Salt water pump in galley sink?

[Gene Neill]

Are they common? Are they worth having?


Our Albin Vega came from the factory with two foot pumps below the galley sink - one for fresh water, one for salt. The salt water pump was gone when we bought the boat. Its dedicated through hull supply hose had been cut, and plugged with a piece of dowel rod.


Doing a complete refit now, I assume I will want to replace it, to conserve the fresh water supply. We will have a watermaker, but watermakers cost amp hours, and every amp hour matters. And our freshwater tank holds only 18 gallons.


I just thought I'd ask around, before going to the trouble and expense of replacing it. Thanks all.

[Wotname]

I have always had a salt water galley pump, mainly because I only had small(ish) water tanks and where I sailed, the salt water was usually very clean. It does save fresh water.

[Sailmonkey]

We won’t be without. Salt water for first cleaning of dishes saves a lot of water

[J.Kitchens]

Salt water in the galley is common on lots of cruising boats not just small ones. My boat did not come with a salt water pump and I was planning to add one but for the sake of simplicity I decided to get my seawater with a bucket.

[Mike OReilly]

Only needed if water conservation is valued. We use nearly twice as much fresh water when we aren’t able to use the salt water tap (usually b/c we’re in a stinky marina).

[KeelMe]

With 18 gallons of tankage you better learn to cook with seawater.

[SV_Harbinger]

I originally did not have one, but I installed one a couple years ago and am very glad I did. When I'm off shore a bit or anchored out in clean (enough) water I use it to wash the dishes and then give them a rinse in fresh before putting them away, saves so much fresh water it isn't funny...I have a smallish tank (43gal) so any savings are welcome.

[roverhi]

If there is no seacock/valve on the salt water intake would want to install one on the next haul out. Salt water in the galley is nice to have but most people could live without it. Of course with limited water tankage, salt water pump gets more valuable.

[J.Kitchens]

If a new thru-hull and a pump are in your budget than go for it but I'd say it's a luxury. A good bucket will do just fine. You have to have a fancy bucket though. I like this one.

[Gene Neill]

Originally Posted by KeelMe

With 18 gallons of tankage you better learn to cook with seawater.

Haha, my wife says to tell you she's already on that!


Thanks everyone, I think I have the reassurance I was looking for. On our C22, we generally wash our dishes with saltwater in a collapsible bucket in the cockpit. Actually, I do that part, then pass the clean-but-salty dishes down the companionway to my wife, who spritzes them with a freshwater spray bottle, wipes them dry, and puts them away. Good teamwork exercise, but having unlimited salt water in the sink seemed like a great idea to me.

[Mike OReilly]

Whether you need salt water intake is also dependent on how long you typically go between fills. You have what I would consider a tiny water tank. But if you can run the water maker to keep it topped up, then no problem. Of course then you have the issues around power storage and generation. And I assume there is wear and tear on the water maker as well. I’ve never had a water maker so can’t comment on these tradeoffs.

We carry 200 gallons of water on our boat. No water maker, but we tend to stay off the dock, and away from civilization, for long periods at a time. Using salt water as the primary wash means we can theoretically stay out for ~100 days at a time.

[geoff3nebel]

I have 500L of fresh water and a foot operated seawater pump in the galley with a seacock. It is used for initial rinse clean of dishes and when far offshore clean seawater is mixed with fresh for cooking

[BigAl.NZ]

+1 - very handy for saving water when doing dishes etc.

[Sojourner]

We're just in the process of a small repower/refit job on our fairly large boat, and I'm thinking of adding one, even with 1000 liters of freshwater tankage. We cook a whole lot, and I'm getting tired of bucketing at the transom for the first rinse of 2 or 3 pots and 3 or 4 plates and cutlery....I don't know your boat but maybe there's a way to pipe it in from an existing thruhull? That's what we're looking to do, and probably will make the difference if I do it or not: if we can just pipe something instead of making another hole in the hull...

[Dave_S]

+ one more, I don't think I'd tear up if it were gone but I'm glad to have it.