Pressure water - overrated?

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Can you rub your belly and tap your head at the same time ?

Oh, is that how yer supposed to take a shower?
All this time I've been doing it wrong?
Gonna have to practice that one.
Yep, gonna need pressure water then!

[Steve Bean]

It doesn't take many giardia cysts to cause illness - as few as ten, according to one source I found, and they are very tiny.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Don C L

The good thing about pressure water is that you don't have to move your foot up and down. Maybe I'm a bit thick, entirely possible, but I can't think of any other compelling reasons to have it.
And for a pressure shower I use this. If you haven't tried it, it ain't bad! I heat up a teapot of water, mix it with the cool for the right temp, works great. Ridiculously cheap too.

You stole my shower , although mine is black, so it heats up well in the sun.

[Q Xopa]

Originally Posted by Steve Bean

It doesn't take many giardia cysts to cause illness - as few as ten, according to one source I found, and they are very tiny.

I'm assume that is correct.

Sorry, but your connection to pressure water not being worth the hassle is not immediately apparent?

[daletournier]

10 years, very few problems, I like comfort and convenience.

To me it seems a very simple boat system that requires very little maintenance, much more pleasure than work.

[Simi 60]

Life's too short to forsake comfort and convenience.

[valhalla360]

Changed one pump in 20yrs of pressure water.

Also had a foot pump start leaking. It was paralleled into the system...I pulled it out and connected the two hose endings.

If you have marginal water supply, it makes a lot of sense to use hand/foot pumps to limit waste but it's great to just turn a handle and have water.

[Fore and Aft]

We only have foot pumps and a hand pump for the salt water in the galley sink. When we were building our yacht it was pretty quick to set up this system.
Not sure I would criticise the CQR, it was the anchor of choice for years and still does a reasonably good job.
Cheers

[LEOCAT66]

We have both. Two tanks, one, 50 gal, dedicated to drinking water, which fills manually by gravity, through a second filter, to small containers for cooking, consumption. It is also attached to a pressure pump if desired.

The second tank, 100 gal,is primarily for general use, mainly shower and galley.

Hot showers are a high priority on board ROSA, as we seldom stay in marinas.

Have had no pump problems for the last six years since we changed from Par to Surflo.

We do use a pump up canister on deck, in warm months, when possible.

[rourkeh]

Really, pressurized water a luxury???
Would we be having this discussion if we were talking about land based living conditions?
I have redone all the plumbing on my boat, installing whale hard plastic pipe and quick connect fittings. I have not had a single problem in 7 years other than the crappy pumps that fail constantly and I bought a $600 Marco pump finally and it seems to be working for the long haul. Do you really want to pump your foot up and down every time you need water like some kind of cave man. I live on my boat full time so I want it to be as comfortable and convenient as possible.
I do not want to rub two sticks together every time I need a fire and I sure don't want to pump some pedal up and down every time I need water.
This is one of the dumber discussions I have seen on here over years and that is really saying something.

[noelex 77]

It depends on the application.

In the galley we find foot pumps work much better than pressurised water. The advantages are a precise delivery of the water wanted without having to use your hands. For rough offshore passages having one hand free to hold on is nice, so turning a tap and holding a glass at same time becomes a challenge. With a foot pump there is no tap to turn, freeing one hand. There are other advantages such as no noise, no electricity consumption, and lower water consumption.

For other applications such as the shower, or deck rinse down, pressure water is much better.

It is of course possible to cruise happily without pressure water, but even foot pumps as well as hoses etc fail. So a backup means of extracting water from the tanks is helpful. Pressured water provides a seperate system. If installing this you might as well take advantage of the situations where pressurised water is better, and have a nice shower, but don’t assume pressurised water is better everywhere just because this is what if fitted in a house.

[fish53]

I prefer simplicity, if I was concerned about pressurized water I'd stay home. I go out on my boat to get away from those things bringing them with me seems silly. Like my wife used to say about her parents motorhome "It's a way for my mother to bring her housework with her".

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by alctel

- way higher chance of leaks
- uses way more water
- pumps seem to break fairly often (every couple of years, even the expensive ones)
- I don't shower on the boat anyway - in marinas I use the shower then and cruising I either solar shower or go for a swim.
- Don't really use the hot water either - washing up I use seawater, or cold freshwater.
- plumbing is the worst job on the boat and the less of it I have the better (have a composter for pretty much that reason)

Thinks I'd say that differently:
- much faster realization if there's a leak in the system
- the user (not the pump) controls consumption
- good pumps seldom break; cheap pups are cheaply and easily replaceable
- walking down the dock to take a shower sucks
- washing dishes in hot water is good
- sanitation plumbing sucks; otherwise plumbing is just another boat chore

You're "camping;" we're not. Your ship, your wallet, your choice.

-Chris

[LEOCAT66]

Originally Posted by fish53

I prefer simplicity, if I was concerned about pressurized water I'd stay home. I go out on my boat to get away from those things bringing them with me seems silly. Like my wife used to say about her parents motorhome "It's a way for my mother to bring her housework with her".

We are totally with you on simplicity, as we are as old school as possible. Manual windlass, oil lamps, Kero cooker, paper charts, wind scoops, etc.

Would not head home if we lost pressure water, or A C , fridge, GPS, etc. but do enjoy hot pressure water under most days.

[hpeer]

^^ 1+ on kero cookers