When I first thought about building a home here, one of the ideas that was very appealing to me was living as self sufficient as possible. To start a house from scratch with the idea that my home would not be reliant on town water, sewage or electricity and should a hurricane hit to be up and running as quickly as possible.
This in mind I have been doing some research on home R/O and was surprised at how inexpensive a compact, ready to install wall mount unit can be purchased for. And it seems, well, quite straight forward. The one I am reading about is a 1/2hp 150GPD unit and costs just under 1700$USD. This is a model designed for water front properties, using ocean water from source.
I was just wondering if anyone here has installed one, or has one in their home. Or invented their own method of purifying ocean water. Not to levels of drinking water, just to be able to shower with it, use it in the washing machine and toilet and irrigate a garden. what are some of the problems that arise from installation pains to usage and such? Did anyone couple it with solar water heating? Has anyone tried a garden hose method of heating water? Pitfalls? It just seems like there so many opportunities to try out ideas and such here. I guess I am looking for any feedback on living "off-grid" so to speak. Right now this is just out of curiousity, but in a year or two who knows. A gal can dream right.....?

lil'red, Small RO systems as you decribed have been used by boaters for quite some time. In the early 1990's I started seeing quite a few of them. I have not had one but friends of mine reported few problems. I've had boats with RO's transfer water to me and it was fine for drinking. One thing though, if you leave to go off for a while, it maybe necessary to "pickle" the unit so that unwanted guess do not start growing in it. It does require some maintenance.

Look toward boating designs to get at least some information. Note: boating designs are mostly low voltage but maybe that is what you want. I would look around a little but I have to get off to a job right now. Good luck.

A well is cheaper and MUCH LESS to maintain.

Yes it is, if that is an option. That is what I have at my Stateside home.

90% of the island offers ample water supply using a well and collecting rain water.

An old timer can dig you a well. Usually, a thin vien of fresh water floats above the salt water table. Usually.

An R/O can be used a back up but is a real waste to water plants, shower and flush toilets with. Adding a UV filter to an R/O will give you water similar to that produced by Crytal.

The only problem with well water is your metal/iron plumbing parts will wear faster, but still more affordable than desalinating. R/O can be a nightmare like most technical items here.

The other option is a solar still, but more of a survival technique.

lil'red, I could be wrong, but I believe Su from Xanadu was telling me that they were looking into putting in their own water system back a couple of years ago.