Pressurized water: a blessing or a curse?

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

I agree with Sailorboy1 -- if you have hot water, and especially for the shower, you do want pressure water. You can still conserve water if you keep your mind on the valve. The only downside I can think of is that if your plumbing ever springs a leak you can empty your tank into spaces you don't want water.


PS -- comment to Newhaul: Why a manual pump for salt water? If you use a second electric pump for sea water you can pre-rinse dishes while using all the water you need, without depleting your precious fresh water supply. Also, if your fresh water pump fails you can use the saltwater pump as a spare.

No perticular reason for manual seawater pump just what was installed when the boats were built and outfitted back when they were built in the early 1960's ( I just prefer manual on seawater line. A leak after the pump can easily sink the boat)

[jmac9365]

Originally Posted by GTom

The boats I am considering to buy are not even '90s . Anyway, I'd definitely want a manual pump too.

Spend your money on a spare pump and don't worry about the manual pump

Originally Posted by newhaul

On the spencer we had both pressure and a whale foot pump in line so you cod operate either with no issues . Whale inlet is teed off the supply line before the pressure pump. Having pressure feed water is almost a necessity if you want hot water from the Faucet. Also plumbing a manual seawater pump faucet is a good idea for rinsing the dishes before washing . ( Heck a sea water wash with a freshwater rinse works great to.)

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by newhaul

No perticular reason for manual seawater pump just what was installed when the boats were built and outfitted back when they were built in the early 1960's ( I just prefer manual on seawater line. A leak after the pump can easily sink the boat)

You're supposed to turn off any self-starting water pressure pumps when you leave the boat.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

You're supposed to turn off any self-starting water pressure pumps when you leave the boat.

yes you should turn it off when you leave home. Me I turn the freshwater pump off every time I am done using it. ( on my boat the switch for the pump is on the bulkhead behind the Faucet. ) Now im making a general statement not specific to any vessel. 3am at anchor fitting fails boat fills with water you are asleep in your berth boat sinks. )

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by newhaul

yes you should turn it off when you leave home. Me I turn the freshwater pump off every time I am done using it. ( on my boat the switch for the pump is on the bulkhead behind the Faucet. ) Now im making a general statement not specific to any vessel. 3am at anchor fitting fails boat fills with water you are asleep in your berth boat sinks. )

Then I would suggest getting an automatic bilge pump and alarm.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Then I would suggest getting an automatic bilge pump and alarm.

Have them
Systems can and do fail.
Remember I am a retired navy hull tech (old school )I always plan for the worst case . ( Hopefully it never happens)

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Have you ever owned a boat or done a repair at sea? If not... get used to it. Swapping out a pump is probably one of the easiest repairs.

Neither, this will be my first boat

[Mango51]

I turn on the fresh water pressure breaker when using on.off when done. Even if there's a leak it's not going to sink your boat just transferring weight from one place to another. Tank to all over the boat. And your bilge would through it overboard. I have electric fresh and salt. And a freshwater foot pump. But rinse plates with a bucket on deck Then fresh water inside.

[hellosailor]

Electric pump and accumulator, great for showers. But for washing your hands? Go with a simple foot pump. Hands-free, quiet, never turns itself on in the middle of the night.

[TrentePieds]

There are few things more annoying than being woken in the middle of your snooze by an electric diaphragm pump rattling in your ear! I'll concede that in a floating condo electric pumps have a place right up there with the full size freezer. In a pokey little thirty footer manual pumps is the way to go because:

1) They are quiet
2) They are sparing of scarce potable water
3) Water hogs like showers demanding pressure water are not (often) part of a small boat's ModCons


Eliminating the Jabsco in TP in favour of manual pumps will be part of the winter's work. Seawater comes aboard via a bucket :-)

Occam rules :-)!

TP

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by GTom

but that noise...

want a hand-pump backup if

The noise drops by maybe 2/3s with an upgrade to a top quality pump, based on magnets, such as Jabasco. I'm happy with my recent upgrade to their pump. If so more of a purring sound. However that noise does work as a "pump running alarm" which is good if you have frequent guests.

A manual foot pump may be easier to operate than a manual hand-operated pump. Manual less likely to fail - the failure of the 11 year old pump drove my upgrade. PITA (water from dock hose) until it was done.

[NevisDog]

We had foot pumps in heads for fresh and salt (much less wasteful of fresh water) and electric pressure pumps in galley but the old galley foot pumps were still there so I reconnected one to the line from aft tank and left the electric connected to fwd tank. Any breakdowns at sea and we can still use the other tank. Pressure water can be very wasteful and we much prefer the foot pump. Hand pumps are a pain. Our electric caravan pump lasted less than a year so best avoid cheap-n-nasty. At least the whale foot pumps are repairable if you carry spare parts - electric was a throw-away job.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I haven't reinstalled the pressurized water system but have installed salt and freshwater foot pumps that work just grand. If you are a shower addict or have a need of empty a tank quickly, pressure water systems have some merit. Other than that they are terrible water wasters. Living aboard in a marina on the boat we took to SoPac, we'd blow through 80 gallons of water in less than two weeks using pressure system using their showers and toilets. Cruising, we often went a month or more on 40 gallons with the pressure system turned off and only using the foot pumps.

My new to me other boat had only hand pumps and no pressure water when I bought it. The hand pumps drove me crazy. Ever tried to wash your hands one hand at a time?? It's the sound of one hand clapping. If you are relying on hand pumps, they'll drive you crazy, install foot pumps.

I'm tempted to reinstall the pressure pump on my other boat but hook it up to the salt water inlet. Their is a whole ocean of salt water to use wastefully that lends itself to pressure water system.

I'm with Peter on this. Anything that helps me waste water... I probably will. The foot pumps easy, simple, reliable, no wires yadda yadda.. but the clincher for me is when you actually have to carry jugs of water to your boat... it makes some people like me blow a fuse if I catch someone wasting even one drop!

[elandra65]

I used to worry about reliability etc of pressurized systems. However my last 2 boats have had electric pumps and they are generally fine. The bigger problem is the lines and fittings which occasionally leak because they are under continual pressure. If you have a HWS or a stern shower you have no choice anyway. It is actually much cheaper to install one electric pump than many manual pumps which are required wherever you want water. One other consideration is water conservation. If you dont have a watermaker manual pumps conserve a lot of water. People wont pump more than they need!

Andrew

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by newhaul

yes you should turn it off when you leave home. Me I turn the freshwater pump off every time I am done using it. ( on my boat the switch for the pump is on the bulkhead behind the Faucet. ) Now im making a general statement not specific to any vessel. 3am at anchor fitting fails boat fills with water you are asleep in your berth boat sinks. )

How can you sink your boat with water from a tank in the boat?