Head question...

[Wardy]

The vessel we are hoping to buy has a sea toilet which is all well and good when at sea but maybe not so good travelling through the Caledonian canal (Thoughts of moorings with a pink paper trail and a minor sewage-slick). The space inside the cubicle is very limited and certainly couldn't cope with two toilets, so what is the answer?
Do we remove the sea toilet and replace it with a porta-potti or do we install a tank beneath the floor to contain the effluent?

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[mikewilkes]

Paper is no problem just stick it in a wee bin by the bog.
Fit a holding tank and check with BWB as to where you can pump out. Maybe at one of the "bumper boat" depots.
Chemical bogs dont serve much purpose cos you still need to empty them and Highland Region would not like you putting this down an ordinary bog.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[boatless]

Holding tank doesn't need to be under the floor, what's on the other side of the bulkhead? If it's a locker, put it in there.

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.

 

[wishbone]

I can remember a song that was wrote by one of our group at the end of a two week flotilla holiday in the south Ionion, after a few blockages by a couple of boats the courus line was "don't put the paper down the hole" get a holding tank!

<hr width=100% size=1>Wishbone
Rolling, rolling, rolling keep them doggies moving!
Where’s me chuck wagon gone?

 

[Wardy]

As a total newbie...
The boat we are (hopefully) getting has a pipe that goes from the toilet, in a big loop well above the waterline, and straight through the bottom of of the hull with no gate valve. Is it possible to have a holding tank/sea toilet using a combination of 'gate' valves? I'm thinking more of using some slide valves as used in Koi ponds; the parts are plastic and will not suffer from the same corrosion as a brass and steel gate... (Have a Y piece from the toilet, one going via a slide valve to the sea, the other via a slide valve into a holding tank) ?
Then there is the problem of getting the sewage into the holding tank! I presume the holding tank will need some sort of vent so that it allows ingress of sewage whilst expelling air as it does so... What is the norm in these matters?

Maybe I am thinking laterally, I hope you can understand what I am on about?

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[boatless]

Firstly, bit horrified that there's no valve on the outlet - if it's underwater it's an essential, and even if it's only close to the waterline it ought to have one.

The waste pipe from the loo goes to the tank. A second pump drains the tank through the (now relaced with a proper one) skin fitting as and when, or a pump out deck fitting will take it into a shore side facility if you can find one.

Yes, the tank does need venting - common mistake on that is to use too small a pipe and fitting. Smaller they are the more easily they block. They do block because the vent also acts as an overflow, unfortunately... Once blocked, the tank is pressurised, any anything pumped into it will displace an eqaul amount out through the skin fitting - very unpleasant.

As for the fittings, I'd suggest buying those designed for marine loos, others may allow smells through.

Finally, our resident expert, Peggy (The Headmistress) Hall, may offer a few words if you're lucky.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/product.php?productid=40&cat=&page=1>http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/product.php?productid=40&cat=&page=1</A>

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.

 

[MedMan]

Contact Lee Sanitation...

Lee Sanitation are one of the leading companies selling sanitation equipment. You will find lots of useful information on their website <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yachtretreat.com>http://www.yachtretreat.com

 

[miki_b]

I have on my boat a 20 litre holding tank that fits around the toilet bowl. It connects to the existing system and uses the same pump. It is Dutch made and I think it 's called RM 90. Since my boat is far away at the moment I do not have the exact product name and manufacturer site.I have been trying to find it on the web but no joy (yet). This tank is good for a couple for at least 3 days. I join those who urge you to fit a seacock on the head's outlet and use a bin for paper...

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[miki_b]

Found it! The firm is Raske & Van der Meide from Holland and thier product is RM 69. Look up www.rm69.com. Good luck.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[DogStar]

Have to concur, Wardy, you are asking to get sunk with the setup you describe. Even with a swan-neck taking the pipe above sea level before exiting, you can still start a syphon when under way, with nothing to impede the flow of water into the boat. If that starts happening you will sink. End of story. The only thing anyone can do in that situation (and it does happen) is shut the seacock. No good if there isn't one. I don't think plastic ones are any good either, simply from a durability standpoint. Skin fittings can be subject to vast pressures when a boat is under way.

I only know this because I found myself with a jammed seacock after buying a boat out of the water. I didn't find out until the boat went back in and I tried to shut the seacock, assuming it would had been opened when the boat was first slipped. It hadn't actually been shut for at least 2 years. The previous owner didn't even know where it was. I asked advice from the local chandlers and received a lengthy, and emphatic, lecture. It was stressed that a skin fitting is nothing more than a hole in your hull, and you want to be as sure of your seacocks as you are of the rest of your hull. Apparently a burst inlet pipe sank a 40 odd footer in less than 10 minutes there a few years previously.

<hr width=100% size=1>I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!