Portable Baptistry

Portable Baptistry FAQ

1. How to Fill Your Portable Baptistry? Typically the portable baptistry is filled with water from a standard garden hose either from outside or attached to your faucet (using an adaptor). We recommend that you move the baptistry into place and then fill it. Our portable baptistries weigh around 350 pounds and hold about 100-125 gallons of water (depending on model). Water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon so figure on your full baptism pool weighing around 1,100 – 1,300 pounds.
2. How to Drain Your Portable Baptistry? Both the 6P and 6PXL portable baptistries come standard with a built in drain valve. You can simply connect a standard garden hose to the drain and empty the water to an interior drain or outside. You will want to empty the baptistry after each use for sanitary reasons, unless your portable baptismal pool has our PPO finish which allows water to be left in the tub for extended period. If water is left in the portable baptistry you will want to treat it with regular pool chemicals to help keep the water sanitary. You can also purchase a submersible pump from you local home improvement store for a faster draining option.
3. Can I leave the baptistry on the wheel kit when full of water? We do not recommend that you do this since as mentioned above the baptistry with water in it will weigh between 1,100 – 1,300 pounds. You will want to remove the portable baptistry from the wheel kit prior to filling it with water. We do offer an option to add an additional set of heavy duty casters to the wheel kit (at additional cost) if you plan to use the baptistry on a concrete floor.
4. What is included with the Portable Deluxe package? The Portable Baptistry Deluxe Package is the popular choice for most of our customers because it comes with everything you need in the base package to start baptizing right away. It includes an unfinished oak cabinet (with lid, external steps, and cross mounted to the front of the cabinet), wheel kit (made from welded angle iron and heavy duty locking casters), factory plumbed BES 7000 Series, Hydro Quip, circulation heater with built in GFI (plugs into standard outlet, no special wiring is required), built in drain valve, and your choice of our standard tub colors (blue, white or bone).
5. Can I purchase the portable baptistry without a cabinet? Yes, we offer a frame only option in both the 6P and 6PXL model portable baptismal pools. The frame only option gives you the ability to enclose the tub in a finish that may suite the interior of your building better than our standard cabinet options. Exterior steps are not included with the frame only option but can be purchased seperately.
6. What is the difference between the 6P and 6PXL? The basic difference is the 6PXL model is approximately 12” longer than the 6P.
7. Will the portable baptistry fit through a standard door? Yes, both the 6P and 6PXL will fit through a standard 36” wide door (without the lid on the cabinet).
8. What type of heater do you recommend for my portable baptistry? We recommend either the BES 7000 series or PBES 6010 circulation heaters for a portable baptismal pool. A circulation heater is much more efficient than an immersion heater because it circulates the water. The BES 7000 series can be plumbed directly to the portable baptistry and the PBES 6010 offers a submersible pump which does not require drilling any holes. You simply place the submersible pump in the water which is attached to the heater (which is located outside of the baptismal pool) by 2 hoses and plug it in to a standard 110 outlet. Both circulation heaters have a built in GFI for safety. Both portable baptistry heaters work off of a regular 110 outlet, so no special wiring is required.
9. What is the PPO Finish? PPO stands for “Premium Plus Option”. The PPO finish allows for water to be left in the portable baptistry for an extended period of time. The PPO is a product that is applied to the mold of the baptismal tub prior to the Gel Coat. This helps prevent blistering or discoloring of the baptismal tank. We recommend that the water be drained every 3 months and allow the tank to dry for 36 – 48 hours before you fill the baptismal pool back up. A regular pool chemical can be used while water is in the baptismal tank to help keep the water clean for baptisms.
10. How are deliveries of Portable Baptistries Handled? We use a variety of companies to ship our portable baptistries. Typically they will be shipped using a LTL common carrier. All of our standard shipping will be a tailgate delivery (customer is responsible for getting the piece/s from the tailgate of the truck to inside the building) and must be delivered to a business address (residential addresses are an extra charge). 

Portable baptistry is the part of a church used for baptism and is portable or moveable. By being portable you can hold a baptism service virtually anywhere. The baptistry can be filled with a garden hose connected to an outside or sink faucet and ran over the side of the tub much like you would fill a pool in your back yard. The average portable baptistry holds between 100 – 125 gallons of water and can be filled usually in about 20 to 30 minutes depending on water pressure. The empty weight of most portable baptistries is approximately 300 to 350 pounds. If you take the weight of the baptistry plus the weight of the water (which is approximately 1000 pounds), when filled the portable baptistry will weigh approximately 1300 pounds or so. If you plan to use the baptistry on a floor that is constructed of wood and has either a crawl space or basement under it, you will want to set the unit directly on the floor so that the weight of the baptistry is spread out over a larger area. If you are in a church that has a concrete floor and the portable baptistry is offered with a wheel kit you may want to leave it on the wheels so that it can be moved with water in the baptistry, providing the wheel kit is rated for the weight. Once the baptistry is filled you will want to heat the water, because no one likes to be baptized in cold water. The best way to heat and circulate the water is with a circulation heater made specifically for portable baptistries. The BES7000 series is the best baptistry heater on the market for this application. It offers a powerful pump that has no metal parts, so it will not freeze up and a 1.5kw heater that can heat the water in the baptistry typically in about 4 to 5 hours. The baptistry heater can be plugged into a standard wall outlet and does not require any special wiring. It even comes with its own built-in GFCI plug. We don’t recommend immersion heaters for portable baptistries due to the safety concerns of individuals possibly being burned if they accidentally touch the exposed heating element. Another thing to keep in mind if you are considering the purchase of a portable baptistry is if you plan to leave water in the tub or will you fill and drain it with each baptism service. If you plan to leave water in the baptistry you will want to make sure the baptistry has a special coating over the gel coat such as a PPO finish to prevent the water and chemicals from damaging the gel coat finish. Without the special coating the gel coat will begin to blister and discolor over time and in most cases will void any warranty. You will need to use chemicals to keep the water clean and sanitary just as you would with an outdoor pool. If you allow the water to sit without circulation and treatment it will become stagnant. When it comes time to drain the water from the portable baptistry you can either use the built-in drain (which is gravity fed) or purchase a submersible pump that can be set in the deepest part of the baptistry. The submersible pump is a much quicker method for draining the unit. Once the baptistry has been drained of all the water it is a good idea to wipe it down to dry the surfaces. Then the steps, handrail, hoses, etc. can be stored inside of the portable baptistry and put back in storage or used as the communion table or lectern. The 6P or 6PXL Portable Baptistry Deluxe Package is the perfect solution if your church is considering or looking for a baptistry that is portable.