When we left Enfin at the marina to take care of my health we weren't able to properly prepare the water maker. I had left it in automatic flushing mode, but unfortunately forgot that we had super chlorinated our water tanks to ensure that bugs wouldn't roam free in them while we were absent.
With hindsight it's obvious but in the rush of getting ready I forgot that chlorine damages water maker membranes. That's why the fresh water rinse circuit includes a carbon filter to eliminate chlorine, but unfortunately there's a limit as to how much chlorine it can absorb.
As a result the membranes got damaged, and to save fresh water now that the rinses were useless and wasteful, our boat minder shut the water off to the water maker. It was the right thing to do, but now left us with an inoperable water maker in need of a restart and new membranes. The membranes and all components having sat in stale water for months.
We sourced new filters, new membranes and various other small parts to restart the water maker.
Replacing the 2 osmosis membranes was a fairly simple affair, though I was happy my tech had taken the time to discuss with the water maker's manufacturer to confirm a few things.
Flushing the whole system, making sure the plumbing is clean and water tight, we restarted the water maker and are now getting good clean, bacteria and virus free water.
One step closer to being able to cruise long term. That deserved a well earned burger.