Boat Watermakers 101

Shannon writes, "This year we managed to get out on our 47-foot pilothouse, we are semi-retired and stayed out for most of July and August. We noticed that many of the marinas had water restrictions and we were limited to the amount we could fill up when we stopped for diesel. We would like to install a watermaker but don't know where to start. What is your advice?"
Check out the PYS website for more information on watermakers, www.pysystems....
If you like our videos, leave us a review, pysystems.ca/re...
Subscribe to the PYS KZbin Channel
www.youtube.co...
Subscribe to the PYS Newsletter: confirmsubscri...
Follow Us:
/ pacificyachtsystems
/ pacificyachtsystems
/ pysystems

[@randomtraveler3363]

Adding a small water maker to a smaller boat can also represent a weight saving. I have a 12 volt modular water maker, powered by Lithium Ion battery bank. The weight of the water maker is 60Kg which equates to about 60 litres of water. This means that my water tankage can be reduced and I can have all the water I want on my small boat, which helps for cruising to remote areas. It is much easier that carrying all the weight of the extra water.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Appreciate the input. Thanks for sharing.

[@mvdospeces4370]

Yet another great video! I am a stayaboard on my 47' pilothouse boat and have only used desalinated water for several years. Based on that my opinion is one you rightfully touched on. That is where do you operate the watermaker from. The best installation is one where you can easily operate the watermaker without having to move things around to access the panel. For example if you have a sole buried engine room (like most

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheBowen747]

after using the water maker for several years.. have you notice any health changes in drinking the water..

[@jamessanders4647]

@@TheBowen747 Yes!!!! Terrible changes!!! My skin got brown from the sun in Mexico from being on the boat without need for water! I started to develop wrinkles, and my hair started thinning! Oh, and I have also developed an incredible urge for margaritas and fresh sea food!!!

[@TheBowen747]

@@jamessanders4647 ill see ya next year in the keys just another 12 to 14 months to go,

[@romeobravo3793]

For what it’s worth, I just installed a Schenker ZEN 100 water maker and am super happy with it. It makes 100 liters per hour, it’s very compact, fully automatic AND it only uses 400Wh, thanks to a patented energy recovery system. A device with similar performance would be rated at over 2 KWh. So I run two Victron AGM super deep cycle batteries rated at 170 Ah each on my motorboat and can fill the 320-liter water tank in three hours without touching the generator. Highly recommend the ZENs. They come in both AC and 12/24 DC, in 30-, 50-, 100-, and 150-liters per hour capacities.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks for sharing Romeo.

[@Beekeeping_Bro]

That is perfect points Jeff, One of the best KZbin channels 👍

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Glad it was informative. Appreciate you watching, Amir.

[@arnehayn4354]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this issue. One topic which is always important for me selecting a system: availability of after sales service and spare parts. It might not be an issue in Canada but it is at least in my part of the world.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks for sharing and for watching. Cheers!

[@ackack612]

Yeah, great question and answer! Presented very well.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Appreciate the feedback! Thanks for watching.

[@davidking1501]

As you have already rightly stated the lower litres per hour models may not be the best option for a given size tank due to will need to run the units harder to do the same job, so if you can find a reference in the specification, please and try to find the duty cycle of the unit and if available the mean time for fail calculations. Automated unit do increase the useability of the process but also increase the complexity of the unit that can affect the long-term reliability. Sensors and pre primer water pumps can fail, pays to have the spares prior to departure

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks for adding this, David.

[@zooniethelazoon]

Also consider a remineralising cartridge to put the 'taste' back in the water. I really don't like the palatability of pure RO water.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks for sharing.

[@TheOldGuy]

Thanks for the videos! How about a tour of your sailboat?

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Maybe one day! Appreciate you watching.

[@markomarten]

As a thought see if your boat manufacturer would recommend a type if you were to have one factory fitted, it might be a bit difficult as certain things like pipe work maybe re direct to make it happen. I don’t think installation is necessarily difficult but like most things preparation is the key, knowing what space you have is important as is allowing for access to do check the equipment from time to time. I personally would recommend getting professional advice and installation, not the cheapest option but you have the knowledge it’s been done right. If you try to do things as cheaply as possible you will probably find it won’t work so well and you end up paying more in the end. Another thing to look at is the manual that came with the boat and see what fits in where, location can be important too. Don’t rush it over a weekend, make it a project and learn from it as you go along, it might be worth learning how it works so you can spot any problems or issues.

[@Trump985]

What kind of maintenance is required of a water maker? I have a small tug and getting water in the winter is a pain in the ass. She has plenty of space and 10,000 gallon water tank. She doesn’t have much electrical power, only has 2 small gensets that are 45 kw each. These gensets are only 208v three phase. I estimate I have 10-12 KW spare power available to run a water maker. We carry 45 days of fuel (47,000 gallons). I’m wondering if a water maker is worth it? The boat sits idle with a crew on it the time, so we run out of water long before fuel. I’m considering a water makers but I’d like to know how many hours and how much it will cost to maintain one. Our water consumption is roughly 500- 600 gallons a day underway and 100-200 gallons a day when not operating. We never have shore power available and we run our gensets 24/7. So we can’t spare more then 12KW for a water maker. Please excuse my ignorance as I’ve never worked on a boat with a water maker, most of them ran 24-7 and water and fuel lasted about the same number of days. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[@stephenscott963]

Good afternoon, New to channel and so far very helpful! I’m getting into the power boating experience, a little nervous about all things electrical! Would you, or maybe I haven’t seen it anywhere yet, consider showing physically how things work start to finish how they run etc with the actual device, water maker, generators etc? Thanks, keep up the great info videos?

[@shaneriehl223]

I like the encouragement to do one’s own research, but I disagree with asking your neighbor, or at least relying on your neighbor too heavily, because your neighbor likely did no research and heard from a friend of a friend that there’s some cheap DIY water maker that you can power with a household vacuum, and that’s the best option because you can just use a cheap Home Depot shop vac (obviously with a vacuum rather than pump... you will need to pour the fresh water from the shop vac into your tanks, but this is a trivial step worth the cost savings). All you need is an RO membrane, duct tape, and the most powerful shop vac you can find to suck the water through the RO membrane. Lol, please no one do this... I’m joking.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks for sharing Shane.

[@Rockabuy2002]

Love to watch more on this….. considering putting one on my 42 power boat. What are components, how do they work, power consumption?

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks for the feedback - we'll definitely consider it.

[@elysiumtech3902]

Greetings Mr Cote. Like always enjoying the shows. I look after a Hinckley Talaria. The water maker is a huge pain. I am always changing out the filters and they smell terrible. I am wondering if there is a better system available. I was thinking of a distiller or a unit that pulls water from the atmosphere. I am about to start looking into this now. Was wondering if you have any suggestions?

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Hi Elysium, only familiar with the reverse osmosis water makers. Please share if you find an alternative product.

[@chicoastro1]

Great video, thank thank you! Is it possible (or even reasonable) to have an ac water maker and operate it while only running the engine and alternator?

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Not really, most AC water makers draw too much power to be run off an alternator.

[@alcibiadesmarcialneto922]

Every video about watermakers I’ve been seeing advice not to use it when in marinas. According to them is because the sea water there is not clean enough or it is polluted. Is that right? Nice winds.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Good point, you shouldn't run a watermaker in a marina. Ideally a watermaker should be run while underway, away from anchorages, marinas, and other boats.

[@javierbetancourt9388]

💯

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Thanks Javier.

[@deningman]

Question... is watermaker the correct term when you start with water from the sea? Perhaps reverse osmosis or a desalination!

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Definitely many terms that have similar meaning: watermaker, reverse osmosis, or desalination.

[@deningman]

@@PacificYachtSystems True but there's no actual water being made.

[@robertschulke1596]

Can you talk about gallons per amp-hour? Those of us with limited batteries and relying on solar need this.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Here's an example, a Spectra Catalina 340 watermaker draws about 13 amps at 12 volts and makes about 13 gallons per hour. Resultingly, running the watermaker for 1 hour, will give 13 gallons for about 13 amp-hours, i.e. 1 gallon per 1 amp-hour.

[@AlfredoSven]

Get to the point…

[@TheBowen747]

watermakersa.. if they run at such a high pressure.. could a person but a bypass valve and run that high pressure water through a hose and make a power washer for cleaning the boat bottom.. or would this not work??????

[@robertschulke1596]

Can you talk about gallons per amp-hour? Those of us with limited batteries and relying on solar need this.

[@PacificYachtSystems]

Here's an example, a Spectra Catalina 340 watermaker draws about 13 amps at 12 volts and makes about 13 gallons per hour. Resultingly, running the watermaker for 1 hour, will give 13 gallons for about 13 amp-hours, i.e. 1 gallon per 1 amp-hour.