Advice fitting a Galley Sea water pump

[eebygum]

Hi,
I’m seeking advice for fitting a sea water galley pump, either foot operated or electric.

I don’t want to drill any more holes in my boat so is it best to connect a Y connector to the engine sea water inlet ?

is is worth fitting either a one way or on/off tap to the galley pump (to minimise risk on failure)

is it worth going electric vs foot operated pump and any recommendation for either ?

Any alternative designs or anything else I should have thought of ?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Cheers

 

[MM5AHO]

I would not put a T in the seawater line to the engine cooling, that seems inviting to risk blocking, starving, airlocking and suchlike.
I added a seawater pump (Whale hand operated) at the galley sink a few years ago. It about halved my freshwater consumption, using seawater for all rinsing, handwashing, boiling some vegetables (in cleaner seawater) and the like. I did add another seacock, but think about position of the inlet in respect of upstream discharges!

 

[RJJ]

Hi, I plugged mine into the engine inlet after the saltwater strainer. No problem so far.. I added a 1 way valve.

 

[De.windhoos]

After the strainer. manual pump though. Sometimes when on engine there's a bit of an under pressure, but no problems. Have it this ways for 20+ years.

 

[dansaskip]

I would recommend a foot pump rather than an electric one and like MM5AHO be very hesitant about a t or y piece from engine coolant water. For one thing I think the route of the pipe might be difficult and I prefer keeping things independent and would fit a separate seacock. A seawater galley pump is a useful addition - mine has proved invaluable for extended cruising.

 

[Dantp]

Ours is T'd off the engine intake and through its own fine strainer. After the engine strainer would be better but not good for our pipe runs.
We have and prefer a foot pump over a hand pump as it's handy to have water and both hands free.
A potential advantage of an electric pump is if you want to add a hose fitting in the line somewhere to use as a saltwater deck hose, if using a bucket and rope is too much work
If you do end up installing a new through hull keep it away from both the toilet outlet and the sink outlet if you can.

 

[zulloboy]

I also have a galley seawater pump teed off the engine CW thru a check valve. It works fine and has no noticeable effect on engine CW flowrate. Wonderful to be able to wash and rinse with as much water as I want then give a quick rinse in a tiny bit of fresh water. Not a great idea to use it in harbour, and needs coordination with users of the heads!
Much better than making another hole in the hull.