Let's talk about the your Holding Tank Regimes

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AB1707

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Hi all.

We have a large holding tank 700 x 400 x 300 with a pump out fitting, which we will be actively using this season for the first time, voyaging to and around the Baltic.

My question is what methods/ rules do fellow sailors use to try to minimise any problems

We will put all paper in nappy sacks so it'll only be urine,faecaes and sea water going in.

Which treatments do people recommend ?

Thanks in Advance

Adam
 
New law in Sweden from April 1st, banning toilet discharge to sea within 12 miles from land. As a result, many new pump out facilities are now being installed in harbours and marinas. Similar legislation already in place in Finland, since several years back.
 
We use no treatment at all but ours is a gravity discharged tank, without a bypass. We find that the toilet joker valve tends to become coked with salts once or twice per season, needing opening up for cleaning. Takes about an hour nowadays. This is due to the fact that the hose from the toilet over the loop and back to the tank is about a metre and no amount of flushing will empty it.
 
Adrian said:
, put a few squirts of veg oil in the bowl every week or so to keep pump moving.
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Unlike with direct discharge to sea where this is not a bad idea, I believe that with a holding tank it is inadvisable as it creates a film on the surface and prevents oxygen mixing and thereby encourages the smelly variation of bateria,
 
I've never had a problem with putting the cheapest (ie flimsiest) paper into the tank and using one of the holding tank additives that claim to break down paper etc. With a pump into the tank and a pump out of it, the paper gets well broken up; I'm not sure whether a gravity discharge would cope.
 
PeterBoater said:
I've never had a problem with putting the cheapest (ie flimsiest) paper into the tank and using one of the holding tank additives that claim to break down paper etc. With a pump into the tank and a pump out of it, the paper gets well broken up; I'm not sure whether a gravity discharge would cope.
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On a manual toilet the joker valve breaks up faeces and paper pretty effectively. I have a Jabsco LITE toilet whose high speed impeller mashes everything to a fine suspension.
 
Hi macd,

Yes we can also manually pump out the tank but the pipe run to the tank and seacock are both longer than I'd like so a pump out will always be preferable.

Thanks for your reply.
David2452 said:
Unlike with direct discharge to sea where this is not a bad idea, I believe that with a holding tank it is inadvisable as it creates a film on the surface and prevents oxygen mixing and thereby encourages the smelly variation of bateria,
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macd said:
AB1707: I presume the tank can also be discharged to sea?
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Advice from our local USA loo guru was to use cheap recycled paper loo paper as it breaks down easily and fast and never use additives. We lived on board for a year on a 47 ft mobo with 2 loos feeding one large holding tank that was pumped out weekly by the (free) marina poop boat We never used the overboard direct option as we were not away long enough to miss a pumpout . Current boat, holding tank can gravity drain overboard if required or be pumped out in the marina and we have the option to pump loo to tank or overboard if permitted, we still use supermarket own brand eco friendly 'green' loo paper made from recycled paper ( pays not to have sharp nails:nonchalance:) When we lived on board the mobo we had a charcoal smell stopper filter fitted on the holding tank vent line to avoid gassing passers by when a fresh delivery went to the tank thus displacing the 'air' above the tank contents out of the vent to open air. Back in our UK days the holding tank on our then Jeanneau sun Legende used extensively in the Channel and Biscay France was never pumped out ashore only overboard at sea, never worried about paper type and never added additives, no problems ever with smell or operation.
 
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Thanks for your replies.

as for the paper, we're used to bagging it and even boat visitors can cope, whereas I sometimes worry visitors may be excessive with paper.

very few additives seem to be recommended.

As as for the oil, I use a Teflon grease in the pump when it starts to stutter.

I currently check the joker valve annually

Thanks everyone
 
AB1707 said:
Yes we can also manually pump out the tank but the pipe run to the tank and seacock are both longer than I'd like so a pump out will always be preferable.
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Then I think you're right to bag loo-paper. Having a bag handy also encourages visitors* to use it rather than put more problematic items down the pan.

*Well, maybe just the ones who can register an EEG.
 
Two loos, Vacuflush, both freshwater, feeding into one holding tank with deck or hull discharge.

Two much loo paper blocked one of the loos once - lesson seriously learnt, so careful not to overdo the paper, but otherwise no other precautions!

The output passes through a macerator which appears to cope well.

Any foreign objects will risk seriously damaging the macerator so are totally avoided under peril of keel hauling.

Only ever discharge at sea, or very occasionally marina pump out if havent put to sea for some time.

Its worrying how many owners in enclosed marinas seem to "happily" but "quietly" discharge into an essentially closed water system. I hate to imagine the bacteria level, never mind the fact that some of us occasionaly don the diving gear to give the bottom a scrub in the marina - probably more fool those that did, but I wish others would avoid discharging their waste in this way if at all possible.
 
During our summer cruise we spend most nights tie up, so the ship's rule is always to go ashore for solid waste. If that is really impracticable, the holding tank will cope perfectly well in normal use.

I've never had a problem with ordinary loo paper, but a cautionary tale:

A friend of ours with a large boat has a system where all waste passes through the holding tank. About three years ago the pump out got blocked, necessitating frequent visits to a pump out station, with five on board. After a long time, my friend who is a bit infirm, got an engineer to go through the whole system which he did, eventually surfacing with a kitchen paper towel. This was certainly at least three years old, from a previous owner. Kitchen paper does not seem to disperse.
 
Go to a camping shop and buy lots of rolls of 'dissolvable" toilet paper. Worked perfectly with my holding tank and no problems in 12 years. You dont see old motorhomers struggling with blocked loos.
 
BabaYaga said:
New law in Sweden from April 1st, banning toilet discharge to sea within 12 miles from land. As a result, many new pump out facilities are now being installed in harbours and marinas. Similar legislation already in place in Finland, since several years back.
Click to expand...

Does that apply to whales and dolphins too?
 
vyv_cox said:
We use no treatment at all but ours is a gravity discharged tank, without a bypass. We find that the toilet joker valve tends to become coked with salts once or twice per season, needing opening up for cleaning. Takes about an hour nowadays. This is due to the fact that the hose from the toilet over the loop and back to the tank is about a metre and no amount of flushing will empty it.
Click to expand...

Sounds exactly like our boat - and when the joker gets coked up, the contents of the hose back-fill into the bowl.

Short of putting a stopcock in the line, is there any remedy other than changing the joker every couple of months?
 
We were in East and South sweden last summer. There was a thick algal bloom between Oland and the mainland. It was like sailing through pea soup. It probably wasn't the poisonous one - I swam in it a few times, anyway!
However, we saw very few pumpouts in any but the largest harbours, so I hope they get that sorted before this coming season.
 
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