potable water piping on superyacht

[superyachts]

Hi there,
I'm new here, so a short introduction. I'm a maritime engineer in the superyacht industry. I´m working now on a research project for an alternative piping system for our potable water. I spoke with a few suppliers of different kind of piping systems and of course they are all very enthusiastic about their product. I don´t have much experience with the practical side of plumbing, so I wanted to ask your opinion about the choice for a piping system where the top priority will be the reliability. This because it will mainly be installed behind a very expensive interior.

At first I´m looking for the right material before looking at the right products. Cupper vs Multilayer (PE-alu-PE) vs all plastic (?).
So far I know:
Copper - expensive, heavy, easy to improvise, can handle temperatures above 65grC and reliable.
Multilayer - easy to install (when you have all the right tools), less weight, T-max: 65grC (so it will bring capacity of my boilers down), hygiene, no long term references yet.

So the lower max temperatures and the questionable relaibility of plastic/multilayer systems making me think of copper, despite of all the pro's it plastic has.

What are your opinions and what would you choose?

 

[on31ll]

whats size is the super yacht ? firsty you are going to have to work out the size of the pipework you require.

i have piped up a few items on boats etc and nearly all have been piped already in plastic or they have asked for it to be piped in plastic. if all the pipework if to be hidden then i suggest insulate and have it in one continuous run if possible.

saying that if i was buying a superyacht i think i would want copper etc. all in all to help you out we need to know what you need really as there is limited sizes in john guest, hep etc. sizes of the yacht, the amount of bathrooms

 

[superyachts]

I'm looking for a new piping system which will be used on our whole range of yachts. This will be 50m - 85m yachts with around 12-16 guests plus 12-25 crew (to give an idea for the amount of bathrooms). The bigger sizes they have the better. So a system with limited 'small' diameters would not be an option.

 

[Guest123]

Most boats, caravans and leisure vehicle that has a water supply, tends to be plastic. It's easier to install in voids and partitions as it's more pliable than copper. In saying that, copper is always my first choice where possible.

 

[Skelly87]

Plastic comes in long length rolls. So you could pipe up behind walls with no joints at all. No joints means no leaks. Well unless you put a screw though it lol. I know this is the case in smaller bore pipe like 15mm and 22mm. Not sure about larger stuff

 

[on31ll]

the larger suff tends to come in lengths but can come in coils but your not talking about john guest or hep. so think its going to be copper or LCS

 

[Mike Jackson]

I think I'd be looking at a multilayer pipe using a pressfit jointing process for security of joints etc. Copper could crack if it is subject to too much stress.

 

[markfxy]

I'd take a look at Rehau everlock quality pipe and fittings takes up to 95°C, apparently they've never had a reported leak with over 50 million joints made! so they say.

 

[AWheating]

with the different size of pipes you may require i would think copper would be suitable, but i think the installation methods will be the main factor to consider. What i would consider is to contact a number of manufactures with your requirements and ask for them to visit you and design/sell a product.

 

[REDSAW]

i use a bucket and rope on mine! whats the flex factor?

 

[mike-c]

I was going to reply the exact same thing

 

[theanalyst]

Why do you want potable water above 65 degrees?!

 

[bcp]

Plastic old chap. Mainly because of vibration and shock resistance. If your vessels are going out at anything over a force 3, they will probably slam a bit (or a lot - depending on hull shape: planing or semi-displacement etc). Likewise any heeling will load G force onto all of the onboard systems. That's one of the reasons why you should ALWAYS double clip where you are using jubilee clips. Especially so on a raw water head (WC) inlet /outlet / strainer. The plastic tube ideally should be secured at shorter intervals than usual too, to add support. Other reasons already mentioned are also valid (flexibility etc). Plastic has the ability to flex more. Its not unusual to have up to 7mm flexing on a very long run of tube in say Speedfit. However, a vessel will flex at sea and on lift-outs, so rigidity is not desirable in pipe runs. Also, if perhaps a prop gets damaged or fouled, the boat will vibrate. Again rigidity is not desirable in this instance. If you do use plastic, given the layup methods (chopped strand mat and woven rovings or spray and stringers), if you are first fixing the pipework, you must be scrupulous to keep the connectors (in particular the 'O' rings), free from debris (as with normal domestic installs - but the boatyard environment can be especially messy). Go plastic. Hope this is helpful. Where does the build take place geographically?

 

[lame plumber]

cant see copper solder working at sea, probably why I've never seen the RN use any on ships I was on. rnli vessels dont seem to use cu solders either, everything seems to be flanges or rubber and jubilee clips to counter vibration with stainless tubing. super yachts although expensive probably cant use ss tube etc due to price constraints, even the super rich have limits so back to press fits and plastic imho.

 

[REDSAW]

he's talking this sort of thing...

not this....