Porta Potty or Bucket - Regulations ?

[zeehag]

folks here take the portapotties and 5 gal buckets into the toilet. is the proper place to dump poo. 5 gal bucket must have lids. they are not to be dumped into the trash. common sense should dictate teh proper disposal of human waste.

[otherthan]

Originally Posted by zeehag

folks here take the portapotties and 5 gal buckets into the toilet. is the proper place to dump poo. 5 gal bucket must have lids. they are not to be dumped into the trash. common sense should dictate teh proper disposal of human waste.

one thing is sure, the containers I was servicing where well away from population...I cant imagin this smell anywhere near a marina.

winter times up north should not be a problem as poop freezes and its almost odorless...then again no ones at the marinas then?

[otherthan]

personaly id never dump wast where it can afect others...every one has the righ to enjoy life without suffering from wast polution...id also not dispos near any shore..we have this responsability.

I will for the convinience have a bucket on board regardless of what toilet systhem I adopt...more so sins iv read the story of a sailor who used his bucket to stir the boat when his rudder was damaged offshore...one more use to this practicle ithem...this thread has generated lots of interest...to me it means that pepoles are sensitive to the issue and whant others to be consious about it...something every one of us can accomplish quite easaly.

cheers

[ConradG]

Originally Posted by jobi

personaly id never dump wast where it can afect others...

And yet I would doubt that you could find a handful of municipal sewage systems in North America that don't regularly engage in "controled releases" when it rains, the systems are over flowing or the many other reasons they do. Often directly into our lakes, streams and oceans.

Are our landfills in watersheds? If they are there are much worse things to worry about than the threat of e. coli serviving the trip.

Most trash is handled by transfer stations that deliver to incinerators. What better way to rid the beasts? Perhaps that'll be the next in environmentaly correct usage-like buffalo chips in the early west- dried for bbq fuel. (Or should that idea be on the cruising for $500/month thread?)

I don't propose dumping where it would endanger anyone or our fragile environments at all. I do question how best to go about achieving that goal. The off shore contributions from cruisers seems to me to be one of the best solutions (besides composting on land) and the bucket, especially with a vent installed and even better a crank, also with urine seperation, is more likely to enable that eventuality as intervals between needing pump outs or emptying is greater than with most holding tank instalations. As to dumping solids from the system down the toilet, unless it's done by the use, I fear you may have problems and furthermore, it'll probably be going into a municipal sewage system and quite likely be contributing to the problem more than it would be being incinerated and turned into power. Should all the cruisers who have the little sign that says "paper in the trash" be flushing toilet size loads when they bring it ashore? Disposeble diapers be washed and soaked in chlorine before being thrown away? (Yeah, my kids never had one touch their little bums, we washed cloth-and even traveled with tupperware with washcloths for wipes- but because of the use of paper and plastic and the waste generated in the process and transportation- wasn't concerned in the least about the fact that e. coli might make it through being burned...). Durring my stays at marinas I use the land heads. My glorified bucket holds more than I could fit a holding tank for at half of the manufactures stated capacity (they say 60-80 solids uses but letting it go too long with constant usege starts to get heavy and threatening when emptying) and is far more likely to make it offshore where it can be dealt with responsibly. If it doesn't make it offshore, is it really more of a threat to society in the trash than the sewage system? I say no. You may differ. Of course the best solution would be to intall compost bins by the dock but somehow I think truely responsible solutions would be rejected for some reason....

[otherthan]

Perhaps you are right? if its not profitable enough alternative wast management is a dream...they will feed us E-coli this and E-coli that eventho we know that sewers run below us with vents every 25ft...that most African and Asian contrys have ne sewage or any wast management programs...that pepoles living in Venis dumb out the windows every morning as the pic up gondole passes...100s of years perhaps 1000s??

but our society being what it is..we have to belive and comply to whatever makes the big wheel turn.

[ConradG]

Yes we do. And what makes that wheel turn? proctor and gamble? The times they have a changed. It is no longer wrong to throw human waste in the trash. Laws may not have changed on the books yet but the practice has. Depense. Pampers. EZ wipes. The wheel no longer sees it as wrong. Marine composting head companies recomend it. 'Made to fit regular kitchen trash bags to be disposed of ashore'. 'US coast guard approved type III sanitation divice'. The practice of using the common trash for human waste isn't only undertaken by millions every day but it is supported and encouraged by our society. Buckets are composting heads with just as adequate a holding tank as an Airhed or Nature's head. Composting heads are approved type III sanitation devices by definition and need no further approval (see uscg site).

[canucksailor]

geez....I've been reading this thread with a sense of dread, disbelief, cynicism, outrage and undiluted hilarity. Now here's my $.02 worth:
The morning throne session is an important part of my life, and one I look forward to each day. I have a 'proper' head on board, meaning that at no time am I required to perform some unpleasant ritual with buckets or porta-potties, nor consider how to deal with the eventual result beyond a few pumps of a convenient handle.
I finish my mornings ready to face the day, without the concern of how I shall deal with what is, or should be, already done with. It's over, gone, finished, scent free (I use expensive hoses in the system) and entirely not a concern beyond finding a pump out when and as required. Or, of course, feeding the fishes while well offshore.
Unfortunately, that wonderful ceramic creation now requires rebuilding, so in another few days, I may well have an entirely different outlook on this issue. We shall see...

[Springbok]

Al Gore says it will cause globle warming to dump, raise the water temp, only answer is don't $..t, you will turn green in a few days which will appease the "go green" crowd
Clyde

[wolfenzee]

Even though my boat originally had a "proper head" last owner replaced it with a portapottie, I located a nice old ceramic head with bronze pump.....free (it works). I have been seriously considering replacing my portipottie, my boat is out of the water for the winter so I put in a thru hull now (the old one was filled and glassed over and pump out is still there) and do the rest later. The space where the original holding tank was is basically in accessible waste space. I would have to build a new holding tank or use the same space for an additional fresh water tank...either way involves building a tank.
I hate portipotties and have never used one, living on my boat for almost 4 years I have used the "shore head" the whole time (for solids, oil jugs w/enzyme to make them odorless for liquid)

[boatman61]

Personally I don't see what harm my 'small contribution' does as long as I keep the paper and don't chuck any chemicals in....
SHEeeeeeesSHH........ There's Umpteen Trillion fish and what have you 'SH#*ING' in there already......

[wolfenzee]

Just heard a story about a guy who waited until hhis bucket got full and when he tried to dump it in a local dumpster...just as he was lifting the bucket of fermented **** over his head, the bucket went the opposite way it was intended.

A bucket is easier to empty than a PortiPottie at sea...but then again so is a "proper head". Which is why I am installing a proper head, stowing the PortiPottie and using the bucket to carry tools and such.

[Brent Swain]

Composters are a huge improvement over a bucket , like a bucket that you only have to dump when convenient. They are easy and cheap to build.
Some cities, like Nanaimo and Vancouver, dump huge amounts of raw sewage in the ocean while using boaters as scapegoats and distractions.

[wolfenzee]

A composter big enough for 2 full time live aboards would take up more than it's share of space on a boat.....then you would still have to tend with it's product (get a second dingy and tow a garden behind your boat?).

[otherthan]

ok guys have a laugh on me...I doctor said to me when I was released from hospital after a long coma...any mamal including man on a proper diet (meaning foods that our body metabolises) $hit in dry pellets and dont need to wipe as much...at the time I was 260lb and needed to make a sirious change for the better...so I listened and made that change and lost 120lb and go every other day...funny I use very little paper...imaging if every one eat properly...we'd save forests every year.

pleas feel free to laugh...cause I may be laughing at you now??

rgds

[Minggat]

[QUOTE=wolfenzee;601193]
A composter big enough for 2 full time live aboards would take up more than it's share of space on a boat....QUOTE]

Where does that come from? Me thinks you're too busy speculating and not enough time listening to those actually that have composting toliets.