Gray Water Overboard.

[popeye2818]

This is my first boat with a shower.When or can I Pump gray water overboard or do I have to put a large holding tank in.I have a black water tank already ,just concerned at dock with kids, wife and I with filling my holding tank up fast with shower water.Thats saying that theres no shower facilities or Im at anchor.Thanks.....Aaron

[DeepFrz]

My understanding is that you can dump gray water out in all but a few "No Discharge" sites. It is not considered sewage.

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg5213/docs/graywater.pdf

[Bash]

There are very few places where gray water discharge is not allowed.

You may want to look into the Whale gray water tank mated with a Whale Gulper pump. It can go years without needing to be cleaned out, rather than some of the cheaper shower sumps available on the market which may need to have the hair and gunk cleaned out on a monthly basis. The tank is 2.5 gallons. We have ours set to pump overboard whenever we shower unless we turn the pump off, should we ever be in restricted waters.

The best thing about such a setup is that it keeps the soap and hair out of the bilge.

[popeye2818]

Originally Posted by Bash

There are very few places where gray water discharge is not allowed.

You may want to look into the Whale gray water tank mated with a Whale Gulper pump. It can go years without needing to be cleaned out, rather than some of the cheaper shower sumps available on the market which may need to have the hair and gunk cleaned out on a monthly basis. The tank is 2.5 gallons. We have ours set to pump overboard whenever we shower unless we turn the pump off, should we ever be in restricted waters.

The best thing about such a setup is that it keeps the soap and hair out of the bilge.

Do some systems actually dump into the bildge ? I had thought about that but I was not shure if I would get a funky smell after a while .The 2.5 gallon tank system sounds good ,I can fit that fairly simply.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Bash

There are very few places where gray water discharge is not allowed.

You may want to look into the Whale gray water tank mated with a Whale Gulper pump. It can go years without needing to be cleaned out, rather than some of the cheaper shower sumps available on the market which may need to have the hair and gunk cleaned out on a monthly basis. The tank is 2.5 gallons. We have ours set to pump overboard whenever we shower unless we turn the pump off, should we ever be in restricted waters.

The best thing about such a setup is that it keeps the soap and hair out of the bilge.

Indeed.

For God's sake, don't dump gray water into the bilge. I have seen boats where the shower drained into the bilge -- it is nasty, stinky, and actually dangerous as hair can clog your bilge pump's strum box.

I have two gray water tanks and two Whale Gulper pumps on my boat. The pumps are 12 years old and still work flawlessly (I keep spares on board, however!). The tanks have to be cleaned out about once a year -- kitchen waste, in particular, settles out, ferments, and turns into a nasty sludge which clogs up the float valve. It is a dirty, unpleasant job mitigated only by the fact that my gray water tanks are easily accessible.

If you can discharge your galley sink directly overboard, and not through the gray water tank, then this is better than the way it is on my boat.

[senormechanico]

+1 on NEVER in the bilge!

For a year or so after returning from cruising, I worked with three other guys maintaining a fleet of timeshare yachts from 32 to 65 feet.

A few of them drained the shower into the bilge and every one of them smelled horrible in the cabin.

Why anyone would charter them was a mystery to me.

[Cheechako]

My 30 footer dumped to the bilge as did my 44 footer. Both were piped all the way back to the deep bilge and had screen traps for hair. I really had no issue with it at all... in fact, the suds kept the bilge smelling pretty! Warm water over a long of time in a very enclosed/unventilated bilge could promote plywood rot though I suppose...?

[Triton318]

Originally Posted by popeye2818

This is my first boat with a shower.

What?! Boats can have showers?

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by Triton318

What?! Boats can have showers?

It is all a hoax man, do not buy into it....

.... your little ship sails too well for you to even think about such things.....

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by Triton318

What?! Boats can have showers?

Of course! Even our small 22' has a shower

Amazon.com: Summer Shower 5: Sports & Outdoors

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

My understanding is that you can dump gray water out in all but a few "No Discharge" sites. It is not considered sewage.

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg5213/docs/graywater.pdf

Since no discharge zones (all of the salt and brackish zones I am aware of) only restrict sewage discharge, they do not affect gray water discharge. There are a few (Lake Tahoe and some other freshwater lakes) places that restrict gray water, but you'll not be there.

To a small dedicated sump and overboard. As others have said, it should be a sump that drains dry (diaphragm pump) or it will stink. If you can contain the whole head into a pan, it sure makes cleaning and head acquaintance easier.

[popeye2818]

My wife has a nose like a coon hound, I could spill gas on my hand , wash with simple green and stay out for two days and she would smell it the moment I turn in the driveway.So any odd stink will cause a real stink .I Didnt think about the sink,that kinda freaks me out.Raw food in the bildge is no good.Ill install a tank and pump. Triton 318, your boats name is Dove?Did you name it after that 70s movie Dove ,I thought he sailed a Pearson also in that movie.......Thanks for all the input on the tank.

[SailFastTri]

don't complicate your boat. If your sinks drain through direct overboard, leave it that way. Shower should have a sump with overboard pump.

[Triton318]

Originally Posted by popeye2818

Triton 318, your boats name is Dove?Did you name it after that 70s movie Dove ,I thought he sailed a Pearson also in that movie.

I named it after Robin Lee Graham's Dove, yes. I think his Dove was a Luders 24. His was one of a handful of books that first got me dreaming of seeing the world from the deck of a small sailboat. Along with the National Geographic magazines that were delivered each month to our house.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

don't complicate your boat. If your sinks drain through direct overboard, leave it that way. Shower should have a sump with overboard pump.

Absolutely.

One little detail:

For the shower, you can have either a sump, or a tank.

A tank is somewhat more complex, and somewhat harder to maintain, but worth it -- then you don't get any smells at all -- it's vented overboard.