Overkill is a gross overstatement!
And so do many boaters but it is never admitted. How much crap do you think goes in the water from 1,000 pooping manatees who consume 100 pounds of food eah day?
Wrong. It applies in Lake Champlain as well. Federal law trumps state law every time.I tend to trust Peggie when it comes to marine sanitization systems, not to open an old argument.....
Federal law (33 CFR 159.7) lists the acceptable ways of securing the sanitation system in "no discharge" waters" (note that the acceptable means of securing Type I and II MSDs (treatment devices) are not acceptable means of securing a holding tank (Type III).
(b) When operating a vessel on a body of water where the discharge of treated or untreated sewage is prohibited by the Environmental Protection Agency under 40 CFR 140.3 or 140.4, the operator must secure each Type I or Type II device in a manner which prevents discharge of treated or untreated sewage. Acceptable methods of securing the device include—
(1) Closing the seacock and removing the handle;
(2) Padlocking the seacock in the closed position;
(3) Using a non-releasable wire-tie to hold the seacock in the closed position; or
(4) Locking the door to the space enclosing the toilets with a padlock or door handle key lock.
(c) When operating a vessel on a body of water where the discharge of untreated sewage is prohibited by the Environmental Protection Agency under 40 CFR 140.3, the operator must secure each Type III device in a manner which prevents discharge of sewage. Acceptable methods of securing the device include—
(1) Closing each valve leading to an overboard discharge and removing the handle;
(2) Padlocking each valve leading to an overboard discharge in the closed position; or
(3) Using a non-releasable wire-tie to hold each valve leading to an overboard discharge in the closed position.
All of the above is acceptable on all the Great Lakes in both US and Canadian waters...but NOT on Lake Champlain. NY state marine sanitation law for Champlain requires that there be no plumbing connected to any overboard discharge pump or thru-hull.
Logged
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Why ever eliminate options. Just keep the valve closed and/or disconnect the overboard pump. Keep it simple guys.
That's not the point Dave. Those massive discharges are absorbed by nature. Sometimes, not often, beaches nearby are closed for a day or two but quite soon the pathogens disappear and the water is again quite safe in which to swim. Boaters discharging waste just doesn't matter. Still, I comply but there have been times (rarely) when I was forced to discharge. I would bet a boat unit that more than a mere majority of boaters have illegally pumped overboard at one time or another, perhaps not you, but certainly many others. And don't even get me going about the idiocy of urine not being allowed to be discharged directly but it's okay to take a leak over the rail.
Correct. And that is why Vermont and New York cannot impose strciter regulations than that of the CFR.
Simple answer. Because the treament plants do not have the capacity and building plants to handle storm runoff would be a massive undertaking. The fact is that the reason why old East Coast cities discharge millions of gallons of untreated waste every time it rains, Baltimore for example, is because their sewer systems already are plumbed to accept storm runoff. And still, the Chesapeake Bay remains safe for swimming month after month, year after year. Boaters discharging their waste JUST DOESN'T MATTER. And never mind all the cow poop that washes down the Susquehana River from Lancaster County (PA), Amish farm country, from the Amish spreading cow manure on their corn fields. Take a drive through there in January or February. The stink of freshly-spread manure is overpowering.
Yes, they open in a couple of days, at most, because nature takes care of the problem. So, is it really that much of a problem?
Back on topic for a moment. So the picture in the OP show the off position? Or is that position 1/2 open to both output directions.
I believe Brian is absolutely correct and has some well founded support.
