Toilet

[muchy_]

My boat has a sea toilet pumping into a holding tank. What I would like to do is be able to pump overboard when at sea and then into the tank when on the river. Can anyone explain the pipework that needs to be altered for this.
Thanks....

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[l'escargot]

Some ideas <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/WestAdvisorDisplayView?advisor=436.htm>here</A>

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[ccscott49]

simple "Y" valve in the outlet from the heads, turn one way, to holding tank, other way to sea. The valves are available for many chandlers.

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[Guest]

Simple Y valve from a chandlers would do you .... but make sure that the y valve is not one that closes off fully .... the seacock is there for that.

Why .... I know a boat that the valve was turned wrong and the lady of the boat tried to flush .... found the handle was 'bit stiff' as she put it - so she put more effort into it .... blew the pipe asunder and hubby spent hours cleaning the mess out of the boat before she would go back inside .... yep - She did it, he cleaned it, she refused to go back to boat before he finished cleaning ....


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
So WHAT does the EU really stand for ????/forums/images/icons/cool.gif

 

[Talbot]

if you are doing the change, then you might as well include the appropriate pumping out sockets cause sooner or later we will have to use holding tanks. I would recommend a visit to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tek-tanks.com/Pages/frameset.htm>http://www.tek-tanks.com/Pages/frameset.htm</A> Their guide is a reprint of data from a contributor on the mobo forum "Headmistress" who has been kind enough to provide help before.

Their fuel tanks are pretty good as well!

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[victor_meldrew]

Much better to modify the 'pump-out' section of the pipe-work which Muchy clearly aready has. Y-piece (no need for a valve) leads to deck-fitting and shore-side pump-out machine on one side with the other arm to thro' hull sea-cock via an ordinary Henderson Mk5 1.5" manual or electric pump. All toilet waste continues to go to tank in the first instance but you have the facility to empty tank wherever this is permitted.

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[snowleopard]

a simple y-valve switching the outflow pip to either the tank or the sea is one solution.

the alternative i have installed dumps waste always to the holding tank but uses a large capacity bilge pump to empty either the tank or the bilge. this means there is never a risk of inadvertantly discharging in marinas etc.

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[victor_meldrew]

Not a good idea to use the same pump for tank and bilge. Even a minute amount of tank contents runback from the pump into the bilge will stink the boat out.
Ah! So now you know where that smell is coming from! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[paulrossall]

Maybe not a good idea to use same pump to empty toilet and bilge on a regular basis, but in an emergancy the pump that empties my Lavac couldn't half shift a lot of bilge water. As a one-off in an emergancy I would probably not notice any smell!

<hr width=100% size=1>" there is nothing-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".

 

[victor_meldrew]

Quite so. I remember doing the Day Skipper course many years ago and being told not to forget that the toilet pump was likely to be the most powerful manual pump you had on board. I recollect the Lavac uses the Henderson Mk5 I mentioned above. But in the scenario you pose there is no danger of smell. The toilet pump is being used to pump the bilge - so any run-back to the bilge will be bilgewater.

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[HeadMistress]

Mods needed

As others have recommended, a y-valve in the head discharge line will allow you to choose between flushing directly overboard or going into the tank. If the toilet is at or below the waterline, you'll also need a vented loop in the section of hose going from the y-valve to the thru-hull that's at least 8-12" above the waterline at any angle of heel.

Also, as others have suggested, it would be a good idea to add the capability to dump the tank at sea. This can be accomplished by installing another y-valve in the tank pumpout line, with a pump--manual or electric--between the y-valve and thru-hull. Again, unless the pump and y-valve are mounted well above the waterline at any angle of heel, you'll need a vented loop between the pump and the thru-hull.

<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987