Water hoses and connectors

Hi all, another stupid newbie question, this time about water hoses and connectors! First of all, in the photo, what type of connector is this? I searched Defender.com and also Home Depot and nothing looked like it would fit on this, although I assume it must be some sort of standard connector.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if this is just screwed onto a threaded connector. Hmmm.

Lastly, do most people have just one hose onboard, which can be used to connect to fresh water supply OR rinse the boat down? Or do people typically carry two? I do know that certain hoses are rated for drinking water and others not.

Thanks!
Mike

That is some sort of "quick connect" and what you don't have is the part that goes on the end of the hose. These are normally sold in the garden section of the home center but that one looks a little too robust for that. It might be one from a pressure washer hose.


I can't say for sure but it looks to me like an owner modification. Not necessarily something you would want to keep.

I have one of those coiled blue hoses for the anchor wash down, it's not very long, a 50' Zero-G hose, and a safe drinking hose to fill the water tank.

There seems to be no standard for those quick connect fittings, finding one that will work with what they you have, may be a pain. I had an rv with quick connects, and some for around home for the yard, and they were not compatible. Just like air check fittings, the luck of the draw.

Would not surprise me to find a euro connector in a euro boat. Trying to buy small parts from EU is a non starter. Shipping expenses are astronomical. I think your guess about the fitting being screwed on is correct but I'm not sure what you'd replace it with. My plastic garden hose connectors have a limited life span and any sidewards force on a fixed male fitting will snap it off.

I can't think of any reason why I would want a hose rated specifically for potability. Water doesn't sit in the hose so there is no opportunity for noxious chemicals to leach out.

Unscrew the four screws and remove the whole unit and look at the back. More likely to be on standard fitting . You then can replace whole thing with what you what,or replace the fitting.

Looks like a simple garden hose male quick connect for me.
Euro garden quick connect are exactly the same as what we have in north america. In fact plumber is mostly exactly the same.
For the hoses I carry two of them, one for drinking water and one for cleaning the bat with non potable water. I just want to avoid having some algae growth in the hose in case some water from the river remain in it.

Home Depot $2.99

I will bet money the fitting is just a quick connect and unscrews.

I don't like the old white hoses that are Marine/RV hoses...they get gummy too fast in the hot sun and are heavy and kink.

I say a new nylon covered hose in a Kmart that had promise...but like anything in the sun...it get used up fast...but it is a lot lighter, doesn't kink and is just as inexpensive.

The question on drinking water safe is a personal one. I am in the camp of wh cares as the water I drink isn't water that has been sitting in the hose and if it is a little...it goes through a 2 stage filter on board capable of removing all but the slightest items that might be present.

My white marine hoses are always full of algae and no problems so far....but this is the last year of them anyhow.

The O ring in post 8 is imo the weakness in those connectors. Otherwise, not a bad idea.

Could be a Gardena too.

Thanks everyone! I'll inspect it more closely when I'm back on the boat.

We use a Zero-G hose from Lowes. It's a pleasure to use and it is drinking water safe.
https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=zero+g

MichaelB1969 said:

Lastly, do most people have just one hose onboard, which can be used to connect to fresh water supply OR rinse the boat down? Or do people typically carry two? I do know that certain hoses are rated for drinking water and others not.

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We carry several hoses on board, and we keep another on the dock at our home slip.

The "fill-the-tanks" potable water hoses are 25' long and individually marked for their usage. A is from dock connection to filter system, B is from filtration system to deck fill. When we connect the boat directly to shorewater, we use A to the filters, and a short 10" length (C) to the boat's pressure regulator. We also have a spare in case the shorewater water supply is too far from the boat.

Then we have a 25' freshwater washdown hose (usually sufficient, can be couple with A, above)... and a 50' smaller-diameter raw water washdown hose that I can use with the sea water washdown pump if necessary. (I could streamline this a bit, but haven't bothered, yet. In the meantime, they could be combined, if necessary.)

All these hoses are always emptied, dried, and stored out of direct sunlight after use. If possible, I also try to flush out the raw water hose with fresh before drying and storage, too.

Plus a couple "coily" hoses, one at the bow for anchor/rode washdown (raw water), one in the cockpit for fish bits during our trolling season (usually fresh water).

Our standard 50' dock hose is for freshwater washdown.

-Chris

OK, this wasn't mentioned or asked: Is this the water inlet to the boat or is it the outlet for a washdown hose?


As for white drinking water hoses, there's a reason these are made differently than standard garden hoses. Yes, we all drank from garden hoses when we were young, but that was once in a while. We didn't get all our water from them. On your boat, all the water you use comes through a hose so it's best if you use one that won't leach chemicals into the water. The drinking water safe hose doesn't cost much more than a standard hose so why take chances with your and your family's health?

Unscrew the metal part and bring it to a hardware store or two you'll probably find the right fitting fast.
It looks like it might be for a washdown hose be sure fresh water pressure pumps are off before unscrewing the fitting.
Good luck

There are many quick disconnect type fittings available from industrial, hydraulic and places like napa.

The one shown does look like typical household garden hose units. As suggested take it off and take it to the hardware store and match it. If not then it may be more of an industrial fitting.

It's up to you what you replace it with or match it. Just get a few extras so you don't have to run to the store everytime you need another one.

psneeld said:

The question on drinking water safe is a personal one. I am in the camp of wh cares as the water I drink isn't water that has been sitting in the hose and if it is a little...it goes through a 2 stage filter on board capable of removing all but the slightest items that might be present.

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I agree. I have a hose on the dock that I use to wash the boat, rinse the dock, rinse down the anchor locker, and fill my water tanks. I don't keep a hose connected to the boats water system, I draw only from the water tanks.

I normally fill the water tanks after I have already given the decks a quick wash. As I am on the end of a long dock I make sure that I run the water a lot before I fill my tanks. In the winter who knows how long the water has been sitting in the dock pipes and what the condition of those pipes are? After all that water has been run through my 50' hose, there is nothing in the hose material that will leach into my water as I am filling the tanks. So, I don't worry about it.

dhays said:

I agree. I have a hose on the dock that I use to wash the boat, rinse the dock, rinse down the anchor locker, and fill my water tanks. I don't keep a hose connected to the boats water system, I draw only from the water tanks.

I normally fill the water tanks after I have already given the decks a quick wash. As I am on the end of a long dock I make sure that I run the water a lot before I fill my tanks. In the winter who knows how long the water has been sitting in the dock pipes and what the condition of those pipes are? After all that water has been run through my 50' hose, there is nothing in the hose material that will leach into my water as I am filling the tanks. So, I don't worry about it.

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If people are that worried, I hope they drink only certified water.

If they only knew how many marinas have patched together pipes with who knows what or how many have cracks or openings into the soil, etc, etc or how good their well water is the day they fill their tanks.

I would rather have a good filter right where I fill my glass and know that it is as good as it gets without RO or drinking distilled.....the short length of hose to my boat is no worries to me and even then like many have said, the water being drunk hasn't been sitting in your hose if you let it run a bit.

Too many here quote warnings from all kinds of sources yet never seem to apply what others here call the common sense rule.

There isn't much common sense when it comes to drinking water.

It is amazing how the advertising from the bottled water and filtration companies can change peoples perception on what is safe or normal. They have successfully created paranoia over the health risk of drinking free tap water.

In one generation, we have gone from tap water being perfectly healthy to being undrinkable. (while the quality of the tap water has actually increased)

Re: the original post. It looks like a "normal" stainless steel male garden tap fitting, but recently there has been some variation in the shape of these.

Unscrew it and test fit to find a suitable female fitting.

Regarding the number of hoses, - it's a personal choice. I have one decent quality hose for water, but I disconnect, drain and store after use.

AusCan said:

............... Regarding the number of hoses, - it's a personal choice. I have one decent quality hose for water, but I disconnect, drain and store after use.

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That's what I do. I don't want a slip neighbor borrowing it to rinse his holding tank.

And we often drink bottled water on our boat but we refill the bottles from the boat's water tanks. The bottles are just so we can keep it cold in the refrigerator or cooler.