Holding Tank Question

Norman_E

Norman_E

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My new boat has holding tanks to both heads. The tanks are mounted higher than the seat so that you pump up into them, discharge is by gravity to the seacock, or by deck pumpout (though the marinas in Turkey have no pumpout facilities!).

My question is, will toilet tissue clog the tanks, or is it actually OK to put limited amounts down the heads? I am guessing that the manual pump out on the head will shred the paper. I am asking because I cannot see my fastidious partner accepting the idea of keeping used paper in a bag or bin.
 
IMHO anything you haven't previously eaten should not go down the heads. I know others have expressed the opposite view fairly strongly in the past though.

Better a bag or bin than a blocked loo...

P
 
That's what we do, though I know some people will not countenance paper. The sticking point (yuk!) is really the seacock, in my experience, so having a holding tank shouldn't make it any worse, and may actually help. If you can trust everyone to obey the instructions and use a sensible amount of paper per flush, then there's no problem.

BTW you should definitely only use "normal" toilet paper. All the fancy moist, impregnated etc. ones don't break up anything like as easily.
 
Dissolving Loo paper

.. the paper that is - of course!

Both Thetfords (Porta Potti) and Elsan make paper specially devised for portable loos. We have used it for over 20 years and despite certain members of our family acting as if they owned shares in trees we havn't experienced any clogging due to it's use. Within a few hours in the tank it just becomes a mushy soup.

We are based in Corfu and after getting an initial stock on board at the start of the season, find taking a few extra rolls out in the checked luggage no problem. We buy it from the local caravan/camping shop.

The only time we did get a glog up was when guests secreted some domestic paper aboard (Charmin!!) but I threw the B(r)ugger over board to clean out the seacock with a stick and his wife never did it again.

Steve Cronin
 
Re: Dissolving Loo paper

Thank you. I should have remembered to ask about dissolving paper because I always bought it for the loo in my caravan. I will take a pack of rolls out with me.
 
If you only use quick-dissolve TP, flushing it presents no problems. But you don't have to spend the extra money to get TP labeled "marine," either...that's only the cheapest quick-dissolve TP repackaged at a much higher price.

To determine whether a TP is quick-dissolve enough to flush...tear off a sheet...put it in a glass of water. Wait an hour. If the water has turned milky and all that remains of the sheet is a little "snow," you can flush it with no problems...but if it's still an intact--or mostly intact--sheet, keep looking for one that breaks up immediately.

TP should be used in limited amounts--5-6 sheets--at a time...but if only the quick-dissolve TP is used, even if a guest flushes an overload that clogs the pipes, the clog should clear itself in an hour or two. It's only when your guests (who cause 99% of loo problems) flushes something they shouldn't have--wet wipe, paper towel, handful of facial tissue, or (God forbid!) a tampon or condom--that it should ever be necessary to take anything apart to clear the clog.

So just be careful to use only the "right" kind of TP and instruct your guests that NOTHING ELSE they haven't eaten first goes into the head and you'll have no problems flushing overboard or into the tank.

However, solids and even the "right" TP can result in sludge in the tank...so at least 2-3x/year, flush out the tank very thoroughly. The best way to do that: After pumpout or dumping at sea, add a few gallons of water to the tank via the deck pumpout fitting--because that sends the water into the tank at the bottom to stir up sludge and put it into suspension so it can be pumped out or dumped...pump that out...repeat...repeat...til what's coming out is just clean water. Then run another gallon or two through your overboard discharge pump to rinse it out. It's especially important to do this in preparation for winter layup...'cuz over the winter the sludge can harden...and if that happens, it can't be flushed out.
 
Re: Dissolving Loo paper

[ QUOTE ]
.. the paper that is - of course!

Both Thetfords (Porta Potti) and Elsan make paper specially devised for portable loos.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are very happy guys.. living in rich countries.. and able to buy and use "special" paper.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Here in South America. no such products.. and we use normal toilet paper in our Thetfords - Porta Potti, and very cheap "coper sulfate" instead of very expensive specialised "blue" product.. and both work perfectly..
 
The remedy is a Greek Island holiday,there no paper may go down the loo, and it has to be kept in a bag of the type used for sanitary products.
The idea that no paper goes down is initially quite off putting, but once the habit is developed it seems perfectly sensible to fold the paper and place in a separate bag for disposal, and there is no smell which is what worries most folk.
 
We keep our used tp in the slightly scented bags designed for soiled disposable nappies. Reasonably affordable and not a whiff despite sweltering heat in the heads when moored in the mediteranean sun.

Steve
 
putting one's used toilet-paper in a separate "poo-bin" is no smellier or yukkier than changing nappies or emptying the cat's litter-tray; I know that blokes try and avoid these tasks as best they can, but believe me, un-clogging heads & holding tank seacocks is a hundred times worse.
One slight snag with the poo-bin thing: be prepared to find some used loo-roll in the laundry basket for a few days after you get back home, as it does become quite an automatic gesture after a few weeks aboard!
 
The point is, if you want to flush TP, you can...provided you don't use the wrong kind. If you don't, that's your choice.

I compromised...I flushed it--into a tank, btw...I was on a lake where ONLY holding tanks were allowed--and kept a "diaper pail" and liners in my dock locker that went into the head when landlubber guests were expected. I didn't refrain from flush TP (no one to witness it!)...instructed guests that ANYTHING they hadn't eaten first went into the pail. When they went home, the liner full of TP (and who knows what else) went to the dumpster with the rest of the trash, the pail went back into the dock locker. Never had a clog in more than 20 years. If I had, the guests who'd been aboard would never have been invited aboard again.
 
Peggie!
You've gone all Yank and unintelligble on us. What's a TP (Toilet paper) diaper (nappy), Pail (bucket), dumpster (waste skip), dock locker (something in marina to keep stuff in???), trash (rubbish) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Peggie!
You've gone all Yank and unintelligble on us. What's a TP (Toilet paper) diaper (nappy), Pail (bucket), dumpster (waste skip), dock locker (something in marina to keep stuff in???), trash (rubbish) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I AM a Yank! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

With 14 sites and email lists to monitor and/or host, I sometimes forget which one I'm on. But at least you were able to translate, which more than I can do sometimes. For me even to understand half the questions here, I've had to learn a second language--ENGLISH English! Before I began hanging out with your merry band of mariners, I thought only Cockney was unintelligible to Yanks...but even after more than two years here, I STILL sometimes need a translator! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
A dock locker is what the name implies...sometimes called a dock box, it's usually a coffin sized lockable container that lives on each owner's dock finger where things like varnish, cleaning supplies and equipment etc that are only used ashore are stored.
 
Thank you. It was looking a bit UK centric (and probably always will be given the demographics)

You look gorgeous! Not at all like the sanitary expert I'd always imagined, probably in late 40's.

If I didn't already have a partner I'd be on next flight out! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
You're for it now Brendan - no woman is older than 21, or is it no older than 30 when the wrinkles have settled in?

Agree with the rest, lovely and knowledgable.

John
 
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