World Wide Pump Out?

[michaelratinter]

I believe the entire Baltic Sea is a no discharge zone.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by peghall

That can of worms is hotly debated everywhere it comes up. I'm on your side, but it's impossible to convince some people that there should be any alternative to holding tanks and I don't have the time or energy to argue with 'em right now, so I'm not gonna go there this time.

the more i read about this, the more i'm leaning to a composting head.. my boat has a holding tank, soft bladder.. is full, for the last 12 or so years because it was installed wrong so not so easy to empty. i have to remove it and not looking forward to it. any guidelines on that would be appreciated. feel like i'm gonna end up looking like i'll be walking into a nuclear reactor.. was gonna do this in winter when it was all frozen solid but didn't make that trip.. boat's been on the hard for a long time and it's comin out in the next few weeks so please if anyone can give me any tips on things to make it any more doable without losing my lunch because the waste is not mine.. please help. thanx in advance

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by peghall

To get back to the original question...Turkey is the only nation I know of that rigidly enforces their NDZ regs...they do it from the air, looking for cloudy water around a vessel that indicates a dumped tank, and the fines if you get caught are huge. Never mind that there isn't a single pumpout anywhere in Turkey...making necessary to up anchor and leave Turkey's territorial waters the only way to empty a tank.

There certainly are pumpout facilities in Turkey.
Have seen them personally last year, e.g. in Kas marina and Village Marina of Gocek.
Moreover there is a mobile service that pumps waste from gulets and with some effort is available also to yachts at anchor.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by powsmias

the more i read about this, the more i'm leaning to a composting head.. my boat has a holding tank, soft bladder.. is full, for the last 12 or so years because it was installed wrong so not so easy to empty. i have to remove it and not looking forward to it. any guidelines on that would be appreciated. feel like i'm gonna end up looking like i'll be walking into a nuclear reactor.. was gonna do this in winter when it was all frozen solid but didn't make that trip.. boat's been on the hard for a long time and it's comin out in the next few weeks so please if anyone can give me any tips on things to make it any more doable without losing my lunch because the waste is not mine.. please help. thanx in advance

We removed the prior owner's holding tank when we bought the boat a few years ago. I recommend the nuclear reactor look. We had full suits (the cheap kind you use for painting), rubber gloves, goggles, and a Home Depot style respirator mask. Overkill perhaps, but it worked for us. We also had plenty of duct tape, rags, wooden plugs, and a wet-dry vac. I'll never do it again, but the upside is that we'll never have to (we have a Nature's Head and will never go back to a traditional head).

Good luck!

[guyrj33]

Can you make a small slit in the top of the bladder and insert a hose to pump out the bladder?
How is it plumbed that it can't be emptied?
Vacuum hose at the local pump out does a great job sucking everything out of our waste bladder.

[Mike OReilly]

Has anyone mentioned Canada? Don't we restrict dumping within 3 miles?

Agree with Cthoops, for a two to three person crew on a smallish boat, composting (desiccating) head is best if you plan to be in confined waters. If you're in waters with good flow, then overboard is probably best.

[Tkeeth]

Originally Posted by peghall

In the US, all INTRAstate inland lakes are NDZs (see this list on the EPA site here EPA NDZ list The discharge of treated waste from a USCG Certified Type I or II MSD is legal on most navigable inland rivers and most coastal waters. US "no discharge" laws only apply to "sewage" which is defined as "human body wastes and the waste from toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body waste." Gray water ("galley, bath and shower water") may legally be discharge directly overboard in all US waters except for a very few inland lakes and in some small areas of the FL Keys Nat'l Marine Sanctuary that are clearly marked on charts.

You'll find all the US marine sanitation regs that apply to recreational vessels in two parts of the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations): 33 CFR 159 33 CFR Part 159, Subpart A and 40 CFR 140 PART 140--MARINE SANITATION DEVICE STANDARD. It's the CFR that establishes the "3 mile limit." MARPOL regulates large commercial vessels.

I pee in the shower....

[lonesoldier0408]

Most regulations seem to be, cloaked in for your good, while modifying your behavior, so you will transfer your wealth to their coffers.
The situation hasn't been, undone, but that government, which pollutes our environment, is financially better off, while leaving the environment to heal itself.

[44'cruisingcat]

Most places you anchor in NSW (Australia) are zero discharge. Including grey water. Generally well serviced by pump out facilities.

Queensland has more remote or island anchorages where holding tanks aren't required, but they are required in quite a few locations.

Not heavily policed (yet) in either state though.

[Kokanee]

Turkey is very strict. They do have pump outs at most of the larger marinas. The authorities also check logbooks and receipts to ensure cruisers are using the pumpouts.

Most countries in the world have some sort of rules and regs regarding sewage and boats. Why would the US be the only country?

Many countries have NDZ's in confined waters; Most allow dumping of holding tanks in open waters; No country has a perfect set of regulations, but I for one, am glad they are trying.

[Delancey]

Well, looks like Turkey dumped just under a billion cubic meters of untreated sewage according to a 2012 study.

Turkish Statistical Institute Municipal Wastewater Statistics 2012

[Triumphant]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I'm almost positive Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala require holding tanks......I've personally not seen a pump out on the east coast of Mexico, I've seen one in Belize, and one in Guatemala.

Isla Mujeras Pemex dock in the cut has a pump out but we have been told it has never worked

[Delancey]

Canada, 205 billion liters dumped....

Billions of litres of raw sewage, untreated waste water pouring into Canadian waterways - Politics - CBC News

http://nypost.com/2015/11/11/montrea...awrence-river/

[Kokanee]

Turkey is very strict. They do have pump outs at most of the larger marinas. The authorities also check logbooks and receipts to ensure cruisers are using the pumpouts.

Most countries in the world have some sort of rules and regs regarding sewage and boats. Why would the US be the only country?

Many countries have NDZ's in confined waters; Most allow dumping of holding tanks in open waters; No country has a perfect set of regulations, but I for one, am glad they are trying.

[Delancey]

Bondi Beach 4 million liters per day....

Raw sewage released near Bondi as decades of government dithering runs on

Surfs up!!!