Do things grow in the plumbing?

[ontherocks83]

Aside from available space, is there any reason not to use a sea chest for all your water intake needs?

[a64pilot]

Cost, I don't see why or how it would take up space, but I do have a deep bilge too, so maybe they aren't well suited for a shallow bilge.

Boat I looked at buying had one, it was if memory serves essentially one valve with a manifold and the items requiring water, drew off that manifold. But it was like a bucket welded to the hull, so knock off that valve or bust the manifold etc, the bucket would fill but as the top of the bucket was above the water line, no water would get into the boat.

[Sandero]

YES you can get barnacles growing in inlet hose and sea side of strainers... They decided to grow inside of the grate of the engine raw water intake... nicely blocking most of the flow and caused the engine to run hot. I had to remove the hose... open the sea cock and poke the hell out of the thing breaking them up and have them shoot inside the boat before I closed the sea cock... problem solved.

[mannix2]

The only issues that I have had were creatures clogging my HVAC raw water strainer and growing in the lines. This required periodic acid cleaning. I was advised to place Bromine pellets in the raw water strainer every few days to kill the mussels or barnacles or other creatures. Having done so since last spring, I have had NO problems.

I do not enjoy crawling around to put the pellets in every three days or so, the alternative was worse. As winter is here, HVAC usage is down and pellet placement is needed less frequently.

[autumnbreeze27]

You want a sea chest. It's the best solution.

[Tellie]

Of course things grow throughout plumbing lines, especially if they are run often. A fresh supply of oxygen rich sea water is a perfect feast for all kinds of internal growth. AC plumbing lines are notorious for the pipes, hoses and heat exchangers of your HVAC system to clog with marine growth and barnacles. We sell a lot of the Bio-Guard system for this very reason.

Halden Marine Services | Marine Watermakers, Solar Panels, Wind Generators

[Siberianhusky]

It's even a big problem in some fresh water areas, damn zebra mussles have invaded!