Is a Watermaker Worth It on a Sailboat?
- Telicia
- 21 hours ago
- 6 min read
When you start planning life aboard a cruising sailboat, the list of potential upgrades grows quickly. Solar panels, lithium batteries, electric winches, watermakers, dive compressors. Every cruiser seems to have a slightly different idea of what is essential and what is optional.
A watermaker often ends up somewhere in the middle of that debate.
Some sailors consider it a luxury. Others view it as one of the most important systems on the boat.
So is a watermaker actually worth it on a boat?
The answer to that one depends on your cruising plans, budget, and how you want to live aboard. But after years of full-time cruising, including long ocean passages, and months at a time on anchor, we’ve come to a fairly simple conclusion - we would install one again without hesitation.
What a watermaker changes on a sailboat
A sailboat watermaker converts seawater into freshwater using reverse osmosis. Instead of relying entirely on marina docks or shore-based water sources, the system allows you to produce drinking water anywhere there is seawater.
That single change alters how many cruisers manage life aboard.
Without a watermaker, freshwater is a limited resource stored in tanks. When the tanks run low, you need to refill them somewhere. That usually means visiting a marina, tying up at a dock, or ferrying jerry cans back and forth with the dinghy.
With a watermaker, the ocean itself becomes the supply.
For boats that spend a lot of time at anchor or travel through remote areas, that independence can be a major shift in how cruising works day to day.
Why many cruisers install watermakers
There isn’t just one reason sailors install watermakers. In most cases it’s a combination of lifestyle choices and practical considerations.
For us, the biggest advantages are freedom, comfort, and independence.
Staying longer in remote anchorages
One of the best parts of cruising is finding quiet anchorages where you want to stay for a while. Without a watermaker, the length of that stay is often determined by how much freshwater remains in the tanks. Even large tanks eventually run dry if you can’t refill them.
With a watermaker onboard, the calculation changes.
Instead of leaving when the tanks get low, you simply run the system and make more water - we aim to always have ours about 65%. That ability to extend your time in remote places is one of the biggest reasons many cruisers install them.
Making ocean passages easier
Long ocean passages introduce another layer of water management.
During extended crossings there’s obviously no opportunity to refill tanks, so everything you need must already be onboard, or be produced or captured along the way. I recently saw a discussion online as to whether one could cross the Pacific from Panama to Asia without a watermaker - the consensus, it was possible with a small crew, very careful water management, and rain capture. But just because something is possible, doesn’t mean it’s the easiest or best choice.
For us, ocean crossings were always part of the plan when we bought the boat. A watermaker wasn’t just convenient, it was part of making those plans realistic. With it we can generate the freshwater needed to sustain three adults and a dog throughout the passage, instead of carefully rationing every liter.
We’ve done multiple long passages, including Cape Town to Gibraltar, and the Canary Islands to Trinidad, and our ECHOTec Watermaker provided all of our water during those crossings.
Improving everyday comfort
Simple daily routines use more water than many people expect, and drinking water is only part of the picture. Cooking, dishes, showers, rinsing salt from gear, and occasionally washing the boat all add up.
When freshwater is extremely limited, those activities often require strict conservation. Showers become very short, dishes are washed carefully, and every liter is counted.
A watermaker doesn’t remove the need to be sensible with water usage, but it does reduce the constant pressure of monitoring tank levels. For many liveaboard sailors, that added comfort is worth a lot.
Greater independence
Cruising often involves visiting places where infrastructure is limited. Small island communities may not have reliable water supplies, and some anchorages have no docks or facilities at all. Even where water is available, transporting it to the boat can take time and effort.
Some friends of ours have had to spend hours out of their day, transporting jugs of water in the tender to refill their water tanks. Others bring the entire boat into a marina every week just to refill. Those routines become part of life without a watermaker. With one aboard, that time becomes your own again, and you don’t need to think about a water supply when deciding where you want to go next.
The downsides of installing a watermaker
In all fairness, like any piece of equipment on a boat, watermakers are not completely free of trade-offs.They require installation space, electrical power, and regular maintenance. The systems also add cost to the boat. For some cruisers those factors are enough to delay installation or skip it entirely.
Installation and space
Watermakers typically include a seawater intake, prefilters, high-pressure pump,membrane housing, and plumbing connections to the freshwater tanks that need to be installed around the boat. On boats with limited storage space, finding room for these components can require some creativity.
Proper installation also matters. Pumps need adequate airflow for cooling, plumbing connections must be secure, and filters need to remain accessible for replacement. On our particular model of Leopard Catamaran, there was a series of watermaker installs done under the bed in the port forward cabin. This space has no ventilation, which impacts the temperature of the motor that powers the high pressure pump. When we installed our ECHOTech, Trent took care to ensure it was well ventilated, drawing cool air from the dry bilge.
Power consumption
Most electric watermakers draw a noticeable amount of power while running. Depending on the system, this may range from roughly 20 to 60 amps on a 12-volt system. Boats with strong solar installations or generators usually accommodate this easily, but the electrical load still needs to be considered.
Many cruisers, ourselves included, solve this by running the watermaker during the middle of the day when solar panels are producing the most energy.
Maintenance
Watermakers require routine maintenance; prefilters must be replaced periodically, membranes eventually need replacement, and the system should be flushed with freshwater after use to prevent buildup. Manufacturers generally recommend running the system regularly as well, often at least once per week, to prevent biological growth inside the membrane.
In my opinion none of these tasks are particularly difficult or time consuming, but they are part of owning the system, so are something to consider. When choosing a watermaker, look for one with easy to source parts and solid customer support - with our ECHOTec, we can order parts for delivery anywhere in the world, and get support over the phone, via email or on Whatsapp.
Cost
This is the biggest factor for most - watermakers can represent a significant upfront investment depending on the system size and installation complexity.
For some sailors the decision simply comes down to priorities and budget. Boats outfitted for long-term cruising already include many expensive systems, and watermakers may not always fit into the initial upgrade list.
Several cruisers we know plan to install one eventually but chose to postpone the purchase while prioritizing other equipment.
When a watermaker makes the most sense
Although watermakers can be useful for many boats, they are particularly valuable in certain cruising situations:
Ocean crossings or extended passages
Sailing in regions with limited infrastructure
Boats with low freshwater storage capacity
Full-time cruisers
When you might not need one
Despite the advantages, there are still situations where a watermaker may not be necessary:
Boats that spend most of their time in marinas or well-developed cruising regions
Weekend sailors and occasional cruisers
Solo or couple sailors
In these cases, refilling tanks periodically may be simpler than installing and maintaining a desalination system.
Our experience with a watermaker
For our cruising plans, installing a watermaker was never really a question - even before we bought the boat, we knew we wanted one onboard. Our plans involved long passages and remote cruising areas in the South Pacific and Asia, so relying entirely on shore water was never going to be practical.
Looking back, we would absolutely make the same decision again. The system supports nearly every part of how we travel, allowing us to stay longer in remote anchorages, cross oceans without worrying about water supply, and maintain a comfortable routine aboard.
We run a DML-780 system from ECHOTec Watermakers, and it has become one of the most useful pieces of equipment on the boat. Maintenance, power draw, and installation requirements all exist, but compared with the freedom the system provides, those factors feel relatively small.
So is a watermaker worth it?
For some sailors, a watermaker is a luxury. For others, it becomes one of the most valuable systems onboard.
If your cruising plans involve remote anchorages, ocean passages, and long periods away from marinas, the ability to produce freshwater at sea can fundamentally change how you travel.
For boats that stay close to developed marinas and coastal towns, regular refills may be perfectly manageable.
Ultimately the decision depends on how you want to cruise.
In our case the answer is simple. If we were outfitting the boat again tomorrow, installing a watermaker would still be near the top of the list, as it’s one of the core systems that makes our cruising dreams possible.
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