Jefferson Marquessa - largest possible holding tanks?

[waywardsister]

My husband and I are looking to buy a boat for liveaboard in Toronto (so, on a lake) within the next 5 years. We really like the layout of the Jefferson Marquessa, 52' +.

We will have to store and pump out our greywater - we can't discharge it into the lake. We're wondering what sort of holding capacity we should be looking at for both the blackwater and greywater holding tanks. Ideally the two of us would pump out no more than once a month (we'll be docked all the time)

Also wondering what the max capacity/size tanks we might be able to get away with in a Jefferson, esp. the models with the twin engine rooms.

 

[MYTraveler]

If you are showering on your boat, on a daily basis, I suspect that it isn't practical to add the storage you need to retain all the grey water you will produce in a month. And while I am sure there are exceptions, I have never seen a boat come from the factory with substantial grey water holding capacity. Even collecting the grey water will be a challenge on many designs. Perhaps you should be considering a cheap hull that you retrofit to serve as two big holding tanks.

 

[Comodave]

My husband and I are looking to buy a boat for liveaboard in Toronto (so, on a lake) within the next 5 years. We really like the layout of the Jefferson Marquessa, 52' +.

We will have to store and pump out our greywater - we can't discharge it into the lake. We're wondering what sort of holding capacity we should be looking at for both the blackwater and greywater holding tanks. Ideally the two of us would pump out no more than once a month (we'll be docked all the time)

Also wondering what the max capacity/size tanks we might be able to get away with in a Jefferson, esp. the models with the twin engine rooms.

Welcome aboard. Only pumping out once a month with both gray water and black water will require a huge holding tank. We had an 80 gallon holding tank that serviced only the black water and we had it pumped once a month but that was only weekends and not always two people. Are you sure that gray water must go to a bolding tank? If it can go overboard that will extend the period between pumpouts dramatically. Our last boat had a 40 gallon tank and we could go about 6 days between pumpouts. Not familiar wit that particular boat so I don’t know exactly how big a tank it will support. Ronko makes excellent holding tanks and they will install fittings to your specs. Good luck in your search.

 

[klee wyck]

My husband and I are looking to buy a boat for liveaboard in Toronto (so, on a lake) within the next 5 years. We really like the layout of the Jefferson Marquessa, 52' +.

We will have to store and pump out our greywater - we can't discharge it into the lake. We're wondering what sort of holding capacity we should be looking at for both the blackwater and greywater holding tanks. Ideally the two of us would pump out no more than once a month (we'll be docked all the time)

Also wondering what the max capacity/size tanks we might be able to get away with in a Jefferson, esp. the models with the twin engine rooms.

While I have no idea of how a Jefferson is configured, we have a European boat that, by design, holds black and grey together. Our combination of fore, mid, and aft tanks hold a total of just over 250 gallons. In our case, these tanks lay in the bottom of the hull, as with fresh water and fuel, forming a double hull throughout most of the vessel.
While I am not sure we have strung together 30 days without a pump out, that volume of storage goes pretty far with just a little care. If your pump out infrastructure is not quite convenient, I would not suggest any less than this volume of storage.
We were a bit worried about this back/grey combination when we first acquired the boat but adaptation has been easy and the tanks are so liquid that maintaining clean, fresh tanks seems a breeze. Completely aerobic it seems.
Good luck with this.

 

[Arc]

2 people can get away with 20gal. Per day average. For everything. Shower, cleaning, laundry, cooking , washing. But not fun. That means 600 Gal/ month . I spent time on a sailboat and averaged about 8 Gal/ day. I didn’t have many visitors.

 

[DCDC]

We have two grey water tanks (15 & 45 gallons - showers, bath sinks washing machine and AC condensate but not for galley sink) and two black water holding tanks (25 & 55 gallons). No way to pump grey water tanks except overboard and we pump them every few days. The large black water tank lasts about 2 weeks for two people with some management.

A tip which will help with grey water capacity is to place a 2 gallon bucket under the shower. It catches water otherwise destined for the grey water tank. We use it for 1-2 flushes of our fresh water heads. I have considered piping the grey water to the head but not completely thought through the details. We are more interested in conserving water than holding tank capacity as we spend long periods of time at anchor and do not use our RO unit for fresh water.

 

[waywardsister]

Our combination of fore, mid, and aft tanks hold a total of just over 250 gallons. In our case, these tanks lay in the bottom of the hull, as with fresh water and fuel, forming a double hull throughout most of the vessel...
We were a bit worried about this back/grey combination when we first acquired the boat but adaptation has been easy and the tanks are so liquid that maintaining clean, fresh tanks seems a breeze.

Thank you! This is really helpful. It's been difficult to find information about this. Sounds like no matter what boat we found, we'd have to install and plumb a larger holding tank. We'll have good pumpout facilities year-round, so no worries there.

I was also concerned about the mixing, but sounds like that not only isn't a problem but actually a bit of an advantage?

I was also wondering about recycling greywater to the heads - if it's all going to the same place eventually, might as well get another use out of the grey stuff! No idea how that might work.

(For those asking, we asked our prospective marinas and we do have to pump out greywater... we're on Lake Ontario.)

 

[Bacchus]

I was also wondering about recycling greywater to the heads - if it's all going to the same place eventually, might as well get another use out of the grey stuff! No idea how that might work.



(For those asking, we asked our prospective marinas and we do have to pump out greywater... we're on Lake Ontario.)

RVers that boondock a lot worry about grey water more than black. Many go through the shower, kitchen sink collection and use for flushing toilet. I've suggested to them to simply add a pump and second spray hose / head at the toilet (fresh water spray hose common on RVs) so they can rinse & flush with grey water if desired and/ or can simply transfer grey to black via the hose & toilet. If you collect grey aboard this could help " balance" holding tanks rather well.

Re need to collect & pump grey on Lk Ontario... Im guessing this must be a "clean marina" requirement?
Are all boaters having boats modified to plumb, collect & pump grey?
Does that mean you are prohibited from washing your boat? (Unless done out on the lake)
Certainly Lk Ont can't impose that restriction!

 

[Mako]

I was also concerned about the mixing, but sounds like that not only isn't a problem but actually a bit of an advantage?

I’m not sure what you mean by “mixing” but you definitely want to separate black from grey water tanks. If you get into a bind you can dump your grey without feeling too bad about harming the environment. Black is another thing altogether.

Also… it is a boat, and one day you or the future owner will travel to other areas where this setup would be preferred anyway.