For boaters, maintenance can feel like a never-ending battle—scraping barnacles, flushing lines, and pressure washing running gear to keep systems clean and the boat operating smoothly. From clogged seawater lines to marine growth on hulls and propellers, the fight against fouling is time-consuming, frustrating, and costly.

That's why the Waterway Guide team has been closely monitoring two innovative products designed to reduce the maintenance tango: Hull Shield and ElectroStrainer. Both are game-changing solutions for minimizing time in the slings or engine room.

ElectroSea ElectroStrainer: Clean Seawater Lines Made Simple

Waterway Guide Media has been eyeing ElectroSea's technology for the past few years. Proven, cost effective, and built on sound engineering practices, the systems and applications have evolved into significant solutions for one of the most frustrating challenges in boat maintenance. 

We all know that marine organisms naturally find their way into every nook and cranny and surface of a boat that sits in the water, and in the lines and strainers of raw water systems. Depending on the salinity, cleanliness, and overall environment, some boat owners clean their strainers every two weeks, and constantly chase blockages and clogged lines. Barnacles, biofilm and other marine growth cause major headaches for yacht owners, choking their raw-water lines used for air conditioning, chillers, refrigeration and hydraulics. 

ElectroSea's Electrostrainer converts sea water to a low level of chlorination, less than found in tap drinking water, in which organisms can't survive. As a result, strainers and lines carrying raw seawater remain almost completely clean.

ElectroSea was Founded by Dr. Louis and Daniel Cosentino, a father and son team who were looking to address menacing marine growth in the raw water lines of their sportfisher. "We were experiencing first-hand the need for constant flushing of the seawater system," says Louis. "We thought, there has to be a better way. We applied our background in electrochemical systems, sterilant and filtration technologies and came up with an answer." Daniel says, "In looking back on what we were thinking, we saw it as a superb opportunity. First, we addressed biofouling in the lines, then we started looking at the sea strainer and found that biofouling is, of course, present there as well."

How It Works

A small amount of DC voltage is applied to an electrochlorination cell that contains a mixed metal oxide catalyst. A small amount of the seawater is converted to a low level of chlorinated water and marine life simply does not thrive in that environment. 

Brian Golden, VP Research and Development at ElectroSea, summed up how the results were achieved. "Material selection, robust enough for the marine environment, including titanium and composites for strength, and electrically isolated components was the first step. Our technical challenges included making sure we have a way to measure the seawater flow rate. The result is an ultrasonic flow sensor specifically designed for the environment. Another technical challenge involved engineering the flow dynamics of integrating a strainer function with electrochlorination function in one unit." The result was an IBEX innovation award in 2022.

Now proven and accepted by leading manufacturers and installed in new builds and as replacements for typical strainers on vessels worldwide, ElectroSea's systems and components are recognized as extraordinarily designed and engineered.

Mike Ryan, owner of a Nordhavn 59CP (Hull #2) says, "We keep the boat in Charleston, SC, which is a biologically active environment. It was a never ending situation of maintaining sea strainers. There are six AC units onboard, so we put two ElectroSea systems in. I can now go 6 months with zero reduction in raw water flow. We 'chase 80 degrees' from Maine to the Bahamas and are underway constantly. This is our third boat, and I can certainly say that no one should own a boat without ElectroSea's ElectroStrainer."