The Adventures of the Vessel Condesa

Clark June 24th, 2016

…is that they’ve gotten pretty cheap.

In not-too-distant past replacing a single membrane on a small watermaker was a $600-$800 hit. Now, as with so many other things, you can go online and buy a membrane for $150-$220. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re replacing a 20-inch membrane or a 40-inch – the two most common sizes – the price is the same.

Before I go any farther, when a watermaker is performing poorly it is seldom the membrane, but the membrane is the first thing people want to blame. You must first ensure that everything else is within spec before you condemn a membrane. This means that the system must be doing exactly what it’s supposed to do with regard to flows and pressures, and still making crappy water (low quantity or high salinity). Pumps must be pumping the quantity of water they’re supposed to pump, at the right pressures, or water quality and quantity will suffer, even with a perfect membrane.

Membranes don’t just up and fail, or rather, when they do it’s a one in a thousand thing. When they fail they usually decline slowly, over a period of 5-10 years, sometimes longer, or they fail because they were abused (chemical damage, lack of flushing, or lack of pickling…tsk tsk).

Cautionary tale over. $150-$220 for a membrane still isn’t free, especially if you’ve got a system with multiple membranes, but it changes the game somewhat. Say you left your boat in a hurry last season in the Caribbean, and you’re not 100% exactly, positively sure you stored the watermaker properly. You could fly back to the Caribbean armed with various cleaning chemicals, your fingers crossed, and the prospect of buying a membrane anyway, at Caribbean prices, or you could just buy a membrane online, stick it in your baggage, and replace it as a matter of course. Guess work averted.

Likewise with the long term view: At this price you might just replace your membrane(s) after 4-5 years when you suspect they’re fading, and be done with it. An older or fouled membrane can often be brought back among the living by chemical cleaning, but the chemicals can be expensive and the cleaning process can take hours of hands-on time, and soaking overnight, with various buckets and hoses strung about in awkward places.

I don’t mean to encourage gratuitous membrane replacement, filling the worlds landfills with used membranes, but you get the idea. And it’s no sure bet a new membrane will make better water than an older one. There is a lot of variation in membranes, even the exact same part number from the exact same production run, so if you’ve got an older membrane that is still performing well, stick with it. I’ve seen them perform within spec for up to 15 years.

Final caution: new membranes are shipped stored in nasty storage chemicals. The membrane must be flushed for at least 20 minutes to remove the chemicals, or it will be damaged when the system is pressurized. With a new membrane installed, run the system unpressurized for at least 20 minutes before making water.

Final final caution: Membranes don’t have long shelf lives in their packaging. If you’re thinking you’ll just buy a spare membrane to have on hand for a few months or years down the road, this is a bad idea. The membrane will undoubtedly be dead after, say, six months.

Replacing a membrane is quick and straightforward, as long as you’ve got access to the pressure vessel end cap, and room to slide the membrane out. Here is a video on how to do it on a Spectra. The process is similar or identical on other types of pressure vessels. The only thing you really have to remember is to keep the brine seal on the correct side:

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