The new Rainman system from Australia is a portable plug-and-play desalinator that should appeal to those cruisers currently daunted by the prospect of somehow fitting a watermaker on their boats. The system comes in two separate modules—a pressure-supply unit and a reverse-osmosis, or RO, unit—that are easy to stow away and can be quickly set up on deck with simple plumbing runs. Drop two hoses overboard (one to collect intake water, the other to dispose of the brine), connect the two units with a high-pressure hose, drop a water line into your water-tank fill fitting, and you’re good to go. Pressure-supply units are available with either electric (1,300W at 230V or 115V AC) or gasoline-driven (with a 50cc Honda motor) General Pump WM series high-pressure pumps. The high-output RO module contains two 40in membranes and produces 23 to 32gph. Lesser options with smaller membranes can put out 12 to 16gph. The pressure-supply units have just one 5-micron pre-filter for intake water, but these can be quickly and easily changed when necessary. The system’s vastly simplified plumbing also makes it easy to pickle when idle, with no complex valves to manage. Drop the pick-up hose in a bucket of pickle juice, pump it into the membranes, and you’re done.
From $3,550, Rainman Technology, rainmandesal.com
