Latest thoughts on toilet smell management !!

Suffered with nasty smells on a previous boat and fitted an in-line gadget to reduce the pong, which seemed to help no end. On my last new boat and on the current boat, we don't have any smells at at all. This is due to the method of 20 pumps of sea water through the head after every use. No pongs, no chemicals and keeps you fit!
 
I too agree that the smell is not from faecal contamination, my manual operated head has NEVER been used for Nr 2 business. We only pee in it occasionally and flush directly out into the sea. The septic tank is clean, actually it still has a bit of antifreeze I used to conserve it 2 winters ago.
The head smells if I do not flush for more than 3-5 days and in very hot weather 1-2 days, the hydrogen sulphide smell is from the death and decay of microorganisms in the water. When we are in weekend trips and it is used frequently, it does not smell. I can live with that.
 
My boat 'Zen Dog' is rented out a lot for overnight 'non-boaty' guests.

I had a smelly loo problem. Like most such problems, it was probably caused by decaying microbes in the sea water inlet popping out into the loo when first flushed rather than holding tank contents. I fitted a SeaSmart and the problem has disappeared (unless I forget to change the sachet of disinfectant or 9 volt battery every few months - which is a 5 minute job). You probably know how it works - it injects a small amount of product via a capillary that's inserted into the inlet pipe as close to the inlet as possible. It doses when flushed and every few days when not in use.

Last year, I visited lots of boat owners on their boats. Most had smelly loos. The few that didn't all had Sea Smart fitted. Sea Smart are a Christchurch based company and are nice people to deal with (rest assured I don't have any connection to them). My unit started to "overdose" and was fixed rapidly under warranty.

Swapping water feeds etc seems like a drastic job and am I right that many heads are built for salt water only?
 
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