Marine and offshore desalination is the same membrane process as a shore plant operating under harder conditions: vessel motion, limited space and weight, corrosive atmosphere, variable seawater temperature and salinity, and a crew who are not water treatment specialists. Equipment selection and materials matter more here than process cleverness.

Marine-Specific Design Constraints

Operation and Maintenance Offshore

Typical Design Basis

Capacity range200 GPD to 79,200 GPD
Feed waterSeawater, typically 32,000–40,000 ppm TDS
Operating pressureUp to approximately 1,000 psi
MaterialsSuper duplex and 316L wetted parts, marine-grade frames
Energy recoveryAvailable on larger units to cut generator load
ConfigurationSkid-mounted or containerized; deck or engine-room installation

Indicative starting points for budgeting. Every system is engineered against your actual feed water analysis and site conditions.

Systems We Build for This Sector

Related Technical Reading

Reference material and equipment on our online store, ForeverPure Place:

Engineering guides on this site: SWRO design guide, water quality parameters, chemical dosing, membrane care.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size watermaker does a vessel need?

Size from actual consumption plus a margin for the tank and the passage length, not from crew count alone. Work out daily demand across drinking, galley, laundry, and washdown, then check whether the unit can meet it running only while generators are already loaded - most vessels prefer to make water during scheduled running hours rather than continuously. ForeverPure marine units run from 200 GPD for small craft to 79,200 GPD containerized plants for offshore installations.

Can a watermaker run in port?

It can, but it often should not. Harbour water typically carries oil, silt, biological loading, and sometimes sewage discharge that the pretreatment was never sized for, and hydrocarbons will permanently damage polyamide membranes. Standard practice is to make water offshore in clean, deep water and rely on tank capacity in port. Where port operation is unavoidable, an oil-water separator and additional filtration ahead of the membranes are required.

How do you preserve membranes during layup?

Membranes left wet and untreated will biofoul within days. For short shutdowns an automatic freshwater flush after each run is usually enough. For layup beyond about a week, the elements should be preserved with a biocide solution to a documented procedure and the system resealed, then flushed thoroughly before the first product water is sent to the tank. Storage temperature and freezing protection also need checking for vessels that overwinter.

What materials should a marine SWRO system use?

Anything wetted by seawater or concentrate should be super duplex or an equivalent high-alloy stainless; 316L alone is not adequate for high-pressure seawater service and will pit. Frames, enclosures, and fasteners need marine-grade specification and coatings because the salt-air atmosphere attacks the structure even where seawater never touches it. Specify this at enquiry stage - it is expensive to retrofit and it is the most common cause of premature failure on marine units.

Have a Marine or Offshore Project?

Send us your feed water analysis and capacity requirement. Our engineers will size the system and return a budget proposal.

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