker because I use it every day, and wanted the control panel where I can get to it without moving stuff around, and going into the lazarette, or engine spaces, just to desalinate water. So my control panel is in the salon, easily accessible.

Here is a Great trick... Take your “test” water line and route it to a spigot that goes into your sink. That way you can fill up drinking water jugs easy peasy.

Crusty Chief said:

Lots of threads on this subject and again Cruise RO has worked great for us!

Click to expand...

Larry M said:

Take a look at Cruise RO. They don’t make a fully automated unit but there’s less to fail then. Theirs have no proprietary parts. Keep it simple!

Cruise RO Water & Power: Watermakers for Boats & Yachts

Click to expand...

I agree. Cruise RO is the way to go. I have a 40gph unit.

I had ksanders old 160gpd 12v Katadyn on my last boat. It worked well for how I used the boat, since when I needed to make water I was usually also traveling relatively long distances every day (4+ hours) so there was plenty of time with the engine running to make water. This watermaker was dead simple...no computers or fancy controls; just flip a breaker, test the water after a few minutes, and send it to the tank.

My current boat has a nearly new FCI Max-Q with automatic pressure control. Pretty slick, just press start and it takes care of the rest! And it makes ~50 gallons an hour. But it needs the generator to run. Because it's 240v, auto flush is a little problematic since the boat may be left with only 120v shore power. And I'm not sure if the auto flush timer restarts at the beginning every time the power cycles...if it does, it's kind of useless I think.

I recently called FCI with a question and they were prompt and helpful over the phone.

The whole thing, installed, cost over $20k...and this watermaker replaced an older, similarly sized unit, so I imagine some of the plumbing and wiring was reused.

I think I'd prefer a 700gpd DC Spectra watermaker. I've used one on a friends boat. Very efficient, no need for a generator or inverter, great support in my experience...

Yacht & Boat Water Maker by Cruise RO Water & Power
Another vote for CruiseRO. I built my own 40gph, but it's very similar to what they sell. I spent too much buying wrong stuff and things that failed too early. If I had it to do over, I'd buy one of theirs.

I have an older Sea Recovery. Old membranes were installed in 2004. Still working in 2019. Then I ran chlorinated water through them. Don't ask. Ruined them. New from Parker they were $330 and I needed three of them. Then two of the three vessels were pitted and going bad. Bought three new ones from Parker. $313 each. Then one of the new vessels was bad. Replaced under warranty. Ours is rated at 600 gals. per day. We have a remote control panel in the galley. No other automated features. I also purchased new intake filters, one for gross filtration, the other an oil separator. Add two charcoal filters, one for flushing and one for finish. Total rebuild cost from the manufacturers rep including seals, filters, and final installation = $3,800. That was a painful mistake. I need to run the genset to make water. We are in salt water. The water purity is about 175 conductivity. Incoming dock water is about 250 so it makes really good water.

I put in a Blue Water Desalination Legend 475 last spring and used it extensively in the Bahamas last year.

Loved it.

It is fully automatic with a remote at the helm. I have it set to flush every seven days year round. I am advised that if I keep to that I will never need to replace the membrane.

I wanted the automatic because I just know I will not be diligent in going into the lazarette and running it when I should.

It wasn't inexpensive, and I will never make it back by not paying for water in the island's, but having the convenience and allowing guests to have long showers, flush, do laundry whenever and as often as they want, is priceless.

RickyD said:

...Total rebuild cost from the manufacturers rep including seals, filters, and final installation = $3,800...

Click to expand...

That’s pretty good for a basically new 600 gallon per unit. We see a few water makers dumped that have been neglected or new owners who don’t want them. There’s not much of a used watemaker market. If I was looking, I consider a cast off and do what you did.

Don’t feel bad about the chlorine. I trashed one with oily water.

We're almost done getting our old Village Marine "Little Wonder" (12V, 160-200gpd) back up and running. It was pickled by the PO about 12 years ago, so we went ahead and bought the not-inexpensive membranes. We ended up buying them from Water Anywhere, which I believe is part of Applied Membranes, Inc.

If we were to buy new I would be looking at Cruise RO and Seawater Pro. Has anyone had experience with the latter?

ksanders;869440 I chose Cruise RO to supply my watermaker components because the [B said:

components are all off the shelf items.[/B] Rich at Cruise RO put the right parts together to work properly, and he has GREAT tech support so he gets my business.

I chose a modular watermaker because I use it every day, and wanted the control panel where I can get to it without moving stuff around, and going into the lazarette, or engine spaces, just to desalinate water. So my control panel is in the salon, easily accessible.

Here is a Great trick... Take your “test” water line and route it to a spigot that goes into your sink. That way you can fill up drinking water jugs easy peasy. :)

Click to expand...

Now we're talking my kind of system! Love the fact that the modular package can have the panel in the salon! Also, the fact that it is not automatic (Back washing every 7 days?) is a plus for me as some times I can't get to the boat to check my water tank level. Wouldn't constant back washing eventually empty the FW tank?

kevin, anything else you can add about Cruise RO?

Codger2 said:

Now we're talking my kind of system! Love the fact that the modular package can have the panel in the salon! Also, the fact that it is not automatic (Back washing every 7 days?) is a plus for me as some times I can't get to the boat to check my water tank level. Wouldn't constant back washing eventually empty the FW tank?

kevin, anything else you can add about Cruise RO?

Click to expand...

Rich is a really nice guy that answers his email almost 24X7x365.

I do not contact him much anymore since my system has been installed for several years but when I needed new membranes last summer he was right after it.

Here is a photo of the spigot that I use to fill my drinking water jugs, and a photo from when I installed a inline TDS meter from Amazon

I’m all about easy to use things. Having a watermaker that I have to go into my lazarette to just use means to me it won’t get used. Having it controllable from the salon means I’ll use it frequently.

The last photo is where the control panel is in my salon

Just completed our install of a US Watermakers 600GPD unit. I went with a framed untt vice the modular approach, as it fit best for our needs. The unit is on the aft cabin closet floor, where it fit perfectly below the hanging clothes.

The membrane is in the same closet, and again fits perfectly along the closet ceiling. All the filters (media, stainless, 5 micron, and carbon for flush) are mounted in a newly discovered void outboard of the closet.

It's an automatic unit that will reverse flush thru the carbon filter every 10 days.

I bought a Rainman watermaker. It’s about 35 gallons/hour (equal to 840 gal/day for comparison purposes) and is portable if you choose to leave it that way. It can also be installed permanently in its portable casing. What I like about it is that it’s pretty much plug ‘n play and if I want to go on a trip with a friend who does not have a watermaker, I can just bring mine. As we all know, when you run out of water, the trip is over. Another advantage with the Rainman unit is that when I sell the boat one day, I can take my watermaker with me. It also does not have proprietary parts. I paid $5,000 for it and it came with a bunch of extras - lots of extra filters, several containers of pump oil, a few containers of pickling stuff, etc. It runs on 110v and you just plug it into any wall outlet. I shopped other watermakers at the Miami Boat Show, and the price I paid was extremely competitive for the size unit I bought. Remember, the smallest unit may not be right for you because you have to consider how long it will take to refill your tanks, meaning how long do you want that thing to run. I wanted to be able to fill my tanks in the least time possible. Customer service has been beyond my expectation. They even emailed me recently to remind me to do my first oil change at 50 hours (break-in oil change) and thereafter, resume a normal maintenance schedule.

We had an Echo-Tec watermaker (900 Pro model) on our previous boat and it provided reliable service and high quality water for us. Main company is in Trinidad and they are all over the Caribbean, but they are available in the US.

They are designed for user installation and use generic parts which makes it easier to source parts and supplies around the world as you cruise. The PO of our boat installed this unit while cruising in the Caribbean.

Seawaterpro

I have one, about 5 of my friends have them.

Can’t go wrong and Mike has excellent after sales service

watermaker

We have a Sea Recovery 800 gpd 110 volt watermaker and when we are on our mooring for the summer we run it almost everyday. I am not a fan of auto flush. I don't like things like that running when I am not aboard. I religiously fresh water flush once a week for 5 minutes by manually pressing the flush button. I also do not like to remotely start the unit. Ours in easily accessed in the lazarette so I just go down and start the unit and watch all fittings and hoses then slowly increase psi to just over 800 and wait until the indicator shows good water going into the tank. Then take a sample and use my salinity meter and check ppm. If all is well it is usually between 200 and 250 ppm. Just the system I use. Ross

I recently installed a CruiseRO modular unit that produces 35-40 gph. It required considerable logistics to locate and plumb the various components...and an big labor/installation bill. If $7k for the Sea Recovery unit includes installation, I say that quote is a good one. However, two observations: #1, the model you cite only produces 20 gph...for a vessel the size of your Aleutian, I suggest you ask about adding a second 40" membrane to double the production output. #2, the model number suggests that it is a 220V unit...I assume your GB is good for that.

Richard