Heads / Holding tanks

[zzjfawce]

A broken seacock on the head has prompted me to consider whether I should have a sewage treatment system / holding tank installed on my 30 foot sailing boat. The regulations locally (Moreton bay, Queensland) are quite strict about this but I don't know about how rigorously they are applied (Rick, if you are online, do you know?). Anyway, it's a moderately grim subject, and may have been covered before but perhaps the technology is moving on. Are the sewage treatment systems, e.g Raritan or the local Aussie version SaniLoo (which both, I think, work by generating acid from seawater), good enough that you do not then need a holding tank (there are few or no pump-out stations round here) and are the treatment units made from odour-impermeant materials or do you need another enclosure to stope the boat reeking? Do they draw much current from the batteries (and do they need to be on all the time?). Will any electric head be compatible with them or only particular ones?

I think there is a forumite called the Headmistress who posts in a quite authoritative manner on this topic - I would buy her book but haven't seen it on the shelves. Meantime, if somebody could post the key points, it might help me to determine whether to shell out or not. Thankyou

 

[LORDNELSON]

The book is "Get Rid of Boat Odors" by Peggie Hall, Seaworthy Publications Inc., ISBN 1-892399-15-6, 2003, Contact Address : Seaworthy Publications Inc., 215 S. Park Street, Suite #1, Port Washington, WI 53074.

 

[HeadMistress]

I don't have the specs for the Aussie "SaniLoo," but I'm very familiar with the Raritan Electro Scan (new name for the newsest version of the Lectra/San) and PuraSan. They are excellent devices that treat and discharge each flush to a much higher standard than is required by any law, and when installed, operated and maintained according to directions, there is no odor whatever...in fact, ANY odor is an indication that something is wrong...and the discharge is so clean that the device can be used in a slip or anchorage...it's totally unnoticeable except to anyone diving under the boat next to the thru-hull. You'll find all the specs and even the installation, operation and maintenance manuals for the Electra Scan, Lectra/San and PuraSan here: http://www.raritaneng.com/products/waste_treatment/index.html

They can be used with any toilet, manual or electric...and are legal in all waters except those specifically designated "no discharge" (which means all toilet waste--but not gray water--must go into holding tank that can only be emptied via pumpout).

They only consumer power for about 2 minutes following each flush. The per-flush power consumption may look a bit scary to someone who has a sailboat and limited 12v resources...till you realize that it only adds up to 5-10 AH/day/person. If you have too little 12v resources to support that much more consumption, your 12v resources are too thin without a treatment device.

Go to the link I gave you and read ALL about 'em...and then I'll be glad to answer any additional questions.

And if you have a link to the specs for the Saniloo (I tried Googling it, but only came up with some boats for sale which have one installed), I'd appreciate it.

 

[Becky]

Can these waste treatment products be obtained in the UK?

Seems to be a very economical method of treating the unmentionable. Especially if it obviates the need for holding tanks!

 

[HeadMistress]

They're made by Raritan, so I'd assume that any dealer who sells Raritan toilets can get them if they don't have them in stock. I believe that Lee Sanitation is the UK Raritan distributor.

As for economical, I'm afraid not. Treatment devices cost considerably more than holding tanks...the list price for the Electro Scan here in the US is about $1300 USD. The PuraSan, which can be used in both fresh and salt water, is around $800 USD.

I'm a HUGE fan of treatment vs. holding. Here in the US, more tanks are illegally dumped than are pumped out...and the environmental impact from just ONE illegally dumped tank is greater than the impact from 1,000 boats, all using treatment, in the same area for 24 hours. Unfortunately the tree-huggers, who have our lawmakers--and apparently lawmakers all over the world now--refuse to believe that...they're determined to make us hold waste in tanks that are pumped out and sent to sewage treatment plants where it's treated to a much lower standard and then discharged into the same waters--IF it's treated at all before a treatment plant overflow dumps millions of gallons into the water. It was the ultimate irony that the very DAY the state of Rhode Island's statewide "no discharge" law went into effect, a sewage treatment plant spill closed all the beaches and shellfish beds in Narragansett Bay for most of a week.

Oh, btw, Jon...you asked where to buy my book. Boatbooks Australia has it: http://www.boatbooks-aust.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=21183

 

[zzjfawce]

Thankyou very much for very clear information, Headmistress. I will seek out the book, but I'm thinking that the electroscan thing should satisfy a person's civic responsibility.