Yeah, the pickling chemicals tend to be hard on parts of the watermaker.
Flushing with distilled water every 2-3 weeks is what Village Marine
recommends. If that is not an option, then pickling is your only other
choice and there may be some adverse consequences. I don't think there
are hard and fast data available to support an assertion that after x
months of pickling the WM self-destructs. Lots of variables, many of
which are beyond your control.

Chuck