Holding Tanks (or not)

[RupertW]

Valve failure and design failure. I thought it was normal to discharge into the top of a holding tank! Then flow back is the tank full signal

Our holding tanks discharge into the top - but with a breather only just above so a full tank can never flow back down. The worst (which does happen once or twice a year) is that joker valve fails partly and some pipe liquid comes back in again - a five minute and fairly clean job once you’ve refilled the pipe with clean water.

 

[Bilgediver]

I was under the impression that boat toilets macerate everything, well at least my have done so far. Is the paper you have seen from land sewer pipes ?

Depends on the mechanical properties of the turds. Some dilute , some break up and some remain intact so long as smaller than the discharge pipe diameter. Some so big and hard they become a problem before reaching the ship side valve.

Landlubbers use posh non disintegrating super soft tissue which seems to remain intact for ages. Sensible boaters use Tesco's and other supermarket's cheapest as advocated by our friendly Headmistress and that breaks up before it leaves the pan. For those that prefer expensive then buy Sealand which has similar properties to Tesco but really dents the purse.

 

[Pete7]

Sensible boaters use Tesco's and other supermarket's cheapest as advocated by our friendly Headmistress and that breaks up before it leaves the pan. For those that prefer expensive then buy Sealand which has similar properties to Tesco but really dents the purse.

Our experience too, the cheap stuff doesn't block the pipes and just shreds itself on the way out down 5.5m of pipe.

Pete

 

[RupertW]

Our experience too, the cheap stuff doesn't block the pipes and just shreds itself on the way out down 5.5m of pipe.

Pete

How do you know - I only say that based on the amount of intact paper I have seen on the bottom

 

[Bilgediver]

How do you know - I only say that based on the amount of intact paper I have seen on the bottom

The cheap paper starts to break down in the pan unlike the posh no let the finger punch through variety which can still be pretty intact 100 metres astern of the boat.

 

[Bilgediver]

We will have The Headmistress popping in to give an opinion next

 

[mjcoon]

Valve failure and design failure. I thought it was normal to discharge into the top of a holding tank! Then flow back is the tank full signal

Ah, "discharge" means where the pan pump fills the tank; agreed, that is best! I think in the case I was remembering (and was memorable!), the tank was full. It was near the start of a flotilla, and unknown to us the tank discharge valve was jammed and the handle just rotated in its shaft, giving the impression it was working. We went off to a hotel for the (2nd) night while the company staff took the boat away and fixed it! Had spent the previous night ladling the pan content into a bucket every hour or two and surreptitiously emptying the bucket into the harbour...

 

[chris-s]

We have a small 23’ Pegasus which definitely doesn’t have room for a traditional holding tank. Some were supplied with an S&L sea toilet and others adopted a ‘Porta Potti’ option. Ours was the latter in the form of a tiny 10 litre loo (anymore and you would need to sit with your head out the hatch!) which becomes a bit limiting when you want to travel for more than a few days without marinas or sea dumping.

So this year we came up with a modification.

The Pegasus also has a small hand sink beside the toilet in the v-berth that has a whale foot pump to empty, so with the addition of a two-way valve and a small tube fed around the back of the toilet to just above the ‘trap door’ we can now easily pump liquids overboard greatly extending the time at anchor. And yes, paper goes in sanitary bags and in the bin.

 

[Pete7]

How do you know - I only say that based on the amount of intact paper I have seen on the bottom

Sometimes you can see it if you peer over the side. In 25 years of diving don't think I can recall seeing any form of paper under water.

 

[mjcoon]

How do you know - I only say that based on the amount of intact paper I have seen on the bottom

Ah, you want it intact while it is still on the bottom!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ah, you want it intact while it is still on the bottom!

I consider myself fortunate to have not seen it on the bottom. Or at least not since the kids learned to manage their own paperwork

 

[lustyd]

How do you know - I only say that based on the amount of intact paper I have seen on the bottom

We use Charmin Ultra and it's very thoroughly shredded on flushing through a Jabsco. I don't need to go to the bottom I can see it from the deck being dispersed in the water.

 

[lustyd]

Sometimes you can see it if you peer over the side. In 25 years of diving don't think I can recall seeing any form of paper under water.

Agree with this, never seen paper on shore or while diving. Plenty of plastic, plenty of glass, plenty of metal. I've seen several fish with hooks and line attached while they swim about too, but never paper.

 

[RupertW]

Agree with this, never seen paper on shore or while diving. Plenty of plastic, plenty of glass, plenty of metal. I've seen several fish with hooks and line attached while they swim about too, but never paper.

It’s horribly common near Med anchorages

 

[Chiara’s slave]

It’s horribly common near Med anchorages

My med experience makes me think that paper has not been through a toilet.

 

[RupertW]

My med experience makes me think that paper has not been through a toilet.

Stains still visible sometimes but if that makes you feel happier

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Stains still visible sometimes but if that makes you feel happier

I didn’t say it hasn't been used!

 

[fisherman]

Have to say I've seen some rafts of unpleasant looking stuff up the Helford river, particularly on a late morning high tide. It's a very small waterway compared to many, for the number of yachts occupied. Mussels? No thanks.
We were always bemused in the early 70s by the sight of people eating on the riverside patio at the Shipwrights, sitting on top of the sewage tank, which leaked gently onto the beach. It was plain to smell. Of course at that time there were still many individual minor discharges straight into the river.
All improved now, I hasten to add.
Porthleven, Portreath, amongst others, had very large raw discharges, we used to work round them. the Portreath one was tons of solid matter, condom cove we called it.