Multiple Water Tank 'Feeds'

[Shanaly]

Rather impecuniously I have filled one slightly porous tank space with several 10L water containers. The plan is to draw water from each. Obviosuly I don't want to crawl down there to switch from tank to tank. Im a bit vague on how pressure systems work:
1 should I create an 'octopus ' converging on the water pipe to my system (galley etc)?
2 or do I need to feed each pipe up to a central 'switching station'?!

ideas appreciated! thanks in advance

J

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by Shanaly

....tank space with several 10L water containers. The plan is to draw water from each. Obviosuly I don't want to crawl down there to switch from tank to tank. ...... should I create an 'octopus ' converging on the water pipe to my system (galley etc)?
2 or do I need to feed each pipe up to a central 'switching station'?!
J

Offhand, I think you will pretty much be stuck switching tanks or just have a tank made to fit that space. Generally, an octopus wont work because as soon as one tank is empty it will start sucking air and the water from the other tanks will not be drawn out. Your pump will run continuously and not shut off and not pump water. The probability of water being drawn equally from each tank with an octopus arrngement is low due to boat movement, length of lines etc. There are ways to make it work but not worth the effort. One for instance would be one pump for each bottle. The switching of tanks would be from switches on the electrical panel and not psyically swapping tanks. The space available for hoses, wiring and pumps plus the price of several pumps and switches might make this prohibitive.
Another method, if practical, would be to connect the bottles at the bottoms so the feed into eachother with short hoses. Then you would only need one hose exiting to the pump. This could be a real PITA with all the short hose connections but the entire system could be filled by just sticking a fill hose in only one bottle. The problem might be in finding a flat surface on the bottles where watertight conections could be made.

When I had my Catalina 30, space for a reasonably sized water tank was just not available. I ended up with a "bladder tank" which is an inflatable tank. Properly sized, they will fit anywhere and when filled, they will conform to the shape of the area they are in. In your case, this is probably your best option. Just buy the thing and be done with it.

[shorebird]

You should be able to "manifold" multiple tanks by connecting them with a length of pipe or hose connecting them at the bottom. This would allow the water level to remain the same in all tanks, while drawing water from only one of them. Think of two barrels, side by side, with a 2" pipe connecting them at the bottom. As the water level in one drops, the other feeds water back into it to maintain an equal level in both. BTW, Tony B's suggestion for a bladder tank may be a simpler solution.