Foot pump in water supply

lumphammer

lumphammer

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I want to put in a foot pump for my drinking water, which is currently supplied through a Shurflow electric pump. Can I just put the foot pump in series with the existing water pipe or will I have to run a separate pipe and tap?
 
Mine has a separate pipe and tapbut I don't know where the pipe is taken from as I've never looked! The tap is just an open pipe that can be pulled up and swung round. It is mounted on the inboard side of the sink - this means that when the sink is full of washing up you can swing it over the side of the worktop and fill the kettle! (Handy if the servants are on strike).
 
Our Westerly had a footpump which fed through a one way valve into the pressurised system...I suppose it was intended as a backup if the electric pump for the pressure system failed. When I had time to examine it I found the gusher urchin had been totally disconnected and the associated piping blocked off; what's more the footpump was covered in sealant gunk - so there must have been a problem! To cut this shorter I replumbed the footpump (de-gunked, it appears to function perfectly) to a separate faucet which is what I'd suggest you do.
 
I installed something like this on my Jeanneau Sun Odyssey.

I left the standard water system in place, which is a for'ard and aft tank, leading to a two way valve system which feeds a filter going to the electric pump unit, and thus to the galley sink and heads.

I teed into the for'ard tank outlet and laid a new pipe, installing a one way valve just after the tee in point to prevent the electric setup sucking back the contents of the foot pump run.
This leads to a 3 way valve hidden in a locker by the galley, near the footpump.
I also installed a seacock in the bilge and pipe run also to the 3 way valve.

The 3 way valve is to be able to switch from fresh water to sea water delivery to the footpump.

The footpump is the standard Whale unit, and leads to a lifting and swivelling outlet which will feed either sink. As it folds down, it does not obstruct the standard fit mixer tap.

This system is thus completely isolated from the standard electric system.

Works very well for me, and I could also install an aft tank feed, but as I will be installing a third tank sometime, I have left this for now.
 
Don't like the series idea.
I T eed just after the tank and before electric pump, direct to foot pump and then one-way valve before Y (inverted) to cold tap.
Worked great until one-way valve inverted itself (plastic "mitral"valve type) so now use foolproof ball valve, as used in household systems.
Ken
 
[ QUOTE ]
foot pump and electric water pump are in series on the same hose. The sequence is tank, electric, foot, tap. Both work fine (still).

[/ QUOTE ] Did exactly the same as Kadeena - no problems whatsoever during a year of living aboard. The footpump pumps through the electric pump no problem, and vice-versa. No T-pieces, extra piping or messing about. Incredibly simple to do and one of the best quick/cheap mods we have ever done.
 
Thanks for the replies - I will try it in series first as that is easy to do, and if it's not successful I'll have to go the separate pipe route.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

Obvious really. You cant get at the water if the leccy goes down....
In my case of course, I can wash up in sea water too.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

If there's a real risk of the 12v supply failing, you should be spending money on something other than a foot pump! Guess you have standby nav lights with batteries inside, too?
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

It also means that you don't have to have the batteries on or use any more power to fill the kettle. I don't have a fridge so in a marina I would not have the domestic battery on.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

[ QUOTE ]
If there's a real risk of the 12v supply failing, you should be spending money on something other than a foot pump! Guess you have standby nav lights with batteries inside, too?

[/ QUOTE ]
It is not losing the 12v that is the problem it is losing the 12v pump. In the past when we had a smaller sail boat we had an emergency foot pump and carried a spare 12v pump which was needed. Many of our fellow cruisers did the same.

Probably not an issue if one is just a day sailor or spends most nights in a marina but rather a problem in the middle of the ocean.

On our current vessel we have two electric pumps in parallel for fresh water and cycle between them.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

Lightning, no I hadn't thought of that. But I can see your point. If the boat were to be struck by lightning, I'm sure the first thing most people would do is to rush to the galley and make a nice cup of tea! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously, for anyone with an electric water pump, the best use for a foot pump is as an independent reserve supply, plumbed in to the water tank at a lower point than the electric pump. This was a standard feature on my boat, and means that if the electrically-pumped supply dries up, there's still gallons of water available via the foot pump.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

[ QUOTE ]
It also means that you don't have to have the batteries on or use any more power to fill the kettle.

[/ QUOTE ]Oh, come on, filling a kettle uses about a squillionth of an amp-hour.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

As has been mentioned in other answers the main reasons are:-
reduce power consumption
cover against failure of the water pump

I want to be as independant of electrical stuff as reasonably possible, so I have a windvane rather than an autopilot etc.etc.
 
Re: What\'s the reason?

Just a wee waggle of my toe gives the right amount for my whisky, whereas the leccy pump's first squirt is at pressure and much too much. Also, the leccy pump is under my berth and the brrrr wakes me if the watch fills the kettle.
 
Had the same thing with our Westerly Storm. The galley footpump was installed, but not connected for some reason. Maybe the installer felt it was redundant after fitting the pressurised system. However, I was keen to have a back-up method of extracting water, so I checked over the Whale footpump, which was fine and installed separate faucet in the galley sink which is fed, via the footpump from a separate pipe running to the forward tank via a tee piece and a lever valve. Works well.
 
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