Fresh Water Versus Sea Water Toilets

[Dockhead]

Thanks to help from various forumites here, I am the proud owner of two new Raritan Sea Era electric marine toilet conversion kits.

One of them is fresh water, and the other is sea water. So now my quandry -- which to put where?

The choice is like this:

1. Put the fresh water one in the forward heads, used by guests? So that it will smell better?

2. Or put it in the aft heads, which only I use? On the theory that fewer people (usually one) use it, therefore there will be less fresh water consumption on passage.

I bought one sea water one just for that case -- where water is running low. My boat has seven bunks, not counting the saloon, and they are sometimes all full. So the forward heads can be serving up to five people.

What would you guys do?

[bstreep]

Maybe a bit more info:

How much fresh water do you have? Good access to more fresh water?

Is the boat used ALL the time (do you live on it)?

What % of the time you are on the boat, do you have guests?

Basically, a well used SW flush will stay smelling good. One not used often will run guests from the boat!

[peghall]

If fresh water is an issue, you definitely want to put the sea water toilet in the head that up to 5 people at a time will use.

I'd also recommend that you consider teeing the intake into the head sink DRAIN line, so you can rinse the sea water out of the system ahead of extended "down times" without the need to pull the intake hose off the thru-hull and use a bucket of fresh water water to do it.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by bstreep

Maybe a bit more info:

How much fresh water do you have? Good access to more fresh water?

Is the boat used ALL the time (do you live on it)?

What % of the time you are on the boat, do you have guests?

Basically, a well used SW flush will stay smelling good. One not used often will run guests from the boat!

We have 1000 liters of fresh water on board, so usually not a problem. On the other hand, the boat spends 9 months a year (the time not cruising, that is) on a mooring with no power or water supply. Getting water is a hassle when I am single-handed.

The boat is used a lot. I don't usually live on her, but I reckon I spend 90 nights a year on board. I get in 50 to 60 sea days a year.

I am often alone on board (when not cruising -- which means working on the boat, like right now), and when cruising there can be anything from two to 8 people on board. On long cruises like my month-long summer cruise, guests come and go and the boat is often full.

I agree about well used sea water toilets. I actually have not had a big problem with smells on board, to tell the truth -- so one might ask why I bothered with a fresh water toilet at all! I'm not sure I know myself.

I always flush them through with fresh water when I leave the boat and turn off the sea cocks. The stagnant sea water in the intake side stinks until that water is flushed through, but then generally all is good again.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by peghall

If fresh water is an issue, you definitely want to put the sea water toilet in the head that up to 5 people at a time will use.

I'd also recommend that you consider teeing the intake into the head sink DRAIN line, so you can rinse the sea water out of the system ahead of extended "down times" without the need to pull the intake hose off the thru-hull and use a bucket of fresh water water to do it.

Thanks, Peggy! And thanks again for your help, which directly stimulated the choice of this particular unit.