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Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 5
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Has or does anyone used the Spot Zero R/O system on their boat? I am in an area where the water is EXTREMELY hard and the filter/softener system i am running is not up to the task? I am changing filters far more often than normal, but it makes little difference! The water that we make whilst at sea is fantastic, however we are not able to make it all the time. Washdowns make the boat look saltier than before we started! I need some ideas guys
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We have no water softener on board, and have been to a lot of places where the water is harder than Bruce Lee! Try mixing some Antikal or some sort of calcium remover into your boat soap, and voila no more water spots. After just go over the windows with a damp chamois and a squeegee. Other people I've spoken to put a splash of vinegar in with their boat soap to disperse the calcium in the water.
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Our shore water softener is not very good, it helps to run the water through very slowly. I never rinse my dark blue hull when the sun is on it, even watermaker water leaves marks then. Everything else: LOTS of vinegar. Vinegar also works great on stainless to keep rust away.
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Joined: 07/09/2008
Posts: 6
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lots of white vinegar in the washdown water - or we are trying dishwasher rinse agent in the water with promising results
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Joined: 30/07/2008
Posts: 6
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Get off the vinegar everybody! its damaging every surface on your yacht. Think long term not short term, you owe that to your owners.
The comment below about not washing in direct sunlight is exactly right. You should not do any polishing or similar in direct sunlight.
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Joined: 02/12/2008
Posts: 11
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Hello everyone. Vinigar is not the answer and may be harmful to your paint finish. Well known paint manufactures like "Awlgrip" recomend the use of a water softner A proper water softener is your best option. Any one who has used a dockside PVC pipe type manually regenerated softener knows they do not do a good job, Or only work for a short time. We at Beard Marine are the exclusive US distributers for the only true Marine Water softener on the market today. The Octo Compact automaticaly regenerates itself with minimal salt content. Its two heads always allows only one to regenerate at a time leaving one head operational with no down time. No electric required, can be used dockside or installed on your Vessel. See the link below for more info News Letter Vol. 2 – Octo Compact Water Softener www.Beardmarine.com
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Joined: 29/09/2009
Posts: 6
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Collo, the Spot Zero RO system is designed to remove 96-98% of all total dissolved solids from your dock water as well as 100% of the hardness which is why its quickly becoming a must have for boat crews, if you need any help please give us a call at 954.763.9677 and we'd be glad to help you out. www.spotzerowater.com
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Joined: 26/08/2008
Posts: 1
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Hello to all. I am the Captain of an 80' Hatteras Motoryacht. I had a Spot Zero 1000 installed on my boat about 2 years ago, and could not be happier! The dock water is filtered before the tank, so the water is used throughout the vessel for washdowns, showering, laundry, and even making coffee, much to the delight of the owners. Not having to shammy windows, stainless, or chrome is a major time saver, no lime or calcium build up in the showers, and it tastes good! I have recommended this product to fellow Crew members and I think they will agree.
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Joined: 24/10/2008
Posts: 1
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Collo, I am a Captain and only crew of a 78' Marlow, I have installed and used the Spot Zero system for the last two years and love it. We spend 5 months a year in the Bahamas, and have a dark blue haul and a 30' dark blue tender. It makes wash down time cut in half. You can wash the the boat in full sun and not have to worry about spots. It also makes the best tasting water. We have never bought a water bottle in two years. Savings in that alone are worth it, let alone no plastic trash.
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Just remember, if you're using the filtered water for drinking, take a supplement to replace the missing minerals. Those little spots may be unsightly on the windows and hull but our bodies need them for healthy bones and teeth.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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Couple problems with RO water purification systems. First off they are energy intensive. 25kw for a midsize unit. Second they require an uninterrupted high volume water supply. And finally your not going to make many friends around the water when you come into port and hook up to the only water pipe on the waterfront for the next 24 hrs so you can purify a spot free wash down tank of water at the expense of all the other yachts who are simply doing a touch and go provisioning stop in port and need a tank full. RO is a nasty stinkpot habit....I say eliminate the things by simply washing down in the evening, when the sun is soft, then wiping down in the morning after the dew has settled
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Joined: 29/09/2009
Posts: 6
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Junior, i think you may be referring to Desalination RO systems which do in fact consume a trememdous amount of power not to mention the fact that they are also not designed for fresh water as they utilize high rejection membranes intended for seawater. Spot Zero is acutally designed to purify fresh water which by nature requires much less power, for example - our largest system (7000gpd) consumes only 1.7kw of power while filling a tank. The water consumption in gallons per minute is also less than if you had a wide open hose in a static fill. static filling a tank uses up about 10gpm while our largest unit takes about 5-6 gpm.
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Joined: 29/09/2009
Posts: 6
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Anonymous wrote: Just remember, if you're using the filtered water for drinking, take a supplement to replace the missing minerals. Those little spots may be unsightly on the windows and hull but our bodies need them for healthy bones and teeth.
Anonymous, you are correct in that reverse osmosis does remove the minerals that we would otherwise normally consume. if you look at the water quality reports across the country, you'll actually find that drinking 2 Liters a day tap water as it stands will only give you about 3-8% of the daily reccomended intake of only a few minerals that are actually useful to the body. the downside of drinking tap water as it stands is that it is also filled with usually just about as many if not more mg/l of contaminents. For example, if you take a look at the most recent Fort Lauderdale water quality report (http://www.ci.ftlaud.fl.us/h2o/water_report.pdf) you'll find the following contaminents:
Microbiological Contaminants - Coliform Bacteria Radiological Contaminants - Alpha Emitters and Radium Inorganic Contaminants - Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Lead, Nitrate, Selenium, Thallium Synthetic Organic Contaminants (including pesticides and herbicides) - Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and Pentachlorophenol Disinfection By-Products - Chloramines, Haloacetic Acids, Trihalomethanes Basically, my point is that for the 1500-2000 mg/l that your body wants per day in minerals, your better off supplementing and/or getting them from food as apposed to tap water IMO.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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Well, at 1.7 kw thats 40kw to make 7000 gallon.... if I remember correctly the feed volume to the unit is spec'd at between 2 and 3 gallon per min. Possible to work at a well plumbed marina but problematic in most places in the world. Its these "most places " in the world that have the highest mineral " salt " content in the water. And unless Ive missed something Spot Zero is a desalinating RO system that operates at low pressure.
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Joined: 29/09/2009
Posts: 6
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40 kw hours yes, That would be for a vessel 150' or greater, the same vessel easily uses 300 - 400 kwh just to run the chillers on board. in the same amount of time Spot Zero is a fresh water reverse osmosis system designed for water containing 2000ppm or less, desalination RO systems for sea water 35,000 - 45,000 ppm of TDS.
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