Water maker

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Gale Force View Drop Down

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Joined: 26 June 2018
Location: Sri Lanka
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Posted: 13 November 2025 at 06:17

Hi Rick

I am glad that you have shown your installation as I am about to use the same place.So I have a couple of questions for you if I may.

First off I was little concerned if the shelf would be strong enough to hold the considerable weight of the unit so obviously you are very happy with that.

Could you please share how you plumbed your unit in.

I was thinking to take the raw water supply from the A/C raw water intake and use the washing machine outlet for the waste water

I was going to use the power supply to the washing machine to power the water maker.

Did you bolt the water maker to the shelf?

I am a little concerned that the A/C raw water intake is not close enough to the centre of the boat and air could get in the system in a small chop!

I am putting in a contained Rainman 140 lph and it looks very similar in dimensions to yours

Any advice would be most welcome

Cheers

Duncan

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Joined: 24 October 2015
Location: Newport, RI, US
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Posted: 13 November 2025 at 09:05

Could you please share how you plumbed your unit in.

Hanse did not provide an option for fresh water heads when we built the boat. As such I took the normal, manual, heads and converted them during the commissioning process. This left a raw water seacock unused aft. I re-used that to be the intake for the water maker. A strainer was added. This leads under the sole to the high pressure pump under the floor where the air conditioning manifold resides. From there it runs to the water maker. I suppose you could add one more connection to the AC manifold, but I'd be wary of running the water maker and the AC at the same time for flow rate reasons.

Note that I don't have much respect for how Hanse does seacocks so in 2020 I replaced all the seacocks and thru-hulls with solid bronze, one piece, flanged, GROCO units. On the engine, AC and watermaker I also added exterior hull strainers (we have eel grass in a lot of New England and this helps quite a bit in avoiding the HF errors when the strainer is clogged). Probably TruDesign (marlon) would be another acceptable option, but this is really unrelated to the question. Same plumbing outside of this.

I was going to use the power supply to the washing machine to power the water maker.

As my watermaker is an AC unit, I put in a separate feed to the nav station AC panel AUX switch. I have a dual feed "soft startup" option as these things draw quite a bit when they start up. This soft start option should be researched if you have an AC unit as it reduces the draw quite a bit on startup. I'm not an electrician, so I had the marina do this in the proper way.

Did you bolt the water maker to the shelf?

Yes. If you look at the tray you will see the bolts underneath with rubber bushings and stainless bolts. They are water sealed and also assist with any vibration. The tray was actually full one time when I accidentally lost the contents of a filter. No problems.

I am a little concerned that the A/C raw water intake is not close enough to the centre of the boat and air could get in the system in a small chop!

Again, our boat is a 575, and has a different hull, but we have had no problems with that. The seacock is even with the aft head, just forward of the stern thruster. I must admit that I have never operated the watermaker in a chop. Usually we are doing it at anchor or in calm waters. The thru-hull is about 4-5' off of centerline.

You didn't ask:

Our fresh water tank is under the forward master cabin berth. The line running to travels to it under the centerline sole and takes a left toward that side of the tank. Not a difficult run.

I added a carbon filter to put some taste back into the water.

I added 1" lead/foam sound insulation to the area around the high pressure pump to reduce the noise. This has the added benefit of reducing the AC pump noise by about 90%. Hanse ships the boats with zero sound insulation.

I added some Y valves coming off the unit to allow for "sampling" of the product. You want to test it coming out of the machine directly as you (probably) have things in your tank that could skew a test.

As I am operating in a cold environment, I also put a Y-valve coming off the brine discharge so I could reuse the fluid during the winterization process. Flip a lever and it effectively creates a loop so that I don't just dump it overboard but send it back into a bucket. This is also useful for membrane cleaning. Look at the ongoing maintenance needs for the unit and see what would help from a plumbing perspective.

I am putting in a contained Rainman 140 lph and it looks very similar in dimensions to yours

Wayne seems to have the Rainman unit and might be able to give you brand specific input.

Good luck!

Edited by Black Diamond - 13 November 2025 at 15:21

Rick
S/V Black Diamond
Hanse 575 Build #192, Hull# 161
Newport, RI

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Joined: 18 July 2012
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Posted: 13 November 2025 at 21:46

Duncan,

We often make water whilst sailing, motoring or motorsailing and haven't had any problems. The seawater intake position you are talking about should be fine to use whilst underway. On our boat the washing machine water going over board is plumbed to the aft greywater sump and I would think this would not be a good option for a watermaker because of the amount of water going through the unit and back to the sea - about 700ltrs an hour for the Rainman 140 units. I would think you would need a overboard going directly overboard - you could maybe use the sink over board (on our boat this going directly overboard).We have a dedicated above water thru hull for the return water which I think is better. You could fit a similar thru hull whilst the boat is in teh water because it is best to be above the resting water line. I think ours is about 100mm above the top hull stripe. Lastly if the two RO housings on the normal 140 unit are too long for the space you have Rainman supply a three RO unit with shorter ROs compared to the two RO version. The mounting plate for the ROs (seen as the blue RO frame in my photos can be mounted on top of the unit - like we have, or on the back of the unit or remotely if this makes your install easier.

Wayne W
Cruising, currently in the Pacific until the end of 2026.



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Gale Force Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commadore Joined: 26 June 2018 Location: Sri Lanka Status: Offline Points: 398	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gale Force Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 November 2025 at 06:17
	Hi Rick I am glad that you have shown your installation as I am about to use the same place.So I have a couple of questions for you if I may. First off I was little concerned if the shelf would be strong enough to hold the considerable weight of the unit so obviously you are very happy with that. Could you please share how you plumbed your unit in. I was thinking to take the raw water supply from the A/C raw water intake and use the washing machine outlet for the waste water I was going to use the power supply to the washing machine to power the water maker. Did you bolt the water maker to the shelf? I am a little concerned that the A/C raw water intake is not close enough to the centre of the boat and air could get in the system in a small chop! I am putting in a contained Rainman 140 lph and it looks very similar in dimensions to yours Any advice would be most welcome Cheers Duncan

Black Diamond Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 24 October 2015 Location: Newport, RI, US Status: Offline Points: 1275	Post Options Post Reply Quote Black Diamond Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 November 2025 at 09:05
	Could you please share how you plumbed your unit in. Hanse did not provide an option for fresh water heads when we built the boat. As such I took the normal, manual, heads and converted them during the commissioning process. This left a raw water seacock unused aft. I re-used that to be the intake for the water maker. A strainer was added. This leads under the sole to the high pressure pump under the floor where the air conditioning manifold resides. From there it runs to the water maker. I suppose you could add one more connection to the AC manifold, but I'd be wary of running the water maker and the AC at the same time for flow rate reasons. Note that I don't have much respect for how Hanse does seacocks so in 2020 I replaced all the seacocks and thru-hulls with solid bronze, one piece, flanged, GROCO units. On the engine, AC and watermaker I also added exterior hull strainers (we have eel grass in a lot of New England and this helps quite a bit in avoiding the HF errors when the strainer is clogged). Probably TruDesign (marlon) would be another acceptable option, but this is really unrelated to the question. Same plumbing outside of this. I was going to use the power supply to the washing machine to power the water maker. As my watermaker is an AC unit, I put in a separate feed to the nav station AC panel AUX switch. I have a dual feed "soft startup" option as these things draw quite a bit when they start up. This soft start option should be researched if you have an AC unit as it reduces the draw quite a bit on startup. I'm not an electrician, so I had the marina do this in the proper way. Did you bolt the water maker to the shelf? Yes. If you look at the tray you will see the bolts underneath with rubber bushings and stainless bolts. They are water sealed and also assist with any vibration. The tray was actually full one time when I accidentally lost the contents of a filter. No problems. I am a little concerned that the A/C raw water intake is not close enough to the centre of the boat and air could get in the system in a small chop! Again, our boat is a 575, and has a different hull, but we have had no problems with that. The seacock is even with the aft head, just forward of the stern thruster. I must admit that I have never operated the watermaker in a chop. Usually we are doing it at anchor or in calm waters. The thru-hull is about 4-5' off of centerline. You didn't ask: Our fresh water tank is under the forward master cabin berth. The line running to travels to it under the centerline sole and takes a left toward that side of the tank. Not a difficult run. I added a carbon filter to put some taste back into the water. I added 1" lead/foam sound insulation to the area around the high pressure pump to reduce the noise. This has the added benefit of reducing the AC pump noise by about 90%. Hanse ships the boats with zero sound insulation. I added some Y valves coming off the unit to allow for "sampling" of the product. You want to test it coming out of the machine directly as you (probably) have things in your tank that could skew a test. As I am operating in a cold environment, I also put a Y-valve coming off the brine discharge so I could reuse the fluid during the winterization process. Flip a lever and it effectively creates a loop so that I don't just dump it overboard but send it back into a bucket. This is also useful for membrane cleaning. Look at the ongoing maintenance needs for the unit and see what would help from a plumbing perspective. I am putting in a contained Rainman 140 lph and it looks very similar in dimensions to yours Wayne seems to have the Rainman unit and might be able to give you brand specific input. Good luck! Edited by Black Diamond - 13 November 2025 at 15:21
	Rick S/V Black Diamond Hanse 575 Build #192, Hull# 161 Newport, RI

Wayne's World Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 18 July 2012 Location: Cruising Status: Offline Points: 1434	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wayne's World Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 November 2025 at 21:46
	Duncan, We often make water whilst sailing, motoring or motorsailing and haven't had any problems. The seawater intake position you are talking about should be fine to use whilst underway. On our boat the washing machine water going over board is plumbed to the aft greywater sump and I would think this would not be a good option for a watermaker because of the amount of water going through the unit and back to the sea - about 700ltrs an hour for the Rainman 140 units. I would think you would need a overboard going directly overboard - you could maybe use the sink over board (on our boat this going directly overboard).We have a dedicated above water thru hull for the return water which I think is better. You could fit a similar thru hull whilst the boat is in teh water because it is best to be above the resting water line. I think ours is about 100mm above the top hull stripe. Lastly if the two RO housings on the normal 140 unit are too long for the space you have Rainman supply a three RO unit with shorter ROs compared to the two RO version. The mounting plate for the ROs (seen as the blue RO frame in my photos can be mounted on top of the unit - like we have, or on the back of the unit or remotely if this makes your install easier.
	Wayne W Cruising, currently in the Pacific until the end of 2026.