Thread: Electric toilet
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Old 07-16-2014, 01:24 PM   #20
Conrad
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City: Campbell River
Vessel Name: Blue Sky
Vessel Model: Nordic Tugs 42 Hull #001
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,972
We went through this exercise last winter. Our old electric saltwater toilets (one Jabsco, one Raritan) used a lot of flush water, and were loud. Waking the dead loud. And the strong odor after every flush due to the dead sealife in the raw water supply hoses was nasty.

(Replacing the raw water supply hoses would have resolved the odor issue for a time.)

In our deliberations we came down to Vacuflush and Raritan Elegance. We were also leaning toward fresh vs salt flush.

In the end we went with the freshwater Vacuflush for the following reasons:

1) The Vacuflush only uses about a pint of water per flush. We couldn't get consistent answers about the Raritan water use, but it was suggested to be closer to a gallon per flush. (That may be high.)

2) Given our experience with previous macerator type toilet noise levels, we were looking forward to the lower noise of the Vacuflush.

3) The Vacuflush was touted as being very clog resistant.

Our experience:

1) Water use is very low; part of this is due to not having to wet the bowl for certain applications. The vacuflush always has water sitting in the bowl, much like a home unit.
So far the increased freshwater use has not been noticeable when relying on the water tank.
The most noticeable difference though is that the holding tank takes much longer to fill up. To the point that I was beginning to doubt the accuracy of the indicator.

2) Flushing is much quieter, although not silent. The "pock" sound when stepping on the pedal needs to be explained to the timid, as the first experience can be unnerving.

3) No clogging at all, whereas the previous setup was a constant challenge. The inventor of wet wipes and their ilk should be taken out and shot.

We went with a vacuum generator per head, which was recommended, and also piped it so that we no longer had direct overboard discharge, as I gather that it could be a somewhat explosive underwater event. Probably a good thing anyway.

One big advantage to using freshwater and holding tank only is that you no longer have to worry about anti-siphon devices and their like, which gives more flexibility to locating your toilet.

There was about a 15% premium cost over the Raritan.
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