Capacity of your holding tank?

I prohibit the flushing of toilet paper. Used TP goes in the covered trash can adjacent to the toilet. A toilet brush is nearby to scrub the bowl when needed.

markpierce said:

I prohibit the flushing of toilet paper. Used TP goes in the covered trash can adjacent to the toilet. A toilet brush is nearby to scrub the bowl when needed.

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I've never really understood this aversion to sending toilet paper through the toilet to the holding tank. If one uses dissolving toilet paper--- and there are plenty of brands and types of this stuff in the marine and RV markets--- there should be no issues with using it at all unless one has a very sensitive or poorly engineered head/holding tank system.

We have ancient Groco EB toilets on our boat that we operate manually even though they have the electric drive motors on them. We've been using them and flushing toilet paper down them for fourteen years now with nary a problem. They require a rebuild kit every so often but this has nothing to do with flushing paper. The pump diaphragm and seals and choker valve get tired over time or the spring holding the little flapper valve breaks or whatever.

Other than the first day we had the boat when we operated the toilets incorrectly we have never had a clog in the system. The macerator pumps that pump the holding tanks overboard where it's legal have never had any problems pumping out the tanks. Likewise the shoreside pumpout facilities we use have never had a problem emptying the tanks completely.

We make sure guests understand the operation of the toilets and that the only things that go into them are what they've already processed themselves or the toilet paper on the holder. And to use short lengths of the paper.

So I don't see what the benefit is of saving used toilet paper in a can as opposed to flushing it down the toilet.

markpierce said:

I prohibit the flushing of toilet paper. Used TP goes in the covered trash can adjacent to the toilet. A toilet brush is nearby to scrub the bowl when needed.

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Do you have a manual head? I have sailboat friends with manual pump heads who share your feelings, but not me.

Mine is electric with a well functioning macerator. Flushing of all appropriate components of the act is required on my boat. Don't worry, the head can handle it.

It's electric, but let's just say I'm not looking for problems. I tend to use a lot of paper.

I flush on my boat like Chicagoans vote....flush early and flush often! (No need for toilet paper lined landing pads!)

FlyWright said:

I flush on my boat like Chicagoans vote....

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Even after you're dead?

markpierce said:

I prohibit the flushing of toilet paper. Used TP goes in the covered trash can adjacent to the toilet. A toilet brush is nearby to scrub the bowl when needed.

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I agree. In fact on my last boat both heads had a sign above them that said "If it didn't go into your mouth and through your body it doesn't go into this head".

As to Marin's statement about TP. Dissolve or not if the tank gets full the first thing that goes up the vent is TP. Now this may come from all of the days on sailboats but the facts are that when a sailboat heals and the holding tank is somewhat full the vent can get flooded. TP floats on the top and seems to be the biggest cause for clogging vents.

My Vac-u-Flush works great and we apply the same rules as on the previous boats. Old habits die hard and if what one does works why change it. So my V-F will not have the opportunity to see if it can handle the TP or not.

If the TP dissolves there's nothing to go up the vent. If one uses non-dissolving toilet paper then one is asking for trouble.

How about we start a new thread about which side is preferred for the TP holder.

Greetings,
Ya, and which way to align roll. Off the top or underneath the roll?

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Ya, and which way to align roll. Off the top or underneath the roll?

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You might start a family feud with that one.

Single or double ply? Wipe fore or aft?

jeffnick said:

Single or double ply? Wipe fore or aft?

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For real economy, try using both sides. We once offered another boat which ran out, some TP only used on one side. They told us where to shove it. BruceK

Marin said:

If the TP dissolves there's nothing to go up the vent. If one uses non-dissolving toilet paper then one is asking for trouble.

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The point is that it doesn't dissolve instantly. So if it floats around for a couple of day before it dissolves, and it does, it can go up the vent.

Hmmm... a couple of days doesn't seem very "dissolving." We performed the "Peggie Hall" test on the paper we use by putting a piece in a glass of water. After about 30 minutes shaking the glass a couple of times broke up the TP into a zillion tiny bits. Way too small to clog anything.

A "zillion"? Just a tad of poetic license there? I suspect a full count wasn't taken.

"Countless" would have been a better description.

markpierce said:

"Countless" would have been a better description.

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And far less attention-getting. I try not to be boring when I write.

Rambler said:

A "zillion"? Just a tad of poetic license there? I suspect a full count wasn't taken.

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Yes, we did, using an electron microscope we just happen to have in the house. The total count was just three shy of a bazillion.

Marin said:

I've never really understood this aversion to sending toilet paper through the toilet to the holding tank. If one uses dissolving toilet paper--- and there are plenty of brands and types of this stuff in the marine and RV markets--- there should be no issues with using it at all unless one has a very sensitive or poorly engineered head/holding tank system..

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The cheap single ply "Scotts" brand toilet paper available in grocery stores and Walmart, etc. is a "dissolving" toilet paper and we have been using it for years with never an issue. This is one instance where "marine grade" is not necessary.

rwidman said:

The cheap single ply "Scotts" brand toilet paper available in grocery stores and Walmart, etc. is a "dissolving" toilet paper and we have been using it for years with never an issue. This is one instance where "marine grade" is not necessary.

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"Ouch" is all I will say. Otherwise TMI. Is there a marine equivalent of Charmin?

We buy TP for the boat when we think of it so it's not always at the same place. There is a big RV store off I-5 on the way to Bellingham where we have purchased dissolving TP on occasion and it not only passes the Peggie Hall test with flying colors it is pretty soft stuff for being thin. While more expensive I'm sure than the low end grocery and department store varieties it is less expensive than buying the same sort of thing at the marine store.

Wal-Mart in the RV section. It dissolves into a GAZILLION pieces. We counted them.

Moonstruck said:

It dissolves into a GAZILLION pieces. We counted them.

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Not a pretty mental image. (Akin to a previous post by you about teaching your dog, by personal example, how to use the poop deck). Must have taken you at least a Megazillion hours to do the counting. But, then, you are a businessman.

Don't even start bringing up the cost of TP when half of you say the fuel budget is no big thing...

psneeld said:

Don't even start bringing up the cost of TP when half of you say the fuel budget is no big thing...

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If you don't leave the dock, your TP cost is more than the fuel cost.

When I installed the Quiet Flush head, I spoke with a Jabsco engineer who assured me that ANY single ply TP would be no problem for the macerator. He strongly suggested buying single ply from the local store and saving the cost of the marine/RV stuff.

I bought Scott TP at the local Wally World at half the cost of the marine version, saving me $6 for 24 rolls. That's an extra 1.5 gallons of fuel for this year!

MarkPierce is joining us on Saturday for the Fleet Week Air Show and America's Cup World Series Racing on the San Francisco Bay. I'll break it out for him to test for us.

FlyWright said:

When I installed the Quiet Flush head, I spoke with a Jabsco engineer who assured me that ANY single ply TP would be no problem for the macerator. He strongly suggested buying single ply from the local store and saving the cost of the marine/RV stuff.

I bought Scott TP at the local Wally World at half the cost of the marine version, saving me $6 for 24 rolls. That's an extra 1.5 gallons of fuel for this year!

MarkPierce is joining us on Saturday for the Fleet Week Air Show and America's Cup World Series Racing on the San Francisco Bay. I'll break it out for him to test for us.

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Exactly what is Mark going to do for you on this this test?

Well, there is the matter of recycling the Anchor Steam beer.

markpierce said:

I prohibit the flushing of toilet paper. Used TP goes in the covered trash can adjacent to the toilet. A toilet brush is nearby to scrub the bowl when needed.

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I just got caught up on this thread and I am CRACKING up.

We are in Mark's camp on this, maybe because we came from sailing and manual flush heads that clog if you look at them funny. Despite having electric heads that macerate everything, we toss the TP in the trash. And there is a brush handy.

Shortly after we got the boat, we had some guests aboard, including my young neice (8 or 9 yo) who has grown up sailing. She disappeared for awhile and I thought I'd better make sure she was still on the boat. Found her coming out of the head. She had made a deposit that included the biggest mound of TP I had ever seen. It may have been the entire roll. I was glad she could not figure out how to flush!! At that time we still had the original 26 year old heads and I am not sure they could have processed all that!! I was surprised her dad had not taught her to throw away the TP... :lol:

I think the thread started out as being about holding tank capacity???