Water supply on marina pontoons

[Momac]

The domestic water on the pontoons was turned off and the taps on the pedestals removed just before Christmas . I understand the water supply will not be reinstated until March.
To be fair there have occasionally been burst pipes in past years when the water supply has been left intact. However the water has never been disconnected in this way before .

Is this normal UK marina practice to disconnect the water supply in winter?

 

[Scubadoo]

Not normal, the only time I vaguely remember it being turned off was when the temperature was consistently about -10c ish some years ago.

 

[sarabande]

Seems like a sensible precaution against icing, but part of the procedure should be to drain them as well, leaving only air in the pipes.

Some pontoons in Penton Hook were cut off in winter 2005 for this reason, but there were also worries about lack of a non-return valve in the upstream mains connections, so this may have been an additional health risk / best practice problem.

 

[Momac]

.......... of the procedure should be to drain them as well, leaving only air in the pipes.

I think that is what they have done . The taps have been removed.

 

[silverdee]

never knew it happen in any uk marinas we were ever at. My boat in med since 2015 though - I might be out of date- would be pretty annoying.

 

[Robin]

We live on board year round, one maintenance guy one year did turn off the supply to some docks during cold snaps but we were allowed to turn it back on to fill up. New guys seem not bothered at all and water has been on for us all the time.

 

[Momac]

It is inconvenient but not quite as bad as annoying
There was prior warning given of the switch off while the offices was closed over Christmas but we wrongly assumed water would be reinstated in the new year .

 

[artisan]

I think it is annoying not to have water available on the pontoons for a 3 month stretch. I was fully expecting water to be turned back on after the Cmas break. The fact that water isn't turned on has affected how often we have stayed on the boat over night.

 

[Momac]

No frosts forecast for the next week . Maybe if mild temperatures persist we will get water back on a little earlier .

 

[The Q]

I don't know about marinas but most water points on the Norfolk broads have their hoses removed from October to Easter

 

[Momac]

I don't know about marinas but most water points on the Norfolk broads have their hoses removed from October to Easter

But do they remove the taps ?

 

[The Q]

No, as that could allow contamination into the pipework, the supply is turned off normally by an underground stopcock.

 

[Plum]

The domestic water on the pontoons was turned off and the taps on the pedestals removed just before Christmas . I understand the water supply will not be reinstated until March.
To be fair there have occasionally been burst pipes in past years when the water supply has been left intact. However the water has never been disconnected in this way before .

Is this normal UK marina practice to disconnect the water supply in winter?

Not normal at all (here on the East Coast).

 

[Momac]

No, as that could allow contamination into the pipework, the supply is turned off normally by an underground stopcock.

The taps on the pontoon bollards have been removed since just before Christmas so that's an interesting point .
To be honest it seems to me no worse than using a hose pipe , requiring a good flush when the water is reinstated .
However if there is a standard that I could refer to that says the water supply pipe should not be left open for health and safety reasons that might make an interesting conversation with the marina.

 

[girlofwight]

ISTR its in our marinas T&Cs but never seen it done (East Cowes)

 

[volvopaul]

Most of the corporate marinas have removed a

The domestic water on the pontoons was turned off and the taps on the pedestals removed just before Christmas . I understand the water supply will not be reinstated until March.
To be fair there have occasionally been burst pipes in past years when the water supply has been left intact. However the water has never been disconnected in this way before .

Is this normal UK marina practice to disconnect the water supply in winter?

most of the corporate marinas on the south coast removed the hoses for fear of being sued over legionaries disease a while back , the supplies have never been turned off. I’d say you need to have a word with him , last time I was there he was stressed to the max saying he had no staff.

 

[Rappey]

most of the corporate marinas on the south coast removed the hoses for fear of being sued over legionaries disease a while back

Do you not wonder why they all did it around the same time? I know of marinas that were also unhappy about having to remove the hoses as marinas like to offer many services to their berth holders.
It was the wras water regulations that made marinas and similar remove their hosepipes, reason was that a hose dropped in the sea "could" allow seawater to enter the mains system, say if the fire brigade drew from a hydrant.
Not sure how it would get past non return vales though, plus a hose reel left coiled in the sun could harbour nasties so you have to provide your own hose now which has probably been coiled up in some damp bilge, but that would be safe ?
Not know a water system to be partially removed because it's winter. Maybe it's because the system does not comply with current regulations?
There are still hundreds of metres of poly pipe under the pontoons getting nicely warmed in the sun..