Frequently asked questions

You're covered for a full three years from the date your system ships. If a component ever turns out to be defective in materials or workmanship, we'll repair it, replace it, or supply an equivalent, and our workshop labour to put it right is on us. That's the heart of it: for three years, a genuine fault on our end is our problem to solve, not yours. As with any warranty, there are a few sensible conditions, mainly that the system's been installed and used in line with the manual, and things like freight and on-boat labour sit outside it. The full details are all laid out plainly on our Warranty page and in your manual.

Easy, just pick up the phone or drop us an email. The very first thing we'll do is talk it through with you, and honestly, a lot of the time we can get you sorted right there on the call, no parts or paperwork needed. If you can, have your order details and the system model handy, and a quick photo or video of what's going on always helps us help you faster. If it does turn out to be a genuine warranty matter, we'll repair, replace, or supply an equivalent part from our Sydney workshop. If a part needs to come back to our workshop, freight is handled in accordance with our warranty terms, and covered workshop repairs or replacement are on us.For the complete legal terms, see our full Warranty page

Yes, you can make water underway, sailing or motoring, as well as at anchor. Plenty of our owners regularly top up their tanks while on passage. The key to smooth running underway is a well-positioned intake, so it stays fed with clean water even as the boat moves through it. That's a normal part of any good watermaker install, and it's exactly the kind of thing your installer sorts out up front. A properly positioned intake makes a big difference to reliable operation underway, particularly by keeping the feed pump supplied with a solid, air-free flow of seawater

About what you'd expect from a working pump, roughly 65 to 70 dBA at 1 metre. You'll know it's on, but it's designed to blend into the background of normal onboard life. We build in a few things to keep it unobtrusive. Our high-pressure pump motors are supplied with isoflex anti-vibration feet, which absorb vibration before it is transferred to the hull and minimise noise. Because the system is usually tucked into an engine room or locker, most of the sound stays down there. And since you only run it to fill your tanks, a higher-output system finishes faster, so there's even less of it. Most owners simply switch it on, let it do its thing, and get on with their day.

A well looked-after membrane can give you many years of service. Actual membrane life varies considerably with use, feed-water conditions, flushing and preservation. It's the heart of the system, and keeping it in good shape comes down to a few simple habits:Always start the system with the pressure valve open, so the membrane isn't shocked Always open the pressure valve fully before switching off the high-pressure pump Flush the system with fresh water regularly to reduce the chance of biological growth Keep water in your tank, or stay connected to town water, so the weekly automated flush can run Keep an eye on your pre-filters, and replace them if you notice flow dropping off or the cartridges starting to wearOn a manual system these quickly become second nature, and on our fully automated system they're taken care of for you. Either way, look after your membrane and it will look after you right back. And if anything ever seems off, just give us a call, we're always happy to talk it through. Full detail is in your instruction manual.

Easy. For a few weeks away, the system looks after itself. As long as it can run its automatic weekly flush, tank connected or on town water, you can lock up, walk away and leave it to it. For longer layups of a few months or more, or if the boat will sit somewhere without that water supply, you simply pickle the membrane first, a preservation procedure that keeps it fresh until you're back. Your manual walks you through it, and we're on the phone if you'd like a hand the first time.

Good news here: the filters are inexpensive and easy to live with. The two sediment prefilters are standard 10" x 2.5" pleated cartridges (20 micron then 5 micron), widely available and simple to swap. Better still, they're rinseable. Just rinse them with clean, unchlorinated water and reuse them until the pleats begin to deteriorate or cleaning no longer restores adequate flow. How often that happens simply depends on how much sediment is in the water where you're cruising. The one filter you don't rinse is the activated carbon cartridge in the flush line, which quietly protects your membrane from chlorine, that one just gets replaced on schedule.

Yes, that's exactly what it's built for. It uses reverse osmosis, the same core process behind many municipal desalination plants, to turn seawater into fresh, low-salt water for everything onboard: drinking, cooking, showering, washing up.Two easy habits keep that water at its best: keep your tank and plumbing clean, just as you would anyway, and if you like total peace of mind for drinking, many cruisers add a simple final filter or UV step at the tap. Neither is a limitation of the system, just good practice for great water every time you turn on the tap.One thing worth knowing: your TDS meter confirms the membrane is doing its job removing salt, rather than being a full water-safety test. That's why the simple habits, making water from clean water and keeping your tank in good shape, are the other half of safe, great-tasting water.

Nice and simple: every system comes with a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) digital meter, so you can check your water quality yourself, any time, with a glance. It measures the dissolved salts in your product water in parts per million (ppm), giving you a simple way to check how effectively the membrane is removing salt. Under normal seawater conditions our systems commonly read between 100 and 350 ppm, depending on your feed water and the condition of your membrane.What that gives you day to day is quiet confidence you can verify with your own eyes, any time you like.

For most owners, yes, and we'd recommend it. We work with a network of experienced installers around the country who fit and service Water Makers Australia systems properly the first time. You can find one near you here. If you're mechanically confident and want to install it yourself, we do supply a full installation and operation manual and you're welcome to take that route, but for most people, having it fitted by someone who does this regularly is the smoother path. Whichever route you take, two parts of the job always go to the right hands: electrical work must be carried out by a licensed electrician, in line with applicable regulations, and hull penetrations, seacocks and below-waterline plumbing should always be completed or checked by a competent marine professional.

It's a fixed, modular installation, ready to make water when you need it, not something you have to carry around, set up, and pack down again each time. If you're after a unit you can move between boats, a portable might suit you better. If you want a system properly built into your boat, that's what we build.

Less than you'd think, because a modular system is a handful of smaller components rather than one big box, so it spreads across a lazarette or engine room rather than needing one large clear space. What you're accommodating is the high-pressure pump and motor, the feed pump, the pre-filter housings, the membrane housing, the control panel, and the connecting plumbing. A good layout just leaves a little breathing room around the filter housings, so a cartridge swap down the track is a quick, tidy job. Tell us about your boat and we'll help you identify suitable locations and map out a layout that works with the space you have.

We sit deliberately in the value and premium space. Smart engineering, without the extremes on either side of us.At the cheaper end of the market, savings can come from compromises in component quality, support, spare-parts availability or even basic pump and membrane matching. A pump that doesn't provide the flow a membrane requires, for example, can affect performance and membrane life.At the other end, some systems add considerable cost through proprietary components, additional complexity or features that don't necessarily make better water, but can make the system unreasonably costly to service later.We take the middle path. We'd rather put the money into the things that affect how the system performs over years of ownership: correctly matched pumps and membranes, quality components, serviceability, readily available parts and direct technical support.

Every system is built to order in our Sydney workshop, and we take the time to build it properly, tested and ready to go before it ships. Most systems are dispatched within a couple of weeks, with custom configurations and busy periods sometimes adding a little more, and freight depending on where you are. Get in touch and we'll confirm a timeframe for your system.

Yes. You can spread the cost with PayPal Pay in 4, splitting your payment into four instalments, subject to PayPal's own eligibility and approval. It's a simple way to get your watermaker ordered and get out on the water sooner.

"Your water supply isn't something to gamble on, so we don't just claim reliability, we build it in through the specific components we choose," says Kalim, founder of Water Makers Australia. Here's exactly what that means in practice: • Feed pump (12V DC option): ZKSJ magnetic-drive feed pump, selected for continuous-duty watermaker operation • Feed pump (240V AC option): Davey XF171S, from Australian pump manufacturer Davey, with a silicon carbide seal chosen specifically because it holds up to seawater • High-pressure pump: Botuo LB1210 or LB0810, a triplex design with a 316L stainless-steel pump head, matched to the correct flow rate and operating pressure for our systems, chosen for serviceability and built for seawater • Membrane: DuPont FilmTec, an industry-standard membrane that's easy to source and service anywhere, rather than a locked-in proprietary consumable • Fittings: Hansen glass-reinforced nylon fittings on the seawater side, and DMfit Acetal fittings on the freshwater side, each chosen to stand up to the conditions on its side of the system What all of that adds up to for you: a system you can rely on at anchor in a remote bay, hundreds of miles from the nearest chandlery, and know your water is taken care of. We back all of this with a 3-year warranty. Not because we expect you to need it, but because we're confident in what we build.

No. We've deliberately built our systems around industry-standard, non-proprietary components: standard 10-inch filters, DuPont FilmTec membranes, and readily available fittings, so most of what you'd need is standard, widely available gear, not a proprietary part you can only get from one supplier. Some parts are still easiest to get directly from us, and that's fine too. We sell direct to you rather than through a dealer network, so you're talking to the people who actually build these systems, not a third party. We stock spares ourselves and can ship them out to you, including to remote areas, just get in touch and we'll sort you out. Good engineering means thinking about what happens when something needs replacing three years and a thousand nautical miles from where you bought it.

Thousands of our systems are trusted on Australian vessels, from Sydney to Hobart racers to liveaboards, cruising families and commercial barges, in some genuinely demanding environments.The idea was born on a boat. Owner Kalim and his father-in-law Stephen designed the original system for their family boat one Sunday afternoon out on the Port Hacking River, and Water Makers Australia was founded in Sydney in 2020 to share it. What started as a practical solution for one family's boat has since grown into one of the leading watermaker brands in the country, largely through word of mouth from owners who've put our systems through their paces. We design, build, and support every system out of our own workshop in Tempe, Sydney.This means the system you're looking at has already been proven in the kind of conditions you're planning to use it in:•Some crews competing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race rely on our systems to carry less water weight and sail faster • Our systems are also used in commercial applications, including construction barges and offshore operations where reliability and serviceability matter • Liveaboards and recreational cruisers around the country run their systems daily, rain or shineWe're installed on boats from Riviera, Maritimo, Jeanneau, Beneteau, Seawind, Fountaine Pajot, Lagoon, Caribbean, Grand Banks, Fleming Yachts, Princess Yachts, Sunseeker, Adams, Hans Christian, Sea Ray, Integrity Motor Yachts, Leopard, Quintrex and Bar Crusher, among others. We're also proud to be the choice of well-known names across the Australian boating community, including Mark Berg's new boat rebuild, the crew behind The New Kids on the Dock, Sailing Soluna, Denham Hitchcock of Sailing Rio, and Ross Boardman of Life on the Hulls.

Don't just take our word for it. A few of our Google reviews:Ian Daley, SV Dignity, who installed his own twin-membrane system: "Since commissioning our water maker it has performed fantastic producing an average of 120- 140 litres per hour. The fact that spare parts, filters etc are also readily available make this Australian designed water maker a great choice. We highly recommend Water Makers Australia."Bob and Karen, SV Shelby, on switching from a high-end system already installed on a catamaran they bought: it was "prohibitively expensive to service & repair," so they removed it and chose Water Makers Australia instead, their third watermaker overall. "We wouldn't want to install anything else."Brett and Donna Gray, after comparing several watermakers over years of cruising: "It works absolutely terrific, making very close to the litres per hour they said." They're upfront about the trade-offs too, noting it's thirstier on 12V power than some loweroutput competitors, useful, honest detail for anyone doing their own power budget.You'll find plenty more on our Google profile.

You get direct phone and email access to experienced Australian technical support, seven days a week, so you're covered on weekends when you're actually out cruising. Not a call centre script, not an offshore support queue. If something's not right, you talk to someone who actually knows the system and can talk you through it, wherever you are. There's a good chance that expert is Kalim, the owner, who designed the system in the first place.

No. Reliability isn't only about how well something is built, it's also about keeping maintenance simple enough that you'll actually do it. We deliberately keep the design straightforward rather than adding complexity for its own sake, so day to day operation and upkeep stay manageable even if you don't have a technical background. More on that in the Operation and Maintenance section below.

Instead of one sealed box housing everything, our systems have the pump, filters, and membrane mounted as separate components around your boat. That matters for a few practical reasons: it fits into odd-shaped spaces a single box never could, like tight lazarettes or engine rooms, and it's far easier to service, since you can access any one part without wrestling with a sealed all-in-one unit. It's a deliberate design choice, and it means the system fits your boat, rather than your boat having to fit the system

Whether you're on a 30-foot sailboat or a 50-foot catamaran, the right size comes down to two things: how many people you're making water for, and how much run time you're happy with. As a rule of thumb, allow a minimum of around 40 litres of fresh water per person per day, and plan for more if you want the comfort of long showers and a good buffer. As a simple guide, a single-membrane watermaker suits a couple, a doublemembrane system suits around four people, and a triple-membrane system suits larger crews or anyone who wants plenty of water fast. Run time is the other half of the story. Fewer people don't always mean a smaller system. If you'd rather run your watermaker for twenty minutes than an hour, stepping up to more membranes gets your day's water made quickly and gets you back to enjoying the boat. That's the quick version. For the proper answer tailored to your boat, crew and cruising style, use our Help Me Choose tool, which walks you through it in a couple of minutes. Or just get in touch with your boat length, crew size and typical trip length, and we'll tell you straight which marine watermaker is the right fit.

The high-pressure pump runs on AC power, so you'll need a generator or an inverter setup to run it. Most cruising boats set up for longer trips already have this. The feed pump, which draws water in before it's pressurised, comes in either a 12V DC or 240V AC option, so it fits neatly around your existing setup. If you're not sure what you've got, that's exactly the kind of thing we'll help you work out before you buy. Just tell us about your boat and we'll confirm which setup will work properly with the power you have available.

Yes. The system is designed to operate with both seawater and lower-salinity brackish water, so estuaries and coastal cruising are well within its range. The one simple rule to get the best from it: make water from clean water. Just like you'd pick a nice clear spot for a swim, you draw from open, clean water rather than right next to a marina, a stormwater outlet, or a discharge point. Make water from clean water wherever possible and you've already done one of the most important things for keeping the system and membrane healthy