Water Supply

Plumbed my dock with city water and connect it to the boat, turn off if leaving for awhile. We do have about two weeks each year where it drops below freezing, at night, so I fill my tank and drain the dock lines.

caltexflanc said:

I don't know that it is way better than copper, functionality and durability wise, but it is sure easier to work with, and you can get adaptors to add to a legacy copper system. I like the SeaTech stuff for a lot of applications in that it does not require special tools and is easy to disassemble if you have to.

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PEX is easier to run, needs fewer fittings, can be connected without a torch and open flame, is less apt to break from vibration and less apt to burst if left with water in it in freezing temperatures. Cold water lines in PEX are less apt to swear in humid conditions.

Is there any advantage to copper for water lines ?

Is there any advantage to copper for water lines ?

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Longevity, resistance to high pressure, less puncture-able. Worth it in the modern era with such high copper prices? I think not.

As I thought I implied, for any DIY project, I would, and don't, use copper. And I certainly wouldn't have any reservation having an all PEX-type boat. I am pretty, but not completely sure the new Hatts are plumbed that way.

Is there any advantage to copper for water lines ?

Yes.

If done with 5/8 copper tubing the water pressure can be turned down , saves both water and electric.

Tubing is available anywhere in the world.
With flair fittings a repair can be done anywhere , with no fire hazard.
A repair piece of tubing is really easy to carry.

Plastic will release chemicals over time , an seldom system could be an interesting chemical soup.

Green stuff does not grow in copper , so fresh (not city chlorine water) can be collected and used with no taste or smell problems.

Slip on insulation is cheap, to keep HW hot.

But it does cost more than plastic.

I never have trusted PEX. Always looks and feels to me like you're doing a home aquarium plumbing project with drinking straws.

kthoennes said:

I never have trusted PEX. Always looks and feels to me like you're doing a home aquarium plumbing project with drinking straws.

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Works great though....some boats have been using it over a decade that I know of with relatively few or no problems and it's easy to repair/preplace or modify....inexpensively.

There is no city water connection on my boat and never will. I just fill tanks as needed and it allows the tank water to be used and not get stale and stinky. Just my preference, i hate that smell when you take a shower with old water.

rwidman said:

PEX is easier to run, needs fewer fittings, can be connected without a torch and open flame, is less apt to break from vibration and less apt to burst if left with water in it in freezing temperatures. Cold water lines in PEX are less apt to swear in humid conditions.

Is there any advantage to copper for water lines ?

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Not that I have found.. You summed it up pretty well.

Living at the dock Just use the f/w pump then refill each week, as part of my pump out routine, if a leak happens can hear the f/w pump running under the bed plus have a highwater alarm.

I like to use the tank water the tank is 300 gallons. But if I. was not going to leave the dock I might empty the water rank and use the "city" water.

bligh said:

Well, that is true, but on the other side of that 40 dollar regulator is 100 psi hose that can dump up 15-20 gallons a minute. That's 900-1200 gallons per hour or 7200-9600 lbs per hour. My boat displaces 22000 lbs. So a 3/4" garden hose hose could theoretically displace my boat in just over 2 hours. Not to mention the damage it would do. And from what I see in most (if not all) boats, the 'plumbing system' is far less robust than what I see on land based homes.

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Great post.

That is why I have never even hooked up the pressurized water to my boat.

I hold 200 gallons. Thats about four days worth. Last week I spent 5 nights aboard the boat, sitting at my dock. Had a great time. Didnt mind filling up the water tanks.

kthoennes said:

I never have trusted PEX. Always looks and feels to me like you're doing a home aquarium plumbing project with drinking straws.

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Well don't buy a new home then. PEX is pretty standard in new home construction. It's pretty common and reliable in boats as well.

Ay

Some strange paranoias and fetishes here I guess we all have them to some extent.

1) A pressure regulator is a pretty fail proof item. And easy to have redundant,even triple redundant units. 2) There is nothing making you turn the dock water faucet all the way on. 3) Your boat and its power train are life-and-death dependent on dozens of much cheaper and much easier to fail and age items: O-rings, gaskets, seals, clamps, hose fittings, electric terminals and cable, nuts and bolts, to name a few. How do you sleep at night?

I think this would be a classic poll type question...to see if there is a difference between liveaboard and non-liveaboards...

From there..then the breakdown whether it's fear of sinking one's boat or just keeping the water tanks fresher.

Now that I have a completely new pex system..I too worry more about some bad electrical connection....and that is the next big project.

There is nothing making you turn the dock water faucet all the way on.

The pressure will remain the same full on or 99% off.

Its just a matter of how fast water is delivered (volume) .

FF said:

There is nothing making you turn the dock water faucet all the way on.

The pressure will remain the same full on or 99% off.

Its just a matter of how fast water is delivered (volume) .

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Oh really? Put a pressure meter on the end of a hose or faucet bib sometime and get back to us. Or look up Venturi effect.

caltexflanc said:

Oh really? Put a pressure meter on the end of a hose or faucet bib sometime and get back to us. Or look up Venturi effect.

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The pressure in a closed plumbing system is the same at every point in the system. A meter at the end of a 100 foot hose will read the same as at the hose bib as long as no water is running.

Open a valve at the end of the hose and the pressure will drop at that end because of the resistance of the hose.

It's the same as with electrical systems. The voltage is the same everywhere until there is a load, then the voltage at the load may drop because of resistance in the conductors.

George, Fred's answer is correct. The only thing diminished is volume.

Put a pressure gauge on your boat and try it. Pressure will be the same until you open your faucet on the boat to use a greater volume of water than can come through the partially closed valve on the dock. Turning on every faucet on your Hatt should produce a similar result if your pump is off and you're connected to a standard marina faucet.

Most folks will not be satisfied with the volume and complain they have a "lack of pressure" when in fact they suffer a "lack of volume". See it all the time in my business.

FF said:

There is nothing making you turn the dock water faucet all the way on.

The pressure will remain the same full on or 99% off.

Its just a matter of how fast water is delivered (volume) .

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Darn it, FF is right. Oh well, it happens

rwidman said:

Well don't buy a new home then. PEX is pretty standard in new home construction. It's pretty common and reliable in boats as well.

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We have PEX in the house and have had no problems. Certainly PEX has less connections which minimizes possibilities of leaks. The big issue, besides ease of installation, is PEX's ability to tolerate some freezing without bursting. We have a very cold winter, worse I can remember having in the years I have lived in NC, and people were having burst pipes. The houses I knew of were bursting pipes over the unheated garage or exterior walls.

Our water supply froze a bit with the temps went to 6 degrees. The water supply enters the house from the well via an exterior wall. Thankfully, nothing burst, and the ice melted quickly. Ended up buying a little portable heater to sit near the wall to keep the wall warm. Looks like this winter is going to be cold again...

Later,
Dan

You can also get one of these from campingworld:

Adjustable Water Regulator - Lead Free - Valterra A01-1117VP - Faucets & Inlets - Camping World