Black Water disposal in the Med?

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flyinggibbon

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Does anyone know in advance where I can find the regs. for disposing of black water waste in the Med. The reason for asking is that I'm currently debating whether to fit a lectrasan treatment plant, black water tank or both to my 54ft Fleur De Lys?

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Flyinggibbon
 
Where are you at present? I would fit a blackwater tank, if you have room, I guess you have two toilets? You would probably only need to put one toilet onto the blackwater system and leave the other on sea discharge, as I reckon you have one toilet frwd and one aft, which means either long pipework (to be avoided) or two black water tanks and valves etc. I also assome you have room for blackwater tanks, plenty of room in the bilges/engine space?
 
In Mediterranean Spain there are no pump-outs that I know of so a holding tank is for 'holding' and later pump out at sea. We have a plastic holding tank by Tek Tanks who now have a Spanish agent if not a Spanish manufacturing plant(?). I am very happy with the tank which replaced an original stainless Nauticat one. I am told that stainless seldom lasts more than a few years as sewage is very corrosive so to be safe buy a plastic tank!

We use ours a lot, mostly for solids as we feel that pee isn't usually a big issue in the places we visit. Even a modest tank will keep you going for solids only for a good time. We last a fortnight or three weeks without having to use the shore facilities, which are often pretty poor!

We are in Gib for a week or ten days so if you feel like saying hello, send me a PM.
 
There are already tons of info on this subject in this thread. Instead of repeating it, why don't you do a search for "holding tanks" and you will get more than you asked for.
 
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I am very happy with the tank which replaced an original stainless Nauticat one.

[/ QUOTE ]
One of the insights I have gained from boat life is that there is no such thing as "stainless steel". There is just better or worse quality steel in relation to corrosion. I have been lucky that my boat was fitted with very good quality "stainless steel" tanks and they are still fine (touch wood) after 10 years of use. Other later fittings have not been as good. Beware of a cheap deal in "stainless".
 
As you rightly say, there is tons of good info already here but it seemed a little bit unfriendly, to a new poster with only a couple of posts, to say "go look it up yourself" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
"As you rightly say, there is tons of good info already here but it seemed a little bit unfriendly, to a new poster with only a couple of posts, to say "go look it up yourself"


have to agree with you lemain,there may be lots of info out there ,sometimes too much its nice to be pointed/advised as to what works in other peoples experience or doesn't as the case maybe,
 
Sorry Orizaba, I have to disagree with you. If we all have to repeat "what works" over and over again; this thread will become unreadable and the inputs will be more random. IMHO, blogs like this only works well if you try to ask for new information or subjects that is not already there. Use the 'search' function! It is very powerful. Then add your new contribution.
 
I think that when it comes to ss holding tanks it is more the welded joins than the metal itself that corrodes (or, so I am told by those who probably know more than I about these things). The welding rods are never a perfect match for the sheet material and whenever you have a difference in metals, you have a potential for corrosion. Sometimes they go quickly, and sometimes they go slowly, but usually they go, and when they do it is horrid, horrid, horrid.

If anyone was buying a tank today they would be very foolish not to buy a plastic tank. Plastic is cheaper and better and odour-free (which surprised me, mine is Tek Tanks).
 
I agree that welds (and pipe connections) are clearly the weak points. However, I have friends with "stainless steel" tanks that corroded through in the middle of the metal. Plastic is probably the way to go, but don't rip out your tanks if they are still fine.
 
Looking back at my reply, I think I missed pointing out the largest cause of corrosion in "stainless steel" tanks: low usage. The old truth that 'sailors and boats rot in harbour' applies doubly to tanks. A liveaboard that regularly flushes through the tanks will have very few problems. It is mainly tanks that are not used that will be corroded.
 
I find it VERY amusing when....

...the poor sods on a flotilla are rafted up over the raw sewage outlet in Lakka, Paxos (next to the ferry ramp) and are told by their "leaders" to be sure to empty their holding tanks prior to arrival just in case they get holed up there for a few days due to the weather.

Am I cynical or what?

Steve cronin
 
newcomers

I am a newcomer to these forums but sadly not a newcomer to other non sailing related ones.It's a bit like entering any social group,there are those who want to help at once and those who feel antagonistic to any new people,perhaps as a way to demonstrate their apparent superiority or self perceived ranking in the group.I would hope that any questions/opinions I may submit in the next few years are received in a tolerant manner as a "newbie" in search of knowledge rather than as a dismissive "search the archives".If one does not know what exactly to ask then how can a search engine be better than personal feedback?PS where is the search function?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry Orizaba, I have to disagree with you. If we all have to repeat "what works" over and over again; this thread will become unreadable and the inputs will be more random. IMHO, blogs like this only works well if you try to ask for new information or subjects that is not already there. Use the 'search' function! It is very powerful. Then add your new contribution.

[/ QUOTE ]

I usually do a search before asking a serious question .. but it kind of relies on the search terms used, which is not always easy to determine.

Sometimes i am inundated with 200 "relevant" posts but, after reading a few, find that they are not relevant to my query ... admittedly, one, or five, or so, may be relevant, but I'm not going to read all 200 to find the ones.

Other times, my search terms reveal nothing.

The other thing is that the search engine only allows searches of 1 time period, so you generally have to search 1 year ... any other way is generally very time consuming.

Finally, whilst some people kick off when the same question is asked yet again, others are only too pleased to help, even if this is merely to refer to a relevant post/thread from the past.

I could suggest that if you see a question which has been answered several times before, and it upsets you, ignore it and move on... getting upset will bring on an early heart attack.

All the best

Richard
 
Re: newcomers

[ QUOTE ]
I would hope that any questions/opinions I may submit in the next few years are received in a tolerant manner as a "newbie" in search of knowledge rather than as a dismissive "search the archives".If one does not know what exactly to ask then how can a search engine be better than personal feedback?PS where is the search function?

[/ QUOTE ]

Bryan

Ask and opine away and, if anyone gets upset, ignore them in the early days then, when you have been here a while, give 'em hell - that's my view anyway.

The search function is to the right of Main Index in the dark blue strip just below the top of the page - where it says Welcome Bryan etc.

Cheers

Richard
 
Re: newcomers

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I think you'll find that this is a friendly and knowledgeable place with many members meeting in the real world while cruising.

You will find a 'Search' link towards the top of the page and the search feature lets you search back over 12 months. There aren't too many of the 'look it up for yourself as it's good for your soul' sort and a fair proportion of those are safely impounded in an anchorage in the Eastern Med /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You'll find that people tend to be more helpful if you put a bit about yourself in your profile, e.g. type of boat if you have one, or what you're looking for, or sail, would like to sail or used to sail, if you don't. I strongly suggest that you do that.

Anyway, you were looking into holding tanks. Did you get the information you wanted, or are you able to add to the thread from your own experience, maybe?
 
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