Last week, while I was occupied with the questionable pleasure of replacing the main waste maceration pump and then the raw (sea) water pump on the generator engine, I started counting up the number of pumps that it takes to make our boat fully functional.
three engines, each with a pump for raw water, coolant, diesel and oil; 12
a water/heating system with pumps for fresh water pressurisation, grey water pressurisation, hot water calorifier (from generator), primary heating water circulation (from wood burner), hot water circulation, primary heating circuit, underfloor heating circuits; 7
automatic bilge pumps in the focsal, main cabin and engine room; 4
emergency fire/salvage pump; 1
hydraulic system pump; 1
waste water and macerator pumps; 3
domestic appliances, dish washer, washing machine, fridge and freezer compressors; 4
That's a staggering 32 pumps in all! The answer was pretty scary, particularly when you think the average lifespan of each pump may be between 5 and 10 years.
It looks like I could be doing a lot more pump repair and replacement in the future!