Sneaking the Holding Tank Overboard

[beau]

I am sorry, I just can't believe in the results of the "poll"
When THEY pass a LAW stopping all fish Sh-ting in the water I will do as David Old Jersey suggests

[genomic]

Impact of Boats Discharging Untreated Sewage: Regulations on Boats Disposing of Raw Sewage in NZ Harbours

"Discharging Sewage From a Boat
Apparently liquid waste is not a serious problem. Most urine is sterile and therefore little risk occurs from flushing urine directly from an on-board boat toilet. The problem is solid waste.
There is a significant public health risk from discharged sewage. Sewage can contain disease-causing bacteria, viruses and parasites. According to MfE, the biggest concern with boats dumping raw sewage is the spreading of water-borne diseases. These include hepatitis A, giardia, typhoid and cholera.
Of concern is the impact on shellfish and the subsequent risk to the consumer. Filter feeding shellfish, such as oysters and mussels, are very good at concentrating the disease-causing organisms present in sewage. These viruses can survive for a long time in water, sediment and shellfish. This is why the sewage discharge from one boat alone can, if the circumstances are right, have a significant impact on the health risk of a whole bay."

Read more at Suite101: Impact of Boats Discharging Untreated Sewage: Regulations on Boats Disposing of Raw Sewage in NZ Harbours Impact of Boats Discharging Untreated Sewage: Regulations on Boats Disposing of Raw Sewage in NZ Harbours

Sewage is treated for health reasons, and dumping your waste directly into the sea is in effect dumping raw sewerage (and the excuse 'city/country x does it' is a poor one indeed).

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

yes we did, air pressue to blow the tank out

was important to not open the valve from the toleit to the holding tank during this.................or itblew up into your face instead

I remember in submarine school back in the '60's we learned how to blow sh*t out of the ships whistle.

[beau]

Discharging sewerage.

Surely there can be nothing wrong with it, it is after all Natural and Organic.
We have been doing IT for thousands of years and we still have NO reliable evidence of Global Warming

[donradcliffe]

What does a pumpout cost in your area, and what would you be willing to pay to get rid of 20 gallons of poop instead of taking it offshore??

I believe that when they instituted the no-discharge areas, the federal goverment paid for a lot of pumpout stations. I also understand that the federal law restricts the amount to be charged for a pumpout to $5 if federal funds have been used to help install the facility.

The reality--in Annapolis, the city pumpout boat has broken down and may not be fixed. In Newport, the cost of a pumpout is now $10, and will probably rise further with time. None of this is encouraging pumpout use.

[Starbuck]

TrevC, he say:
Using a holding tank is such a load of crap!

Quite literally.

[genomic]

"it is after all Natural and Organic."

So is giardia, typhoid and cholera.

"We have been doing IT for thousands of years"

And dying due to numerous preventable diseases. Sewage treatment is one of the top modern health triumphs.

The link I gave above says it - mant pathogens can persist in the water for a long time, and be carried by currents into shellfish farms (filter feeders) and swimming areas. It's about health, not environment (and certainly not about global warming - what an odd non-sequitur).

[rebel heart]

Because I scuba dive in and around the harbor my doctor had me get my hep A and typhoid vaccines (maybe everyone gets them and I'm just getting them again?). I read the typhoid label and apparently there are 600 cases a year in the United States, with something like 10% from "contaminated water". So that's like 60 people a year, probably a fraction of which get it from navigable bodies of water, and it's preventable with a vaccine. I'm not advocating dumping raw sewage into harbors with reckless abandon, but that's pretty much the way things worked (and still work in most places in the world).

Hepatitis A is roughly the same for numbers. Small cases, preventable by vaccines.

I know that one of the biggest reasons why we have low cases of typhoid and hep A is because of proper sewage management, but we had low cases of both of those when people were dumping overboard for decades.

[Pelagic]

Did not vote because it is missing the key choice… When Logical to direct discharge

True story….. Many years ago I ran a small harbor tug in Vancouver that delivered 100 tons of fresh water to the ships anchored in English Bay.

I was delivering FW to this Greek crewed ship waiting to load grain. Looked up and saw some engineering crew watching me and laughing.

Next thing I know, raw sewage from their black water holding tank is pumping out directly on top of the barge and I scrambled away yelling at them to stop.

They just laughed…. and anger (or inspiration) got the better of me so taking a pike pole I knocked the wooden hatch off the tank so the $hit flowed directly into the water tank which was then being pumped into their own tanks.

Seems all this fuss about excrement is just a matter of perspective.....

[osirissail]

I think that most everybody would honor and observe the rules about dumping if only they were applied and enforced equally to everybody. There are just too many major cities including NY and others that discharge millions of gallons of untreated sewerage whenever there is heavy period of rain. There are communities along the Chesapeake shore that deliberately - according to the residents - bypass their treatment plants to avoid costs to maintain and repair them. Every now and then one is caught but nothing is done other than changing some bureaucrats.
- - In my view it equates to punishing the "ant" for his discharges while the "elephant" is ignored and has been known to take a dump right on the "ant."
- - But there are some lagoons and landlocked areas like Block Island and others where "no discharge" is really effective in keeping the anchorage clean.

[billyehh]

There are no sewage treatment plants or pumpout stations that I know of in the Eastern Carribean. At this point I have no holding tank.

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

What does a pumpout cost in your area, and what would you be willing to pay to get rid of 20 gallons of poop instead of taking it offshore??

I believe that when they instituted the no-discharge areas, the federal goverment paid for a lot of pumpout stations. I also understand that the federal law restricts the amount to be charged for a pumpout to $5 if federal funds have been used to help install the facility.

The reality--in Annapolis, the city pumpout boat has broken down and may not be fixed. In Newport, the cost of a pumpout is now $10, and will probably rise further with time. None of this is encouraging pumpout use.

Wow, on the opposite end of the spectrum I've never paid for pumpout. That's a tough one, and you are right it sure doesn't promote pumping out.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by GeoPowers

Wow, on the opposite end of the spectrum I've never paid for pumpout. That's a tough one, and you are right it sure doesn't promote pumping out.

Agreed. Charging for pumpouuts is counterproductive. That said, there's no such thing as a free service. The marina I'm currenly in offers free weekly pumpouts every Wednesday. Free? This is a marina where a 50' slip costs $800 per month, and the 60' slips cost $1,000. Take the "free" pumpouts away and very few of us would be willing to pay the premium rate for the slip.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

The reality--in Annapolis, the city pumpout boat has broken down and may not be fixed.

When? I saw the Annapolis pump-out boat underway over the weekend. The Harbormaster lives a block from me and I see him most mornings - I'll ask him today if there is an issue.

[SaucySailoress]

Not an issue - no regulations in Arabian Gulf as far as I know.

Here's one though - currently it is BANNED to swim in the sea off most parts of Kuwait -the underground sewage plant flooded (with sewage) due to poor maintenance, so now they are pumping a large part of the country's sewage straight into the sea.

Not an issue down South where we keep the yacht, but up North where we keep the dinghies - whew!!! Gross. Sometimes get clear water for launching, but always have to sail across a brown line to get offshore.... Haven't capsized in a long time.