Poo Poll

[Birdseye]

As part of an article I'm writing about going green on the water then I'd like to find out who puts toilet paper down their sea toilet. The poll is totally 100% anonymous so please answer it truthfully.

Of course it goes through the sea toilet. It is biodegradeable. But with a holding tank it goes into a bin instead. From there it will go to landfill since it is biodegradeable.

Given that we have way more sea than land on earth, maybe its better for it to degrade at sea?

 

[James_Calvert]

That might restrict your cruising area.

Mostly happy to go from port to port and find the facilities where we go.

Works fine in the English Channel.

Have a first time charter booked in the Balearics late September. About the only silver lining if it gets binned is the prospect of sailing off with a tankfull of the previous charterers' poo fills me with dread.

 

[stevebrassett]

I've got a porta-potty. Toilet paper goes into that and it all gets emptied in the appropriate place.

 

[GHA]

What about no loo roll needed , have a wash with the shower head.

 

[LadyInBed]

I've got a porta-potty. Toilet paper goes into that and it all gets emptied in the appropriate place.

Over the side

 

[Robin]

We lived on board in USA and they are truly anal about overboard discharge. our local loo guru there advised using supermarket's cheapest eco loo rolls asthey disintegrate rapidly ( keep your nails filed). after total refurb of our entire loo/holding tank system and taking his advice we had no problems at all. Now back home and we still use cheapest loo rolls that dissolve rapidly, but even so none goes down the loos, all is into small lidded bins lined with biodegradable nappy bags which are later disposed of ashore. additionally, if possible, shoreside facilities are preferred

 

[langstonelayabout]

What about no loo roll needed , have a wash with the shower head.

As used throughout the Middle East (and keeps you cleaner than using loo paper). I'll be fitting a shattaf to our next boat too as it means that you use far less loo paper (which in the past we've always bagged and binned rather than flushed).

 

[neilf39]

Having a Henderson mkIV as the loo pump paper bits can get stuck in the joker or flap valve so they leak a bit. As I can't pump the pipe dry it means a bit of reflux. Doesn't happen if paper is not used.

 

[Rappey]

I have a baby blake. Has no problem with copious amounts of toilet paper.
Seems to have a macerating effect as paper comes out as dust.

 

[Norman_E]

While in Greece the policy of binning toilet paper is normal - not a big deal when you get used to the idea .

Same in Turkey. Paper in heads is absolutely banned on my boat, unless previously eaten.

 

[vyv_cox]

How, is it "going green", if your crap goes outboard?

In Greece, where the water is clear enough to see what is going on beneath the surface, it is evident that anything that goes overboard is inspected by fish and eaten if it proves edible. This very much applies to poo. Acouple of times I have been swimming when a boat has discharged poo overboard and watched fish darting from all directions to consume it. Within 5 minutes it has all gone.

We always close the holding tank in anchorages and discharge some distance offshore. All our paper goes into the toilet and has done for decades. We have owned at least half a dozen different types of toilet, manual and electric. I have never needed to unblock a toilet that was clogged with paper.

 

[Joker]

Shore facilities whenever available; at sea - bucket and chuck it.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Has anyone seen a whale shark poop or what happens when a pod of dolphins poop.

 

[RupertW]

Got any evidence of that?
Not sure the surfers off Kernow might agree.

Frequent observation where a charter yacht hasn’t worked out how to use holding tanks in a clear anchorage.
I couldn’t answer for the effect of actual sewage discharge from a town to a beach bit either way we and most other boats wait until offshore before discharging holding tanks (not containing paper obviously).
We have never had any kind of blockage in our loos or holding tank in 10 years and many guests on board. But in previous boats without holding tanks and with the use of paper we didn’t have any blockages either.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Where I sail - Northern Croatia - the water is warm and crystal clear, swimming in anchorages is essential sometimes to cool down.

Any toilet paper dropped or flushed over the side sinks and sits on the bottom, clearly visible, for a few days before it finally breaks up or blends in with the mud - not a pleasant sight.

So paper goes in a bin and then is disposed of with the other rubbish.

PS: Any biological discharge is cleared up by the fish within minutes.

 

[LadyInBed]

What about no loo roll needed , have a wash with the shower head.

and a man of your ingenuity could fit a micro webcam to it and do an internal inspection at the same time! ?

 

[Sharky34]

Frequent observation where a charter yacht hasn’t worked out how to use holding tanks in a clear anchorage.
I couldn’t answer for the effect of actual sewage discharge from a town to a beach bit either way we and most other boats wait until offshore before discharging holding tanks (not containing paper obviously).
We have never had any kind of blockage in our loos or holding tank in 10 years and many guests on board. But in previous boats without holding tanks and with the use of paper we didn’t have any blockages either.

Yes, but eagerly awaited by hungry fish?

 

[Kukri]

I have a baby blake. Has no problem with copious amounts of toilet paper.
Seems to have a macerating effect as paper comes out as dust.

Seconded.

I am here to tell you, thanks to a moment’s absent mindedness by the mother of my children, eighteen years ago (the child in question is now trying to take “A” levels) that a Baby Blake will
pass an entire disposable nappy, with contents.

 

[Refueler]

I have a baby blake. Has no problem with copious amounts of toilet paper.
Seems to have a macerating effect as paper comes out as dust.

I have the Blake as well and it certainly disintegrates anything that gets through it ... but I ban anything except cheap loo roll to be used ... as another says - Tissue has wet strength that is not worth risking.

Just a comment ... on the Loo door - is posted full instructions as to use ... having had embarrassed people call me after ......

During inspection for change to Latvian registry ... 25 euros lifetime register ! .... I was told that the loo was not accepted for Baltics / Latvia and I needed to either redirect to holding tank or replace with Chemical type. Its been in there for life of the boat - so its an emergency use only item !!!

 

[Beneteau381]

The bin when it can be reasonably emptied ashore. More than around fifty miles off, out the portlight.

Never ever ever down the head. Yes there is always someone who pops up at this stage and says 'in all my years of sailing blah blah'.

Ever had to rod through the hull vv of a holding tank from the outside? Double yuk every time!

All my years of sailing! Blah blah!
Never had a blocked head on two boats. Never had calcium blockage either, six pumps of seawater washes the urine out which reacts with the seawater to keep the pipes clean. Paper goes down the bog, it’s designed to break up when wet. Its the use of kitchen roll etc which doesn’t disintegrate when wet which does the blocking. The Greek habit and the Portuguese one of putting in a bin was brought about by their poor plumbing construction methods, since the EU came along and standardisation of sewage pipe sizes at a proper size the issue has become irrelevant.