New HP Watermaker Unveiled at Cannes

The new watermakers have a smaller footprint and can produce up to 1,200 gph of fresh water.
The new watermakers have a smaller footprint and can produce up to 1,200 gph of fresh water.
The new watermakers have a smaller footprint and can produce up to 1,200 gph of fresh water.

HP Watermakers launched a new series of compact watermakers at the Cannes Yachting Festival. The HP SCA Double series ranges from 63 gallons per hour to 1,200 gph.

“A great technical innovation, the new HP SCA Double series, which greatly reduces the size of the desalination units in the engine room and two important new entries in the “Together We Boat’ strategic alliance,” said Gianni Zucco, co-founder of HP Watermakers, in a statement. “These two strategic partners, Mapei Marine and Feit Pompe, will complete the range of our offer.”

HP Watermakers says its RP Tronic system eliminates the need for continuous pressure adjustments in the engine compartment to adapt to fluctuations in salinity and water temperature. They also perform an effective rinse at the end of the cycle with the valve fully open, making it unnecessary to chemically wash the membranes to remove accumulated salt.

“For automatic to really mean automatic, a number of careful arrangements are necessary, including in the installation phase: with the new SCA Double series we believe we have provided the answer that shipyards and shipowners were expecting,” said Zucco. “Specifically, the innovation consists in the decision to remove the low-pressure pumps, the ones that bring seawater to the desalination unit, from the frame, reducing the footprint of the current SC Double series by 33%. We have moved them close to the seawater inlets, making the desalination plant’s seawater supply much more fluid.”

HP says that to ensure a more continuous inflow, an installer should avoid using long connection pipes. Air bubbles can form, blocking the desalination system and forcing the crew or boat owner to manually restart the watermaker. Moving the low-pressure pumps let the company reduce the width of the HP SCA Double series box from 43” to 32” while the height and depth remain unchanged.

The HP SCA Double series consists of two independent watermakers set up in the same frame to optimize on board energy usage and satisfy peak drinking water demand.

The new series consists of five models including the 440, 320, 540, 660 and 880. The 440 is the only one in the range with the membranes installed in the box. In the other models, they are separate, which means shipyards can install them where they consider most appropriate.