We lived on our watermaker for five years from Florida to Coral Bay, St. John and up and down the Caribbean chain. Watermaker models are very different, but they all have similar characteristics. Water quality, air ingress, and flushing membranes after making water are a big deal. Our rule was that if you cannot see the bottom, do not make water. We moved to Hurricane Hole or Round Bay to make water. We had a cheap check valve fail, introducing air to our high pressure pump, and it killed the expensive pump. If you do not flush the membranes with fresh water, they will go foul and fail. However, our membranes are six years old and still produce below 250ppm TDS water.
That means do not make water underway, make certain that your head thru hulls are closed when making water, be aware of water quality.
The startup and shutdown steps are specific to each watermaker model and install. It is best to have a check list and follow it carefully.
Cheers, RickG
.
