Does the watermaker need a separate water intake?
Not necessarily. Many cruisers prefer to “tee” into the toilet or engine intake instead of adding another through-hull. This is not a problem because our units do not use enough water to ‘rob’ the engine of water. This is true of all units that make less than five gallons an hour. Only our 160E exceeds this capacity. Whatever input you choose, be sure that it remains underwater at all times to prevent air from entering the system. This is especially important in heeling sailboats and catamarans. Please note that many head (Toilet) intakes are relatively far up the side of the hull, so if you need to tack to flush the head, this is a very poor choice for a watermaker intake.
