Valves, Oh My!

Eolian's two valves which select which water tank the domestic supply is drawn from have been getting more and more difficult to turn over the years.  This spring, I decided that enough was enough...  before I broke something.  They were bronze valves, and were as old as the boat.

Here's the plumbing tree.  Water supply from the two tanks is at the top left and right.  Feed to the pressure pump is from the strainer at the very bottom.  The small pipe leading off to the left is the supply from the water maker, and the capped off grey pipe is the supply to the fresh water foot pump in the galley sink.

Before

 

 

So, in a fit of activity, I disassembled the valve tree and replaced the old valves with PVC/Teflon ball valves - they are only a little longer than the old ones and there is plenty of room for them.  Also, they open and close like a dream because the seats are Teflon.

And while I was at it, I added a valve in the galley foot pump supply and reconnected it.  (I capped this off back in 1997 because the foot pump flapper valves slowly leaked air back into the system, making the freshwater supply pump constantly cavitate.)  Now we can have the use of the foot pump by simply opening a valve.

After

 

 

Finally as a side note, I do not leave both tanks connected together because by keeping them separate, in the event of a leak the worst case scenario is that I would only lose half of my fresh water.  (I keep both diesel tanks separate for the same reason.)

Valves, Oh My!