Canal boat water tanks usually have enough water to last two to three weeks if they are economical to use. Remember that, to fill them, you will have to move the boat to a water supply point. Therefore, being careful with water will save time and a valuable resource. The main ways to conserve water include recycling water as much as possible (i.e.Use the same water to boil food (to fill the toilet tank), learn the art of showering quickly (beat your best moment without skipping anything), store water on the boat in a water container, and avoid devices that consume a lot of water, such as a washing machine.
The way water is distributed across the ship to the faucets (“faucets”, if you're an American) is with another pump, often from brands like Shurflo or Whale. All everyday uses—showering, drinking, washing hands, washing dishes, maybe doing clothes, or even washing dogs—require a surprising amount of water, which you'll soon realize after a few days on board, especially if you're not alone. That means that in a two-minute shower — and trust me, you're going to have to get used to very quick showers — you'll have consumed 20 liters of water. There will be a long pipe from the water tank to the pump, which then pushes the water into the faucets and the hot water cylinder.
Water supply points are marked in guidebooks and online maps, but sometimes locating them from the boat can be quite a challenge, as they are usually little more than a metal pole from which a household faucet comes out. Away from a mooring, the boat has to be autonomous, which means that it will have a water tank on board (often under the cover of the well). If the water pump starts as soon as you turn on a faucet (and trust me, you'll hear what the pump sounds like, they rarely make noise), it's likely that the accumulator needs to be repressurized, something you can do with a bicycle pump. Tap water in the UK is clean enough to drink, but since some people prefer the taste of filtered water, you can install exchangeable cartridge-based filter systems, usually under the kitchen sink.
That said, he boiled the water he drank from it and kept a 5-liter jar for fresh drinking that he refilled every time he went to a water supply point. Sinks tend to drain by gravity (in other words, the outlet has only one pipe that goes overboard), while showers need an electric pump to expel water. Luckily, there are plenty of water spots around the canal network, so it should never be a matter of navigating more than a few kilometers to the next. Many older narrow boats don't have an indicator to indicate how full the tank is, so you'll have to guess from experience or stick a stick in the tank to see how high the water reaches.
Keep in mind that all other boaters also need to use those water points, and when you arrive to refuel, there may be a handful more waiting in line. Dedicating your time to learning the basics of maintaining and repairing canal boats (even a short course on diesel engine repair) will help you start life on board with more confidence. In addition, having the contact details of a reliable engineer (or engineers specialized in the waterway system) will save you time and money in the event of an emergency breakdown. The first is self-explanatory: it is the fresh water stored in the main tank, which is filled from the faucets on the towpath with drinking (drinkable) water.
