Dockside Water

rnbenton

rnbenton

Active member
Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
RO Number
31163
Messages
2,834
Currently, the water system in my boat is all internal. That is to say, the fresh water tank must be filled and any water insider the boat comes through the pressure pump anf comes from that tank.

I would like to plumb in a dockside fitting. Does anyone know of a good "how to book" or a web site to give clear and concise directions on how to do this?

Thanks,
Bob
 
It s pretty easy, get a dock side fitting with internal pressure regulator and install it downstream of the pump,with a check valve between the T and the pump

But... I ve got ask why would you want to do that? The risk of fitting failing and sinking the boat is very real... I don't know what kind of fittings and piping carver used back then but I don't know if i d take a chance. Sure you can tell yourself that you ll always turn the faucet off or you can use a volume timer but i sti never hook up my boat to dockside water

Another benefit of using your tank is that you are refreshing the content using chlorinated city water which maintains your tank
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

But... I ve got ask why would you want to do that?
Click to expand...


Just for Marina RON's when cruising. I keep my boat at home behind the house so no need to have water hooked to it all the time here. Spending 3-4 days in a Marina having a water hook up would seem to be easier than having to fill the tank all the time.

Bob
 
Pascal has outlined how our rig is set up. We have a fitting outside and a standard pressure regulator down stream of the fitting. We appreciate this set up because the regulator blew out once, and I was able to go to a Home Depot for a replacement. Output of the regulator is T'd into the cold water line after the pump. Quick connects are very convenient and I would recommend these over some of the rigs I've seen because they use a standard hose connector that is recessed and difficult to work with. However they will be much more expensive. Years ago I got a spare for our boat and the female connection was 35 bucks (brass).
The one draw back to our system is we do not have a means to fill the tank directly from the dockside fitting.
The notion of using the tank all the time is a good one for the reason stated and we do that while in the Bahamas. However we chlorinate the water ourselves since we use the water maker. When cheap water is available over here we will connect to dockside for long hot showers and laundry runs. Usually it takes a while to flush the lines out again since for example in Marsh, the PPM of the water is over 600 TDS and it's not all that wholesome leading to "issues".
 
quote:
Originally posted by boatbum

Usually it takes a while to flush the lines out again since for example in Marsh, the PPM of the water is over 600 TDS and it's not all that wholesome leading to "issues".
Click to expand...


Dan, do you use an external filter outside of the fitting? I see a lot of those and wondered how effective they really are.

Bob
 
Yes we use a whole house filter with carbon 2 micron filters. This is an important aspect of using dockside water and I am glad you brought it up. Since most of the dock lines are above ground, they are subject to warm temperatures. So is the hose leading up to the inlet on the boat. As a result they get lined with algae unless the city water is hammered with chlorine. In NYS we always had issues with algae in the filter. It tended to plug within a month. Since then we cracked the housing and I switched to an opague assembly so there is no light on the filter and they seem to last longer. Someone told me that algae loves to grow on carbon filters, but they tend to make the water smell and taste better.
To prevent algae from getting into your boat make sure the filter is located as close as possible to the inlet. You may have seen ours at Stuart. It's outlet is mounted to the quick connect and the hose to shore is on the filter inlet.
 
I've had dockside water capability for 10 years now AND HAVE NEVER USED IT, for the same reasons Pascal relates.
 
On my last boat I only had a 20 gallon water tank which with a family of four didn't last long so when at dock we would often hook up to city water. On my current boat I have a 100 gallon tank I very rarely hook up to city water because I like to use and flush out the tank as often as possible. I agree the fear factor of leaving a city water connection on while you are not on board is a real concern. Some marinas have high press that could pop a connection fitting and sink you boat, why take the chance as long as you hold enough water in your tank to get by this way if you spring a leak your pumps can keep up with it.
 
Another reason to always have a high water alarm installed.

But there is no reason not to use a dock side water hook up as long as some one is a board or you always turn it off when leaving the boat unattended.
 
Like Willie we have never used our dockside connection for many reasons. You can get a cheap water limiting meter at HD that you set at, say 100 gallons, and it shuts off. That will reduce but not eliminate the concern about sinking your boat from a hose.
 
I agree that leaving a boat hooked to shore water is a bad idea.
However, everyone has a close up list of things they do when leaving the boat. One of ours was not just turning off the water, but disconnecting the hose completely and reeling the hose back on the dock. In fact, one of the first things we did when we got the boat, was to buy a quick connect hose connection, just to speed up the process of connecting-disconnecting the hose to the boat.
 
don't do it....I used ours once right after we got our 3607 and it failed in the middle of the night what fun. And the thin wall Quest that Carver used in the 80's doesn't like to be messed with...we now use the tanks all the time.
 
I have had several pin holes in my Quest lines I have replaced those section with PEX it uses the same fittings or any of the new stuff as well.
 
Bob,

Our boat was built as yours; no dock-side water inlet. I added it with a check-valve before the water pump and use it all the time when we're at a marina or at our home slip (so I don't have to top our tank off all the time). We like to celebrate and call the hook-up "unlimited water!" :-) I never leave the boat for more than 15 minutes without turning the feed off. And I never leave the connection set up when I'm leaving the boat for longer than that (as Dan said, quick disconnects help with that). I figure I'm saving the wear-n-tear on my water pump as well as enjoying how nice it is to have "city" water pressure when docked.
 
In the last 5 yrs, we have had 2 sinkings because of dockside water failures at my marina. If you do this, turn it off anytime there is no one on the boat. Both failures here happened when no one was onboard and it didn't take long at all for them to go down.
 
We used it all the time but we have flared copper lines inside. No hoses. And, we turned it off when we were not aboard.
 
"I added it with a check-valve before the water pump and use it all the time when we're at a marina or at our home slip (so I don't have to top our tank off all the time)."

The issue with this is when you go to use the water in the tank is it has been sitting a while and it stinks and taste bad. I like to keep the tank water fresh and constantly circulating.
This said if I was living on board like Dan I would feel differently and probably use dock side water as my primary source.
 
Dave only when it is convenient. For example right now we use the tank and run the water maker on average about 2 hours a day. In reality that could be 6 hours with a two or three day break. When we are not using the tank we make sure some chlorine goes in. We use about 1/4 cup per 100 gallons.
 
This may be a stupid question but in the boats that sank, what happened with the bilge pumps? In my engine bilge I have two pumps, one higher than than the other. The higher is 1500gph. The lower 1000gph. The lazerette has a 1000gph, center bilge 1000gph and forward bilge 1500gph (looks newer than the others). The lazerette an two forward bilges have two float switches one mounted slightly higher than the other. Would that not be enough to keep a broken water line at bay. I mean if the line did break it would be shooting water out several orifices and I would think ale art at least one slip mate to take action if you were not there.

That being said I too disconnect when I am not there. I leave the tank empty. However since we have two pups that need a three times a day walk, I doubt we will anchor out any time soon. At least not in this region.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Audrey II

"I added it with a check-valve before the water pump and use it all the time when we're at a marina or at our home slip (so I don't have to top our tank off all the time)."

The issue with this is when you go to use the water in the tank is it has been sitting a while and it stinks and taste bad. I like to keep the tank water fresh and constantly circulating.
This said if I was living on board like Dan I would feel differently and probably use dock side water as my primary source.

Click to expand...


Never a problem. We go through the tank water often enough that it never has a chance to go bad. Our water sources are typically wells or our watermaker, so there's no chlorine. On the rare instance we fill with city water, the chlorine will keep the tank fresh for quite a while. Otherwise, I use an additive made just for this purpose (I can't remember the brand). Bleach can be used as well.

Speaking of Dan, do you find yourself using your watermaker in the Bahamas at marinas or paying for water? I usually opt to pay when tied up as I don't want to take the chance of sucking in something at a marina that can ruin the membrane. At anchor, we run the heck out of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top