Dockside Water

We use dockside water when at the boat but always disconect when we leave for any period of time.
Here is a chart of water flow per pipe size.
http://flexpvc.com/WaterFlowBasedOnPipeSize.shtml

Most bilge pumps will be able to keep up if working properly and you are present to shut the water off within a reasonable time frame, but you are assuming everthing will function as designed so due deligence is prudent.
The "cheap water limiting meter" mentioned above could give one more peace of mind while onboard overnight, might be worth looking into.
At any rate I would never leave dockside water hooked up on an unattended boat.
 
Good intentions are just that: good intentions. Sooner or later someone gets lazy or forgets, and that's when Murphy will strike. If you have a really small water tank it MIGHT be worth the risk...
 
So you turn your dockside water off when you leave the boat. That's great. What happens when someone comes by and turns it back on, thinking it's the valve for another boat or for a hose to wash the dock?

If you think having a city water hookup on your boat is a good idea, fine, but when you leave the boat, disconnect the hose and put it on your boat.

BTW: A bilge pump is going to have a hard time keeping up with a city water system. A really hard time.
 
Ron,

My input was directed to the OP, Bob. He keeps his boat at his own private dock on his property. I don't think he's got that much foot traffic on his pier ;-)
 
Sorry for the slow reply. I asked our dockmaster about the sinkings from dockside water connections. He said they could only assume that the bilge pumps failed for some reason or they could not keep up. In one case, the hose had burst and the other a line had been found broken when the boat was raised.
I was curious about this so I got a gallon milk jug and a watch. I went out to the garden hose faucet and timed how long to fill the jug. It was 6 seconds which works out to be 600 gph. So it would appear that a bilge pump of 900 gph or more would keep up, accounting for head loss etc.
If you look when a bilge pump is pumping, it doesn't seem to the eye to be anywhere near the flowrate of a city tap.
It makes me wonder just how far off a pump is from its rated capacity. About the only way to know what you have is to stick a gallon container at the outflow and time it. Most all of us know that bigger is better but there are still so many things that can go wrong. The pump fails, electrical failure, dead battery, bad float switch, broken or blocked hose. There are too many things to go wrong to leave a dockside connection on even for a short time.
Despite the experiment I did, I still think it would take a good size bilge pump or pumps to stay ahead of city water pressure.
 
Pumps operate well below their rated capacity due to a number of factors, mostly head. And most boats lack enough pump capacity. We have four 2000gph primary bilge pumps and two high water pumps. I plan to add a third. I use the very best switches available, which cost as much as the pump itself. That being said...

Some marinas have very high water pressure depending on where the boat is. You need to have a pressure regulator, say to 40psi, in line or risk putting more pressure into your system than it is designed to handle. We too use dockside water all the time. We live aboard, but do disconnect it when away any length of time. Our boat is plumbed with copper pipe, but hose is used to connect to certain fixtures.
 
We run at marinas on rising tides, and use Chlorine in the tank.
 
A single bilge pump (1500 or more, under that it s not a bilge pump...) should keep up... Based On the time it takes to fill water tanks, I d say the average dockside hose doesnt flow more than 1000gph.

But even with multiple pumps, you can't be sure they will keep going and not overheat or fail. As George explained, pumps are rated at 0 head. With 3 to 4 feet, they usually loose 20% capacity

A few years ago, I tried one of those water timers, the damn thing exploded in the middle of the first night sending the hose banging against the hull
 
A bilge pump may or may not keep up with the influx of water from a city water connection, but these pumps are not "continuous duty" pumps. They could fail for any number of reasons including battery failure on the boat, ingestion of debris in the bilge, or actual pump failure. On one of mine, the impeller came pff the shaft and the motor was spinning just fine but not turning the impeller.

Pressure regulators fail, boat plumbing fails, bilge pumps fail, and humans fail to remember to do things. In your home, a plumbing or hose failure results in a flood and water damage. In a boat, it could easily be a sinking and a total loss.

Think about the possibilities before you decide.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Audrey II
[br......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. ....
Click to expand...

I have never had that problem with my water. There is a proceedure for "shock treatment" of a boat's water system involving adding chlorine, running it through all of the boat's fixtures, letting it sit, and then flushing. I don't remember the exact proceedure but I'm sure you can find it on the Internet.

That and using only known good water and a dedicated drinking water safe hose to fill the tanks should solve the problem.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Audrey II
[br......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. ....
Click to expand...

I have never had that problem with my water. There is a proceedure for "shock treatment" of a boat's water system involving adding chlorine, running it through all of the boat's fixtures, letting it sit, and then flushing. I don't remember the exact proceedure but I'm sure you can find it on the Internet.

That and using only known good water and a dedicated drinking water safe hose to fill the tanks should solve the problem.
 
My old boat I hated the water my current boat is much better but I continually cycle the tank and keep it fresh.
 
We use dockside water with a filter before the boat as well. At 40 feet long, we only have 45 gallons of onboard water and can usually use that up within 2-3 weekends aboard. We are on a well at the marina, so the main purpose of the filter is to help keep some of the sediment out of the tanks and lines. As far as safety precautions, the hook up is a brass quick connect. When leaving the boat unattended, not only does the hose get cut off, which I have 2 inline valves on the hose itself, but the water supply gets cut off on the dock, under the stairs as well as the hose is disconnected. If someone turns the wrong hose on (first, they'd have to be fishing around under the steps), but they would see and hear the water pouring out of the hose and straight back into the lake.
 
I will tell you a real world story that just happened this past August 2011.

My slip neighbor had his family on board and they were getting ready to shower. I saw him step off onto the dock and he started hooking up the dockside water to his boat. I explained to him the same things that people commented about on this thread - ie connection fails on the boat it could sink, etc. I already knew that our dockside water had high water pressure. Nevertheless, he hooks up the water and the family begins to shower one by one. At this point I had gone back to my boat and he called me back over. He explained his wife was showering and then she lost water pressure. When she got out of the shower, the floor in the salon was wet. He asked me what the problem was? I said I'm guessing you blew apart one of the connections. He's not mechanical, so I told him I'd look at it later. When I removed the fridge to look at the connections behind it, sure enough the connection had just blown apart. Imagine if he wasn't on the boat and that happened? Yes, I know 'most' turn off the water if they leave the dock, but what if you forget?

Personally I would not bother with the dockside connection. I have never used mine. Not once.
 
When a boat has cheap fittings in it, that is to be expected.
 
quote:
Originally posted by dl2525

Personally I would not bother with the dockside connection. I have never used mine. Not once.

Click to expand...


Just because you wouldn't doesn't mean everybody else shouldn't.
 
quote:
Originally posted by boatbum

When a boat has cheap fittings in it, that is to be expected.

Click to expand...


I would venture to say that just about every production boat that I've ever been on uses the same fittings under 50 feet. On the larger boats that I've been on, I don't recall.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Capt. Bill1

quote:
Originally posted by dl2525

Personally I would not bother with the dockside connection. I have never used mine. Not once.

Click to expand...


Just because you wouldn't doesn't mean everybody else shouldn't.

Click to expand...


I think that goes without explanation Bill. You're free to do as you please. I am only sharing my experience. Like Pascal said, fittings failing is a real world concern (and something that did happen right next to me), not just something I/we dreamt up.
 
Sorry, sometimes I get to grumpy for my own good. :-)

And as I said, dockside water hook ups are just one of many good reasons that every boat should have a high water alarm.
 
Only use I have found for my dockside water connection is to connect my air compressor for winterizing.
 
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