I haven't really been reading this thread, but watching the headers and
wondering...why should silt be a problem in a watermaker?

I thought it only made sense to use watermakes well offshore where sea
water is deep and clean...never in coastal waters where the water is not
only shallow, but polluted by runoff...and besides, fresh water is
readily available at any marina, which puts it within only an hour or
two away at most.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

Peggie Hall wrote:
I haven't really been reading this thread, but watching the headers and
wondering...why should silt be a problem in a watermaker?

I thought it only made sense to use watermakes well offshore where sea
water is deep and clean...never in coastal waters where the water is not
only shallow, but polluted by runoff...and besides, fresh water is
readily available at any marina, which puts it within only an hour or
two away at most.

Silt plugs up the pre-filters sooner and may foul the
membrane too.

In many parts of the world, potable fresh water isn't
available conveniently on shore in marinas or otherwise so
you may want to make water in coastal waters.

However, I wouldn't run a watermaker in silty water if
avoidable.

Evan Gatehouse

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:36:37 -0800, Evan Gatehouse
wrote:

Silt plugs up the pre-filters sooner and may foul the
membrane too.

Yes to the former, no to the latter. The no is from the experience of
two years, as I had mentioned. Pull the cartridges, wash 'um out with
the sal****er hose, check their condition and stick 'um back in or
replace them if need be. Just takes a few minutes.


In many parts of the world, potable fresh water isn't
available conveniently on shore in marinas or otherwise so
you may want to make water in coastal waters.

True, and as I wrote in the previous post, some of us spend months
away from "civilization".

However, I wouldn't run a watermaker in silty water if
avoidable.

Why not? Been there, done that and will do it again. As an aside, our
Louisiana oil and gas platforms use huge watermakers now. Plenty of
them are in coastal waters and believe me, our coastal waters are as
muddy as can be, with usualy 0 to 1/2 foot visibility. Those platforms
clean their prefilters daily. Oh yes, the make around 10,000 gallons a
day!

Rick

On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 02:48:21 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote:

I haven't really been reading this thread, but watching the headers and
wondering...why should silt be a problem in a watermaker?

I thought it only made sense to use watermakes well offshore where sea
water is deep and clean...never in coastal waters where the water is not
only shallow, but polluted by runoff...and besides, fresh water is
readily available at any marina, which puts it within only an hour or
two away at most.

Silt isn't a problem in a watermaker if one has the extra prefilter,
etc. It's no big deal to pull the cartridges and wash them out with
the sal****er pump. As I had mentioned, they last a very long time
before needing replacement.

Cruisers of my type like to find those waaaay out-of-the-way places,
where the nearest marina, by sailboat, might be two days away or more;
and the stay could be 4 or 6 months or more. Also, lots of marinas
won't just give you water; you have to buy fuel and we sometimes
burned only a gallon or two in several months and many miles. Some
places outside the US will only sell water, and some of it you really
don't want to drink.

We have "made" water even during rare stays in marinas in South FL,
where the marina water was salty and/or looked like old tea.

Rick