My practices when it comes to sewage

[dhmeissner]

Straight flush always beats a full house.

good one

 

[Capt.Bill11]

Greetings,
Never discharged overboard since we've been boating (about 40 years). Always pump out.

That will change if you ever go to the Bahamas.

At least most any place there but say Atlantis or Albany.

 

[Peter B]

Here in Queensland the rules are complicated. Part of them is covered in the attached doc.

Marina's are required to provide sewage facilities, but having onshore facilities meets that requirement. They usually require key access so are not always accessible. There are only 33 marinas listed with pumpouts in the State. I would think this is a lot less than half the number of marinas. I have never used a pumpout since bringing my boat back home to Queensland.

I have an ElectroScan and use it as much as possible. However, I believe it would only be regarded as Class B provided it was regularly tested by an independent certifier. There is not much to be gained from that certification for my area of operation, so from a legal perspective its output is considered untreated sewage. Thus even using it I have to follow the limits for untreated sewage. The distance limit gained would vary up to a max of 1nm.

Fortunately there are places I can legally discharge untreated sewage en route to my favourite anchorages. Annoyingly, one of those anchorages permits untreated discharge. I never discharge there and I hope that other boaters do likewise!

Brian, as you say, the rules, and enforcement of them are an absolute joke here in Queensland. I went to all the trouble to install a holding tank etc when I put in a new electric toilet, only to find that the marinas were not required to put in pump-out facilities, (brilliant) so of course ours didn't, and the nearest facility is way North at Manly, or way South at the Gold Coast at Runaway Bay, I think. So, to discharge our tank, would take me 2 hours travel to get to an area considered open water enough to do it legally. I also found the macerator pump which was supposed to be self priming, wasn't, even though way less than the metre above the tank it claimed to be self-priming. In the end, like 90% of fellow boaters I was forced to pump out technically illegally, (as far away from anchorages etc as possible - don't ask how I had to prime the non-self-priming pump), which I was not comfortable with, even though many boaters here just pump out directly over the side wherever they are. In the end it bothered me so much, as that toilet, tank, and bloody associated pumps gave me more grief than anything else on the boat, I ripped the toilet out (carefully), blanked off all the hoses, closed the seacocks, and I have installed a portable toilet (securely) we can legally dump legally (treated), or put it down the toilets at the marina. Blissful siimplicity and I'm legal...

 

[sdowney717]

I dump all sewage right into the bay, but first goes through the Lectrasan, so it is sterilized..
One dump nutrient equivalence is 4 oak leaves.
No holding tank, no associated odors, for me ideal.

http://www.raritaneng.com/pdf_files/lectrasan/L270v0404.pdf

Mine was installed in 1978, has the manual rotary timer and still works.
I replaced the fuses inside the timer control with self resetting breakers.

Have had to replace the titanium electrolyzer plate thing one time. That specific electrode draws 18 amps when working properly, minus the two mixing motors.

one flaw is the old meter magnet displaying the amps used looses strength with age, which I talked to Vic at Raritan about before he retired. You can pull off the meter cover and twist the needle adjustment higher. Someday I may look into fixing the amp meter. I put an amp meter inline with the titanium electrode to monitor the amps used.

 

[gaston]

In general it better to chemically treat sewage before dumping ?

 

[psneeld]

In general it better to chemically treat sewage before dumping ?

The electroscan type MSDs are basically just forming a sort of chlorine out of saltwater.....and they are certified because of the size of solids dumped and bacteria count.

If you macerator and add clorice to your discharge, you are doing the same but it is not certified....

So I wouldn't use a holding tank chemical to hold down odors....too many useless chemicals for dumping....but the same amount of chlorine bleach or pool tablets to sterilize your drinking water tanks would seem approriate...as long as the contact period was long enough and the solids were broken up like in the electroscans that mix them during treatment.

Not too much chlorine as small quantities dissapates quickly, a lot might be harmful.

I would not try and substitute a homemade type 1 MSD, but a touch of bleach before you dump is probably benificial.

 

[Oceania]

As far as I know, you cannot dump overboard in inland waters or indicated harbours, bays or other sites on saltwater. Otherwise, dumping in tidal waters is permitted.

 

[psneeld]

As far as I know, you cannot dump overboard in inland waters or indicated harbours, bays or other sites on saltwater. Otherwise, dumping in tidal waters is permitted.

In the US.....there are 2 kinds of dumping....treated and untreated...and there are restrictions on that vary based on where you boat.....but tidal waters is not a consideration for the most part.

And if people here think it is clearly understood by more than a handful of boaters, some environmentalists, a few at marine sanitation manufacturers and a few in government.....ha!

Even on my recent USCG boardings I had to explain the MSD rules.

 

[BandB]

I dump all sewage right into the bay, but first goes through the Lectrasan, so it is sterilized..
One dump nutrient equivalence is 4 oak leaves.
No holding tank, no associated odors, for me ideal.

http://www.raritaneng.com/pdf_files/lectrasan/L270v0404.pdf

Mine was installed in 1978, has the manual rotary timer and still works.
I replaced the fuses inside the timer control with self resetting breakers.

Have had to replace the titanium electrolyzer plate thing one time. That specific electrode draws 18 amps when working properly, minus the two mixing motors.

one flaw is the old meter magnet displaying the amps used looses strength with age, which I talked to Vic at Raritan about before he retired. You can pull off the meter cover and twist the needle adjustment higher. Someday I may look into fixing the amp meter. I put an amp meter inline with the titanium electrode to monitor the amps used.

Are you saying you don't have a holding tank or you don't use it? There are areas with no discharge rules where you'd have real problems if checked if you don't have a holding tank.

 

[Pura Vida]

We are on the Tennessee River “no discharge”. We have a weekly pump out service in our slip and or pump out at the gas docks (free), which we use when returning after special events or long weekends. Never had a compelling reason to discharged black water.

 

[IRENE]

I remember using one some time ago and the smell would make me give up boating

What would be the anchorage etiquette on using the Incinolet ?

 

[bligh]

We have a pump out service every month. We spend a lot of time in our runabout too though and have to pee off the stern.

 

[Al]

Straight flush always beats a full house.

Heeeeeeeeeee he!!!

 

[Al]

Straight flush always beats a full house.

Well Deckhand you are in Sitka and I in Ketchikan. Join in reviewing the following from the 'Poll' data.

I never dump any sewage illegally, regardless of the inconvenience. 34 69.39%

How many visiting yachts have you witnessed pulling up to what ever and where ever, your Sitka pump out station is located? Damn few would be my guess. That is the case her in Ketchikan. Hell were one to pull up and ask for the service the harbor department would have to first fine the instructions!!.

I the 15 years that I have traveled to Wrangell to play golf, staying at the dock within 150 feet at the most distance mooring and within 50 feet the closest averaging 7 such voyages to the town, I have see only ONE visiting Krogen pull up and pump out, ONE.
Had the ‘Poll’ not included ‘NEVER’ in the question, guilt could be masked with the above answer. As the responses are anonymous, who's to know?
So then how can 70% of any audience, a percentage of boats visiting Alaska having by just the shear percentage, state thus? They can’t, there are not enough pump out stations tween Seattle/Ketchikan/Sitka to have complied with this poll’s statics.

Now I don't have any issue or complaint with pumping overboard macerated waste. It is pure and provides feed for all sorts of marine life. It is the unabashed fibbing that is the bother. Call this a un-provable charge on my part, that or none of the 70% have ever come to Alaska. Of those that claim to, none have crossed my travels or been witnessed using the pump out facilities.

Al-Ketchikan

 

[angus99]

I think it's the same 60% who said they would NEVER vote for Trump.

Perfect analogy for this topic, actually.

 

[angus99]

Our boat only has a 15-gallon holding tank--one of the few design flaws I can point to. So I bought, but have not yet installed, a Purasan MSD. Otherwise, we pump out . . . a lot.

 

[BandB]

Well Deckhand you are in Sitka and I in Ketchikan. Join in reviewing the following from the 'Poll' data.

I never dump any sewage illegally, regardless of the inconvenience. 34 69.39%

How many visiting yachts have you witnessed pulling up to what ever and where ever, your Sitka pump out station is located? Damn few would be my guess. That is the case her in Ketchikan. Hell were one to pull up and ask for the service the harbor department would have to first fine the instructions!!.

I the 15 years that I have traveled to Wrangell to play golf, staying at the dock within 150 feet at the most distance mooring and within 50 feet the closest averaging 7 such voyages to the town, I have see only ONE visiting Krogen pull up and pump out, ONE.
Had the ‘Poll’ not included ‘NEVER’ in the question, guilt could be masked with the above answer. As the responses are anonymous, who's to know?
So then how can 70% of any audience, a percentage of boats visiting Alaska having by just the shear percentage, state thus? They can’t, there are not enough pump out stations tween Seattle/Ketchikan/Sitka to have complied with this poll’s statics.

Now I don't have any issue or complaint with pumping overboard macerated waste. It is pure and provides feed for all sorts of marine life. It is the unabashed fibbing that is the bother. Call this a un-provable charge on my part, that or none of the 70% have ever come to Alaska. Of those that claim to, none have crossed my travels or been witnessed using the pump out facilities.

Al-Ketchikan

Never was intentional but the next two choices were to cover many who live in areas like Alaska. I know it's easier in many other areas. Now, I also see Ketchikan and Sitka as very different. From Sitka it's very easy to go three miles offshore, from Ketchikan, not the same.

We did cruise through Alaska in 2014 and noticed the lack of functioning pump outs. We did have a Type II MSD so compliance there was easy for us. That's how we stayed in the "Never" group.

The vast majority of people here though have never been to Alaska. I don't think people are fibbing, just boat in different waters. If we had a slow boat with a small holding tank and didn't have an MSD and cruised the inland passage, at some point there would be no choice in all likelihood but to discharge while cruising. If you're cruising the ICW on the East Coast, there would never be a reason to do anything but pump out. And going three miles offshore would always be an option.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Pumpout, if available. Dump 3nm off shore or in the current in B.C. The pumpout in Juneau is brand new and only saw 1 boat use it. I asked the captain how it was working. She said great! I said funny, I told her she was the first one to use it. The look on her face was priceless...

 

[Nomad Willy]

Straight flush always beats a full house.

Sure glad I opened this thread just so I didn't miss that.
You should get a prize for same.

 

[Al]

Sure glad I opened this thread just so I didn't miss that.
You should get a prize for same.

Has to be a winner, Eric and I seemingly appreciate the humor.:lol::lol:

 

[Dougcole]

We keep our boat in The St. Lucie River. I have to admit, I feel pretty foolish using a pump out when you look at the disgraceful level of pollution coming down the river from Lake O, the Sugar Barons and our politicians who are in their pocket.

The river is a little better than it was last summer, but it's still really bad. I could pump all 40 gallons of my tank out every single day and it wouldn't make a darn bit of difference. Every boat in the river could, honestly.

I don't though.

But we do pump overboard in The Bahamas. It's the only choice.

 

[Sealife]

We have been dumping directly overboard for over a year. Only game in town. The worse is the Marina environment. I would love to hold it all and dump elsewhere, but can't hold enough.

Getting used to it finally. If I feel bad, I just find the local sewage pipe outlet dumping right into the water. No treatment plants down here. Hell, I've lost count of the outhouses at the end of the piers even.

The worse is the boaters (derelicts) that don't use macerators, instead into a bucket then overboard. Ickk! Its just a nasty visual reminder.

Funny, I've been in what would be described as some of the nicest water for some time now, and everyone dumps overboard. At home in the Chesapeake, water not so nice, and pump outs mandatory. Hmmmm

 

[sbu22]

I was compelled to be truthful in the survey. Voted: I have dumped sewage that wasn't fully treated illegally.

On occasion, when in the boonies, I have peed off the swim platform. Just cause I could. I know it's a criminal act. Worse, I'm not even repentant.

Other than that, even in blue water where it's demonstrably legal, I don't pump overboard. In these parts and my type of boat use and holding tank capacity, pumpout access is not an issue.

 

[FF]

We pump out where there is a log kept of our use and we list it in our ships log .

 

[ChesapeakeGem]

Don't Pooh In the Blue !
In our area oysters filter the water and we eat them [emoji6]

 

[rwidman]

............ On occasion, when in the boonies, I have peed off the swim platform. Just cause I could. I know it's a criminal act. ................

You didn't read the posts above about peeing and pooping directly into the water, did you?

 

[Art]

I think it's the same 60% who said they would NEVER vote for Trump.

In this thread he'd be called "Pump" lol

BTW - He does smell!

 

[Art]

Forward head is for all "black" excrement, it has 30 gal holding tank with no exit off boat except to pump out.

Rear head has Lectro San. Only used for pee - in legal waters of course!

 

[Bay Pelican]

Straight overboard is the normal in the eastern Caribbean. We are one of the minority of boats that has a holding tank.

I haven't seen a pump out facility down here in the years I have been here. Must be one somewhere.

 

[BandB]

Straight overboard is the normal in the eastern Caribbean. We are one of the minority of boats that has a holding tank.

I haven't seen a pump out facility down here in the years I have been here. Must be one somewhere.

Where are you in the eastern Caribbean? The major marinas on the major islands all seemed to have them. I think if I recall though you're further south.