WATER MAKERS - DESALINATION - EVAPORATION
Is it better to fit large water holding tanks, or make your own water as you go? The answer will depend on your boat and how you intend to operate her. Solar Navigator may benefit by making her own water. It all depends on how much energy a desalination plant might consume in contrast to the energy used to purify seawater. This will be a subject for later examination. For now have a look at the technology, what is available, from who, and where:-
Sea Water Desalination Reverse Osmosis Technology
There are significant differences in the equipment used for removing most of the dissolved solids from seawater and from most surface or well waters. Seawater units are referred to as desalinators and surface/well water units are called reverse osmosis (RO) units as a general rule. At the current state of technology, approximately 1 psi driving force is required for each 100 mg/l of solids dissolved in the water to be treated. Seawater has about 35,000 mg/l of dissolved solids, hence to obtain the first drop of permeate water a pressure of 350 psi is required.
Reverse osmosis units on the other hand normally treat water where the dissolved solids content is in the area of 6,000 mg/l or less. The required pressure for that first drop of water for 6,000 mg/l is 60 psi. To insure an adequate flow of water from the respective devices seawater units usually operate in the area of 1,000 psi and RO units in a range of 150 to 250 psi. The additional pressure requirement for seawater increases the required strength of almost all components and requires much larger pumps. Also, seawater is extremely corrosive so the materials of construction for seawater units must be non-corrosive. All of these differences cause the cost of seawater units to be much higher than the cost of an equivalent RO unit per gallon of treated liquid.
Evaporation is a third method of treating salt water. Unlike the process of reverse osmosis, in which salt water is filtered through a membrane to produce fresh water, evaporation technology produces distilled water. A titanium evaporator and condenser are mounted in a vacuum chamber so that seawater can boil at 45 degrees Celsius instead of 100 degrees. The condensed water is then moved from the chamber by a fresh water pump into a holding tank. One such manufacturer using this technology to provide water on oil rigs, is Alfa Laval.
The need for fresh water on an oil platform is really no different than whatís usually needed at home or work. It is just that on an oil platform there is no public utility to provide a steady supply of potable water. For this reason oil rigs usually make their own water.
Laval has a long-standing reputation as the leading supplier
of desalination equipment based on plate heat exchangers for
offshore platforms and marine vessels.
Sea Recovery - Ultra Whisper
In 1985, Sea Recovery became the first reverse osmosis desalinator manufacturer to gain full product line Type Acceptance by ABS-American Bureau of Shipping. Today, they still hold that certification. ABS Type Approval is recognized by clients throughout the world in the marine industry as a mark of high quality. Sea Recovery also holds European CE Conformity Declarations issued by private testing laboratories. Additionally, they have full support and approval from The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) while maintaining our active and outstanding membership for 20 years.
Sea Recovery's new Ultra Whisper Series with its unique energy transfer device eliminates the need for a high pressure pump, reducing the electricity consumption of the RO system by as much as 75%. This is efficient for small and midsize sail or power boats. The Ultra Whisper reverse osmosis systems are available in a compact or modular configuration producing from 200 to 600 U.S. gallons (758 to 2,271 litres) per day or 8 to 25 gallons (32 to 95 litres) per hour of pure, fresh potable water. These models have been engineered with state-of-the-art marine technology and have been successfully tested in sea water conditions. They feature intelligent design, marine-grade materials, and attention to detail. The result is a reliable water maker trusted by boat owners all over the world.
Whisper Compact with EfficientSea Technology200
to 600 U.S. gal. (757 to 2,271 litres) per day
To see the various accessories available for the UWC, click on Accessories.
Rejection (Chloride Ion):
Minimum 99.2%, Average 99.4%
System Operation: Typical seawater has a salinity of
35,000 ppm TDS and an average temperature of 77oF /
25oC. Under these conditions, the system operating
pressure is approximately 700 psi.
GET custom desalinator
GET manufactures state-of-the-art water makers (seawater & brackish water desalination systems) for every application and in every size from 1 ton to 1,500,000 tons (about 200 gallons to several hundred million gallons) per day. These reasonably priced watermakers are energy efficient, produce high quality, tasty, soft, healthful drinking water, and offer reliable operation, low maintenance and low operating costs. GET offers standard watermaker models which we gladly customize for you and custom water maker systems designed especially for your application.
GET, Inc. has over 26 years experience in designing, manufacturing, installing & servicing water makers (sea and brackish water purification equipment).
water makers can be customized to fit in your available space
and can be set up to operate from any standard A/C power source.
GET can also help by providing a source of power if needed.
Water makers are used to provide a dependable, high quality,
safe source of good-tasting, healthful drinking water from
available seawater, brackish or polluted water.
Global EnviroScience Technologies
PO Box 90756, Long Beach, CA 90809-0756, USA
Factory: 3286 E. Willow Street, Signal Hill, CA 90755, USA
Tel: 1-562-989-5400; Fax 1-562-989-5405
Tel: 1-800-600-8482 (US Only)
Seafari Escape Modular
The new Seafari Escape Modular (SEM) with its unique EfficientSea energy transfer technology brings efficient, compact, extraordinarily quiet watermaking to small and midsize power or sail boats. The unit's energy transfer device eliminates the need for a power-hungry high pressure pump, reducing the electricity consumption of the RO system by as much as 75%. The SEM is ideal for sail and power boats with very limited onboard power, and even less onboard space. The system easily adapts to various boat designs and installation locations. The flexibility of this modular system provides a quiet, efficient watermaking system that will fit your boat perfectly.
To get more info on this system, click on the links below:
Thomas Desalination has been servicing and installing reverse osmosis desalinators for over twenty years to the pleasure boat market from San Diego, California to Anacortes, Washington.
Yacht Services sell, service, and install
reverse osmosis desalinators for pleasure boats
in Great Britian. We have the experience of more
than two decades in the marine and boating
AER Marine Supply
Bates Unlimited was established by Lyle Bates in 1983 as a part-time side business to meet the need for reverse osmosis membrane cleaning in the Houston area. In October 1990, Bates committed his efforts full-time to develop Bates Unlimited as a service and distributing company to the marine/offshore water treatment market.
Sea Recovery was established in 1981 and conceived with the vision of manufacturing small Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Systems for marine applications. The company's initial product line turned Sea Water into Drinking Water for the Marine Industry, and remains the company's focus today.
HRO System www.hrosystems.com
Established in 1976, HRO Systems is the pioneer of marine reverse osmosis desalination systems (commonly referred to as watermakers). HRO Systems is the leader specializing in sea water desalination systems from 170 to 44,000 U.S. gallons per day (644 to 166,558 liters)
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