Plumbing and watermaking

Adding a holding tank

If your yacht is of an age when holding tanks were not the norm, and you want to be a responsible boater and extend your cruising ground to the canals of France or the inland waterways of the Netherlands, we can fit a holding tank for you. Although holding tanks aren’t compulsory, they allow you to use your sea toilet in marina and canal systems, as it saves a trip to the toilet block, often in foul weather.

We’ll evaluate the space you have available on board and work out the best solution for your yacht. We’ll discuss whether you’d prefer an off-the-shelf tank and where it can be fitted, or a custom-made tank to minimise the impact on storage and provide easy access. You might want to do away with a sea toilet completely, and we can do that too, removing the skin fittings, strengthening the hull again, and making space for a Porta Potti or composting toilet.

Fitting a watermaker and increasing freshwater capacity

If you’re contemplating sailing into the sunset and would like to extend your time between ports or gain greater self-sufficiency, adding the ability to make fresh water or increasing your freshwater capacity is a must. We can fit a watermaker in a place that minimises the impact on your storage space while keeping it easy to maintain, with good access to filters and membranes.

We can also fit new water tanks to complement or replace your existing capacity. One area often overlooked when increasing your yacht’s water capacity is the hot water calorifier. If your shipmates are requesting longer showers, we can increase your hot-water capacity as well.

Freshwater system not fresh? Time for an upgrade?

If the water from your tanks isn’t drinkable, has a peculiar aroma, or is not living up to the title ‘fresh’water, we can help. At Falmouth Yacht Services, we cover all areas of the freshwater system from tank to tap.

We can do everything from annual maintenance, like a freshwater system flush, to full water system replacements and upgrades, including replacing pipes, adding filters, and upgrading water pumps so that you can drink water straight from your tanks.

If your system lacks the pressure for a decent shower, or filling the kettle takes an age, we can do all that is necessary to get your system working as it should. From replacing the pipework to a larger bore, adding accumulator tanks, adding high-flow or variable-flow-rate pumps, and fitting higher-capacity tanks and calorifiers, we can do it all.


Fitting a washing machine

If you want to go cruising and have the space on board, adding a washing machine can avoid the chore of handwashing in the cockpit or a trip to marinas and laundrettes. Let’s be honest, marina laundry facilities vary in quality and quantity in the UK and around the world. Anyone who’s cruised for a period long enough to do laundry will wish they had onboard facilities.

We can help you choose a washing machine, decide where to install it, plan the plumbing for the appliance, and ensure you have the power to run it. If you’ll need more power, look through our power generation and storage page for ideas and inspiration.


Toilet repairs and replacements

Your yacht might have a Lavac, Blakes, Jabsco, Seaflo or Dometic toilet, but whatever the make, we can help with any issues it has. Whether you’d like your Blakes toilet serviced or refurbished, the mahogany sanded and varnished, the brass polished, or you have a Jabsco that’s reluctant to flush, contact us and we can help your heads work the way they should. If you have a Porta Potti or cassette-style toilet and want a seat toilet, talk to us, and we’ll discuss your options based on the space you have.

If your heads don’t smell as fresh as they should and no amount of cleaning freshens them, we can replace the pipework, which is usually the aromatic culprit for a lingering odour. If your heads give off a rotten-egg smell and flushing them with fresh water before leaving the boat isn’t helping, we can install a freshwater flush system so you’ll be free of waterborne organisms in seawater, once and for all.