Toilet smelling after every flush

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CURIOUS2

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Normally my seawater toilet has the usual smell of bacteria when it hasn’t been used for some time. Whilst cruising in the West Country for the last month it smells after every flush. I replaced all the pipes two years ago and it has been fine until recently. Any ideas why this may be, possibly warmer sea temperature i.e. its 15.6C in Plymouth at the moment.
 
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It's not the sea temp - we have 20-30 degrees all Summer and one head smells and the other one doesn't. Ive changed everything but the holding tank so have that expensive job at some point
 
CURIOUS2 said:
Normally my seawater toilet has the usual smell of bacteria when it hasn’t been used for some time. Whilst cruising in the West Country for the last month it smells after every flush. I replaced all the pipes two years ago and it has been fine until recently. Any ideas why this may be, possibly warmer sea temperature i.e. its 15.6C in Plymouth at the moment.
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You need to try and decide whether the smell is coming in with the new flushing water or whether it is coming out through the holding tank vent, assuming that you have a holding tank or perhaps through the discharge pipe. You will need to get your nose down in the bowl and someone else's near the tank vent and then flush and see who gets the smell first. :ambivalence:

Once you know exactly where it's coming from we can provide a solution. :)

Richard
 
CURIOUS2 said:
Normally my seawater toilet has the usual smell of bacteria when it hasn’t been used for some time. Whilst cruising in the West Country for the last month it smells after every flush. I replaced all the pipes two years ago and it has been fine until recently. Any ideas why this may be, possibly warmer sea temperature i.e. its 15.6C in Plymouth at the moment.
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My guess would be that you have got some seaweed that is stuck in the intake pipe or in the intake side of the pump, which is slowly decaying and causing the smell.
 
BabaYaga said:
My guess would be that you have got some seaweed that is stuck in the intake pipe or in the intake side of the pump, which is slowly decaying and causing the smell.
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Or maybe an eel or small fish. Have seen that before. I'd be looking to backflush with a dinghy pump.
 
Most often the inlet and outlet are next to each other. If the toilet is pumped whilst moving or in a decent current it is not a problem... But when moored the inlet sucks water next to the outlet ... result, sucking in contaminated water which then sits in the inlet pipe festering.... Pong.
 
CURIOUS2 said:
Normally my seawater toilet has the usual smell of bacteria when it hasn’t been used for some time. Whilst cruising in the West Country for the last month it smells after every flush. I replaced all the pipes two years ago and it has been fine until recently. Any ideas why this may be, possibly warmer sea temperature i.e. its 15.6C in Plymouth at the moment.
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jabsco 37038-1024 solves the problem if your cruising style allows access to frequent water top ups. I suppose you could rig a changover valve so you can flush salt when away from marinas.

I upgraded 1 loo to a tecma - never looked back they are the very best (if you can cope with water use) - but they won't fit is the small aft heads on my boat so I added the jabsco valve to the old loo, pong gone. It took 30 or 40 flushes to get the grimy water out of the inlet pipes though.
 
What exactly does it smell of? Toilet smells are usually either H2S or sewage.

H2S is the result of bacterial action over some time and is usually sourced in the inlet hose to the toilet.

Sewage smells usually emanate downstream of the toilet, in the discharge hose or holding tank. Don't assume that 2-year old hoses are still leak free. The standard test is to wipe a tissue along the length of the hose and sniff it. If it smells of sewage the hose is permeable.
 
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