An RO watermaker is a device that converts seawater into freshwater through the process of reverse osmosis (RO). High-pressure pumps push the feed water through RO membranes to desalinate it, providing a seemingly endless supply of potable water for drinking, cleaning, and bathing.
While these devices are quite valuable and effective in your water treatment system, they are also pretty expensive to purchase and maintain.
So, in this article, we’ll give you some tips on choosing a watermaker that will serve you well for years to come and make your investment worth its buck.
Varieties of Watermakers Available in the Market
To start with, it’s important to understand that a wide variety of watermakers are available in the market. They can be:
Manufactured in different parts of the world
Built for region-wise specifications
Designed to use different technologies to generate water
Able to hold different capacities
Offering different levels of automation
Varying on levels of energy efficiency
Differing on standards of safety and inbuilt safety devices
Using parts that are from different manufacturers
Of course, you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of your own requirement to select a suitable supplier, technology, and product.
At the same time, it’s also important to conduct an analysis of your investment over time to understand the long-term benefits of your investment.
5 Factors to Consider While Choosing a Watermaker
To help make the selection process easier, we have given here a quick comparative overview of common issues that have cost implications in the long run if an inefficient RO system is installed.
Let’s take a look at some of the major factors:
1. Power consumption
As a rule of thumb, RO systems are machines that consume energy.
An efficient RO System will be designed to minimize energy usage during the purification process, and many modern versions also feature ERDs (energy recovery devices).
However, each system's overall design, like the pretreatment method and quality, can affect power consumption.
2. Chemical consumption
While acquiring a watermaker can be costly, there are some preventative measures you can take to increase the life of the machine and improve your ROI.
We recommend carrying out regular backwashing and membrane cleaning to better care for your system.
While this can mean an increase in chemical consumption, the cost is negligible compared to the long-term savings you will make by preventing a breakdown of the machine.
3. Membrane costs
One of the most common problems in an inefficient RO system is the need to often replace membranes.
The typical causes for this are:
Inefficient pre-treatment method
Low quality of membranes OR inappropriate membrane size
Membranes maintenance like cleaning and anti-scaling is not carried out regularly
These cause clogging of the membrane, because of which they need to be replaced.
And since membranes are a higher-priced item, a frequent replacement can increase the long-term spending on the watermaker.
4. Cartridge filter costs
The design of robust watermakers considers the feedwater quality.
If the machine is treating very poor-quality water, and an appropriate cartridge filter is not used, it will result in clogging and frequent replacements.
Our team has helped clients make significant savings by simply replacing the cartridge filter size during routine maintenance visits.
5. Operating spares
High-quality spares used for even hinges, nuts, and bolts mean an increase in cost at the initial phase.
However, in the long run, you will see that low-quality spares cause issues like rusting and leaks.
So, it’s recommended to invest in quality spares to ensure the smooth functioning of your machine.
We hope you find out guide to selecting and maintaining your watermaker helpful. If you’re looking to acquire a membrane-based system or want to repair and re-condition an existing machine, contact Advanced Watertek.
We provide global custom-engineered membrane-based solutions and have installed and serviced hundreds of water treatment systems in 50+ countries in the last 35+ years.
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