Source of Water for Head.

[grandbanksbayfield]

My GB32 came with two sources for water for the head. First is an old through-hull with a shut-off valve and a strainer on top of it. The valve has been shut off for years and the strainer sits there full of redpop. Second is a T off the water intake for the engine. That T has its own shutoff valve and is between the engine water intake throughhull and the strainer. It is working well, but conventional wisdom has it that the engine should have a completely separate source for its water. I have noticed absolutely no problems resulting from this situation. Any reason not to pull out the old system and just go with the head sourced by a T from the engine intake? The old, non-operating intake valve and strainer are almost impossible to service.

 

[Lepke]

If the engine intake thru hull is more than adequate it will work but may not work well when the engine is running. The engine raw water pump is much more powerful than the head pump. You could have problems with the bowl filling properly or the engine trying to draw thru the head and sucking air.

 

[FF]

Some folks use a vacuum breaker and feed the head from the fresh water tank.


This solves the hassle of the stench from dead stuff in the bowl .

 

[Hippocampus]

Switched to using only RO water in the heads.
Nothing grew in any of the plumbing-in or out.
No crystallization.
No smell.
Intervals to replace joker or other valves became years not months.
And strong flushes from ALL of the rim.

 

[firehoser75]

Other than using (and therefore shortening) water from your freshwater supply, which is limited unless you have a watermaker, freshwater flushing is the way to go. I have had heads using seawater and they tend to smell, lead to the premature clogging of hoses, etc. If possible, use freshwater.

 

[BDofMSP]

The OP is not in saltwater, so the issues of seawater are significantly reduced. I wouldn't consider going through the hassle of replumbing to use my fresh water tank if I already had a well operating raw water intake pulling from the Great Lakes.

BD

 

[Pete Meisinger]

You certainly do not need two sources for sea water to flush. However, I would convert one of those lines to fresh, tank water and use that whenever possible. It will make for a much sweeter smelling toilet and head.

pete

 

[rwidman]

If you use a head intended for raw water but connect it to your potable water system, you are inviting cross contamination that can make you and your guests very sick. To me, it's not worth the risk.

To answer the original question, if the system is working off the engine intake and you have noticed no problems, it's fine, leave it the way it is.

As far as the old seacock and thru hull, removing the thru hull is not just a matter of plugging the hole, the fiberglass has to be ground out and a patch feathered in. It is a pretty big job. Capping the thru hull from the inside is easier or if the boat stays in the water, close the seacock and cap it off.

 

[BDofMSP]

Rwidman,

That's exactly what we did with the seacock for the old overboard discharge (which we removed - entire Great Lakes is NDZ). We closed the seacock and capped it off. A future owner can reconnect the hose easily if they move her to a different cruising grounds.

BD