Wife + Holding Tank = Fighting With Me

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by peghall

And it's not a "crappy thing to do" either. The discharge from a Lectra/San, ElectroScan or PuraSan is < 10/100 ml and the BOD is only equivalent to that from 4 oak leaves falling off a tree into the water...which is actually cleaner than the discharge from most sewage treatment plants (even when they don't overflow untreated waste) and a LOT cleaner than an illegally dumped tank...more of which ARE illegally dumped than pumped out.

So you'd be fine letting your kid swim next to a boat actively discharging treated sewage, literally swimming through the brown cloud and shredded toilet paper? You can argue the mechanics of it, but forgive me for not wanting myself or my loved ones to literally swim through a cloud of ****.

[Sand crab]

Rebel Heart. That treated waste is gross but sanitary. I wouldn't want to swim in it either but that toilet seat in your house is probably less clean even if it is spotless and I'm sure your child touches it. I was just asking about the legality and I personally would never dump in a marina or crowded anchorage even if allowed because it's well, gross. So thanks for answering everyone.

[peghall]

People pumping straight out instead of pumping out into a sewer system is the #1 reason lots of landlubbers don't like to look out and see boats off their beaches

Not true... It's the SEWER systems--which is where most holding tank contents that aren't illegally dumped--not the boats who are pollluting the beaches...but it's the boats who get the blame. Two examples:

A few months ago two reports almost simultaneously hit the news:

A fire at a sewage treatment plant on the Hudson river had resulted in a DAILY spill of about 5 million gallons of untreated sewage into the river. The same voices who ballyhooed how much new "no discharge" laws would do for the quality of the Hudson assured the public that the spill was no big deal...that the river flow was sufficient to cleanse it quickly. (But the river flow apparently isn't sufficient cleanse the 10-15 gallons a day of 100% bio-waste from boats?).

Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island was declared the dirtiest harbor in the US. The culprit: Sewer pipes so corroded and full of holes that almost all the sewage on the island is going straight into the harbor. But the "no discharge" rules there, in place for nearly two decades are so strict that they drop a dye tablet in your head a flush it before assigning you a mooring.

15 years ago there was a report (can't remember the source now) that more than 100 New England municipalities have waivers from the EPA excusing them from meeting federal water quality standards for their sewage treatment plants because their systems are too old, too small or in such disrepair that they can't, and can't afford to upgrade repair them. However, New England IS the largest "no discharge" area on the whole east coast. I considered it the ultimate irony that the very DAY Rhode Island's statewide "no discharge" law went into effect, a massive sewage treatment plant spill closed all the beaches and shellfish beds in Narragansett Bay for a WEEK!

And you're upset about one little guy who's flushing his li'l ol Jabsco toilet MAYBE 5x/day...4 of which are just urine???

Holding tanks and composters aren't the answer...onboard treatment is...and incentive for mfrs to spend the money to develop devices that are affordable, easy to install and maintain, and with power requirements low enough that even a 23-24' boat can use one. And regulations that actually make some sense for a change!

[Noname]

Last week the city of Ft. Lauderdale leaked millions of gallons of raw stuff into the intracoastal ww. Read all about it here:
Water Use Ban: Sewage leak taints water in northeast Fort Lauderdale - Sun Sentinel

I guess you could pump your holding tank here and not get noticed.

[Amapola]

Never forget, when the "Admiral" ain't happy, nobody's happy!

[Mexdon]

Whole thread is reminiscent of the "bucket and chuckit" days.....discussions were then not where but when.....morning or night, and always on an ebbing tide.

[Sand crab]

Thread drift. I've seen some boats with these electrified waste treatment units only. No hoding tank. How do you "go" if you are in a protected area? Or do you just have to hold it?

[peghall]

They either rarely if ever go into "no discharge" waters--which, except for New England, the FL Keys and Socal are actually very few and far between in coastal waters...and what few there are, are very small...or they use shore facilities when they do.

[bobconnie]

LOL I can remember the first Commercial fish boat I worked on way back maybe 1954 or so ! the Leagal toilet was a SEAT wired to the shrouds !! pretty comfortable really and sometimes it even worked like a bidiet !! LOL times sure have changed !! and ya know the waters still about the same !! at least in the PNW, citys still dumping and the oysters still get polluted, and still clean out !!maybe the laws are not working ??? just a thought Bob and Connie

[sdowney717]

It is NOT and NEVER is an issue when tens of thousands of sewage get spilled by a municipality sewer system. The public safety is soothed by the words of the sanitation engineers, yet boaters are dirty polluting nasty creatures going in the water.

At the end of article sewage torrent was redefined as harmless seepage.

Sewage Pipe Leak Poses No Problem

A 12-inch sewer main was forced apart by heavy torrents of water early Tuesday morning spilling an estimated 20,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Boynton Canal west of Military Trail.

The Palm Beach County Health Department determined that the spill posed no danger for the environment or area residents, said Environmental Engineering Director Frank Gargulio.
County Utilities Director Bob Weisman agreed the sewage that escaped will not cause any problem. ``Trying to treat the canal water with chlorine would probably do more damage than help the situation,`` he said.

Weisman said the pipe separated sometime between 3 and 5:30 a.m. and the flow was cut off by 7:30 a.m. ``I think it occurred at about 4:30 a.m.,`` he said.

The sewage in that pipe comes from the Indian Spring retirement community to the south, Weisman said. The sewage is held at the nearby pumping station until it is released, generally early in the morning, en route to the treatment plant, he said.

The pipe was sealed and back in operation by 9:30 a.m., Wesiman said. There was no disruption of service to any residents.

Workers creating a storage lake on part of the Lakes of Boynton development inadvertently allowed the water to build up too high for a berm that was serving as the outer boundary of the planned lake, said developer Donald Stiller. Lakes of Boynton is part of Stiller`s massive Boynton Beach Country Club development north of Boynton Beach Boulevard.

The torrents of water broke through the berm and rushed across a dirt road that one day will be an extension of Jog Road, Stiller said.

The sewage pipe was old, built probably around 1971 when there were very few county controls on such things, Stiller said.

The ``O`` joint, which connects two pieces of pipe, separated because of the water pressure and allowed sewage to seep out, he said.

Under today`s standards, that pipe would have been encased in concrete ``and would not have separated from the pressure of the water,`` Stiller said.

``It`s a one-in-a-million type thing. The amount of sewage that seeped out is really infinitesimal,`` Stiller said.

[av8fly]

Thanks peghall i was in a dilema about whether to scrap my fwd head holding tank for a electrasan ec . Im not anymore. Where i plan to be im not worried about it. I really dont see the issue here. Have you ever seen what a raft of ducks or geese do to the environment? Are you kidding me a few Of us blow boaters taking a few poops a week is not a big deal. Maybe in a marina i agree but not in the open water. I will obey the law but hooey on the whole thing. I understand a cruise ship but a little jabsco flush through an electrasan? How much crap does a small sailboat generate? Rhetorical question? I grew up on the water in nc and i have lived on and around boats and commercial fishing my whole life I certainly dont want to kill fish but somethings are ridiculous.