Also, my pumpout vendor recommends flushing a load of vinegar and vegetable oil periodically.
That sounds like a recipe for salad dressing.
Also, my pumpout vendor recommends flushing a load of vinegar and vegetable oil periodically.
Don, that looks like a good system, but the only problem I see is that I would rather not discharge anything, including treated waste in a harbor although I am probably being overly picky. It looks like your installation avoids that. Do you know the maximum size tank you can use if installed like you have?Art, here is our solution to the problem. Moonstruck cruises in different areas. In the Bahamas there are few pump out facilities. I think they depend on the tides sweeping across the Banks to flush out pollutant. From Biscayne Bay to Key West (and probably Garden Key} there is a zero discharge zone.
Here is what we installed.
Raritan Engineering | Waste Treatment | Hold n' Treat
We did not do the installation as shown with Raritan's dinky holding tank. We have a 70 gal. holding tank, and use it. This gives us the flexibility to pump over treated sewage, or turn off and lock the system for holding tank use. We looked at it several different ways, and this seemed best for us.
Key West has mandatory pump outs.
The City of Victoria used to do exactly that with a line that ran out to Race Rocks and although because of the swift currents and deep water I don't think there was ever any measurement of pollution made, the City was shamed into ceasing the practice, or at least I think that is the case. That was probably a triumph of politics over reason, but the point is that what is a rational solution in one place is completely crazy and a waste of everyone's money and time elsewhere.
Nope. They still dump. Very contentious plan.
When I lived in Broward county FLA decades ago, the county was dumping treated waste water in the Gulf Stream. This was bad somehow and the dumping had to stop but where to put the treated waste water?
The county decided to pump the treated waste water thousands of feet down into an aquifer....
The aquifer was not used for drinking water, and if my memory is correct, the aquifer water was not drinkable, but pumping millions of gallons of treated waste water into an aquifer just does not seem to be the right thing to do.
Later,
Dan
So you're bringing God into this discussion?
Depends upon how you look at what I wrote - Big Guy! Don't be scared...
Yep...pump it out so it goes to a wastewater treatment facility that has more lax standards and more failures direct discharge failures that result in RAW sewage getting into the environment. It also dumps 100% of the time into the exact same water as opposed to an onboard system that "according to testing laboratories and USCG" is purer than waste water plants at their best and that onboard system dumps tiny amounts wherever the boat may be.
yep...it all makes sense to me.....
My point is, you are getting carried away with this "issue" that's not really an issue. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I would put murderers and rapists in stocks before worrying about someone dumping a little pee or poop.
Keep things in perspective.
Many people here would fail miserably if given a detailed environmental audit ......the least objectionable would probably be what comes out of their boat.
While I try to leave a small footprint like most people....most people's concept of environmentalism is just the way they twist t to fit their lifestyles...
I've dealt with this issue both in the Corporate world and as an individual. I've found two constants. First, we do what is best for the environment when it's made easy for us. Second, we do what is best for the environment when it's financially beneficial or at worst not financially detrimental.
Improving our impact on the requirement happens gradually, sometimes much too gradually.
The other aspect of this is being good neighbors. This is true whether sewage from your boat in a harbor or air pollution from the smokestacks of your factory. Some are more sensitive to potential negative impact on neighbors than others.
I would say this thread has had one positive. It's led to a discussion, much of it civil and on target even if some wasn't, of environmental issues. None of us have all the answers but if our awareness is heightened, we may be a part of the solutions.
Ah, I thought that had changed. Ah well, Race Rocks and the currents thereabouts are the world's largest natural sewage treatment plant, so perhaps we will all survive.Nope. They still dump. Very contentious plan.
I know a couple of years ago while we were doing a lot of Colombia River boating there was a 4,000,000 gallon spill into the river in the Tri Cities of raw untreated sewage.. into a fresh water river that had to travel 300+ miles to dump into the ocean. The authorities made very little stink about it.. Must not be that bad of a situation if you can dump 4,000,000 gallons with little fuss.
HOLLYWOOD
Earth, our house / home, has become overpopulated with humans; population increase continues.
Due to overpopulation and many types of the inventions created we humans simply are overloading this “planet’s natural recycling system’s capabilities” that are contained in its ecosystem.
One of my businesses is heavily into cleaning the atmosphere. Boating to me at this stage of life is pure enjoyment... helps keep me sane!
Happy Boating Daze! – Art
The idea of over population in developed nations is a figment of imagination. For a few facts on the extremely serious negative impacts of no population growth, this is a pretty good read: What to Expect When No One's Expecting: America's Coming Demographic Disaster: Jonathan V. Last: 9781594036415: Amazon.com: Books. On the topic at hand, given the alternatives available why on earth someone would be so inconsiderate as to pump out raw sewage into a harbor or near people is beyond me, even if it is "just a little poo". We should hardly need government to tell us not to crap in the kiddie pool, but apparently some need the reminder.I always love broad statements like these!... who says the earth is overpopulated? .. who set the number? Are most populations going up.. sure.. It has been that way through most of history.
Not to beat you up too bad on this Art, but if you feel so strongly about this should you not be on a sailboat vs. a greenhouse gas, earth killing powerboat?
There are so many groups that try to stop so called "man made" environmental issues .. the one thta gets to me on a daily basis is "man made" erosion here in the PNW... we now have to build back further from the bluff front waterfront so we don't cause bluff erosion.. the irony is that ALL of Puget Sound is a erosion area that started a bazillion years ago after the last ice age (which I am sure some some enviro group blames on the few humans that were here then!)
On a side note, I am a TOTAL ADVOCATE of some of the things we do to protect the environment.. I recycle all plastics, don't dump used oil, don't drive old beater polluting cars.. don't pump oily bilge water.. These all make sense
HOLLYWOOD