another holding tank....

paulburton44

paulburton44

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29 Jul 2004
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Location
Sleaford
www.withamsailingclub.co.uk
I have just bought a Parker 235 with a holding tank....
If I want to use this while in a drying harbour ( Brancaster ) while dried out, will it damage the pump ??

I have not used a holding tank before.

I guess if I shut the inlet and outlet and tipped some water in the loo before the flush it would pump into the holding tank.....but will this damage the pump ??

The water inlet goes straight to the loo and the outlet from the loo goes to the holding tank....if i leave the hull outlet shut it all stays in the holding tank..
 
If your toilet is a manual toilet, flushing by pouring water into the bowl will not damage the pump.

But if your toilet is an electric macerating toilet that has an integral intake pump (iow, everything is together under the bowl, which is the way 99% of electric toilets work), flushing "dry" will destroy the intake impeller.

What's the make/model of your toilet?
 
Then you can safely use it by pouring water into the bowl while the boat is on the hard. However, you'll want to to use the toilet VERY sparingly while the boat is out...'cuz if you fill up the holding tank, you won't have any way to empty it.

While it's out would be a very good time to put a service kit in the toilet and lubricate it.
 
Thanks for the advise
The boat (and loo) is 11 months old and has not been used much.
The holding tank does have a deck pump out !!!! and a side vent that I guess would be an overflow as well.......
It would only be used for the odd tide so should not get to full...

The first flush after a week or so does stink though...guess that is just the water in the pipe !!!
 
No...the vent is not an overflow, it's an AIR vent--to provide an escape for air in the tank displaced by incoming waste, and a source of air to replace contents as they're pulled out. Using the vent as an overflow will cause it to become blocked...and if that happens, it can have dire consequences. If air in the tank displaced by incoming waste can't get out the vent, the tank will become pressurized...that will result in a variety things you don't want to happen--from a geyser when the pumpout cap is opened, to an eruption in the toilet, even a burst tank. If no air can get in to replace contents as they're pumped out, the pumpout (or onboard macerator pump) will pull a vacuum that prevents anything from being pulled out...a particularly strong pumpout can even implode a tank.

So you want to make very sure your tank never gets clogged...inspect the thru-hull regularly, and backflush the vent every time you pump out and/or wash the boat.

If you only have odor for the first flush after the boat has sat for a while, that is indeed sea water left to stagnate in the intake.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You can use the waste from the shower sump to flush.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not the best idea, Graham. The water in shower sumps is full of body oils, dirt, suntan oils, soap scum--and even toothpaste and shaving cream--if the head sink also drains into it...all of which are nasty smelly bacteria factories, and the oils and soap scum can gum up a toilet pump over time.

If you want to keep sea water out of the toilet, there are two ways to do it:

1. Tee the toilet intake line into the head sink drain line (this also eliminates a separate thru-hull for the toilet intake). To flush the toilet, close the seacock--or you can use a y-valve to connect the toilet intake--and fill the sink with water. Or you can flush using sea water and use the sink only to rinse it all out of the system before the boat will sit.

2. Find a location that's convenient to both the toilet and the sink in which to stuff a small unvented bladder. Tee the fill into the head sink drain line using a y-valve...connect the toilet intake to the bladder. No other plumbing needed. To fill the bladder, turn the y-valve, run water down the sink till it's full.

These are the only SAFE ways to use onboard fresh water to flush a toilet designed to use sea water, because there is no connection between the toilet and the fresh water plumbing. Sea water toilets should never be connected to any fresh water plumbing...it cannot be done without risk of e-coli contammination of the potable water system, and every toilet mfr specifically warns against it in their installation instructions. ONLY toilets that are designed by the mfr to use PRESSURIZED flush water can safely be connected to the fresh water plumbing.
 
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