No Holding Tank....options?

[Rickysa]

Not wanting to hijack Pat's thread, I thought I'd post my question here...

Like his boat, our holding tank was converted to an aux. fuel tank, from which we just removed a bunch of old fuel. We really don't need the extra fuel (fishing grounds 45-60 mi. offshore), so I was thinking of re-converting it back to a holding tank, or just running off the aux. from time to time to keep fresh fuel in the tank, and placing a Lectra-San in line...

But, I belive a number of areas are now "off limits" to Lectra-San discharge, and I'm not sure how involved the re-conversion would be....so whadaya think?

Rick

 

[Fanfare]

I really like my Lectra-Sans and feel they do a good job of protecting the environment. I feel better having them on board. I have read extensively on the subject of sewage treatment, and the Lectra-Sans seem to be about on a par with the average municipal treatment plant. But there is no rational argument tolerated when combating the "no discharge" folks. They don't seem to realize that their municipal sewage plant dumps into the same water as do my Lectra-Sans. So I also have one head hooked up to an aftermarket 30 gal. holding tank. And when I am in the Bahamas, where I have never seen a pump out station, it discharges overboard. Just like whales. And when I'm in the US, and the pump out station is broken (as many seem to be) the same thing happens. It's very frustrating.

And don't even get me on to the time the USCG boarded me and gave me a citation EVEN THOUGH I HAD LECTRA-SANS!! Boarding officer had never heard of them. I did require him to write on the citation that I had them, and it was later dismissed. WTF??

It is in boater's best interests to maintain the quality of our waters. I think of this every time I look at my required plaques for "discharge of oil" and "disposal of refuse" and their $10,000 fines. But sometimes I do think that the lunatics are running the asylum.

 

[Pascal]

i think the ultimate set up is raritan hold n treat... which is a lectrasan hookep up to your holding tank allowing to treat and discharge waste from your tank when allowed, or pump out.

even though the lectrasan is legal and just as good as municipal sewage plants, if you anchor out and swim, do you really want to swim with treated sewage ? i don't think so!

personally, i'm perfectly happy with just a holding tank which i think is better than lectrasans alone; it works everywhere, even in NDZs and you can still pump out overboard if your go past the 3 miles limit. I woudln't have a boat without a holding tank...

 

[doc g]

The other option would be to use a flexible tank (bladder) on that head. You can still have the aux fuel tank that way and it is legal where ever you go. Also no need to have a stinky vent for it as it expands as you fill it. You would of course have to plumb a macerator and deck fitting with a "y" valve to have all options available. All this assumes that you have the space for the bladder tank also........................................Pat

 

[Rickysa]

You would of course have to plumb a macerator and deck fitting with a "y" valve to have all options available. All this assumes that you have the space for the bladder tank also........................................Pat

Yep, I was thinking about placing a small holding tank onboard to stay out of trouble, but couldn't figure out where to put it. Out of my own ignorance, I believed the survey we had done at purchase when they said a holding tank was present...only to find the head is plumbed directly overboard (as is the shower/sinks etc.)

We just use the boat for day fishing, so I guess we could just padlock the head when inshore of 3 mi.

 

[Liquid Asset]

The deal for us was that in our Marina (which is a harbor with very little tidal flow) there is no discharge even with lectrasans. So, for us to use the head on the boat we had to have the holding tank hooked up. It was a really long walk to the marina bathrooms since we are almost on the end of the furthest dock. This was unacceptable to make this walk when you had to go!

It was really not hard to convert the tank back for me, since
Allied marine did not modify the tank much. the only part I had to figure out was how to plumb it so that it would pump out, and obviously I failed that part of the test. Hopefully you will do better.

I like having the holding tank, though the one in my boat is a little big at 167gallons. I think that space would have been better used by putting in a bigger fuel tank. I will help you as much as I can since I just went through this, just le tme know what you want to know.

 

[hattitude]

My holding tank was at one time used for fuel. I found the copper fuel lines, disconnected, lying on the tank and leading to the engine room. When I bought it, it was once again a holding tank. It had two imputs through original looking hardware, and one output plumbed to the deck pump out.

I converted my raw water setup to vacuflush. I had a Y-valve for overboard v. pumpout on a previous boat and didn't want to deal with that, so I added another diptube (watch out for baffles). I plumbed that to a diaphram pump and connected it to one of the original overboard discharge valves from one of the heads (no longer in use for vacuflush system.

It wasn't too hard (crawling around the bilge and routing hoses the hardest part) and the pump, diptube, and connectors I got thru the sealand (vacuflush) dealer.

Good luck with the project,

Bernie

 

[Rickysa]

crawling around the bilge and routing hoses the hardest part.

Good luck with the project,

I can imagine...access is my main concern in trying to reconvert. I've got ( I guess the usual) one forward hatch for the bilge/shower sumps, and another just aft that is right on top of the tank fuel fittings. The galley sole doesn't show any other access.... ?? Gotta be there somewhere

 

[Liquid Asset]

Bernie,

Where did you get the new diptube?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

You can make your own drop tube with a length of pvc pipe and a couple of threaded pvc fittings.

 

[hattitude]

Bernie,

Where did you get the new diptube?

It was awhile ago, but I got it from the people who sold me the vacuflush system. I had to drill a hole in the top of the fiberglass tank, insert a rubber ring, then the dip tube (piece of PVC pipe, forget the length, I measured it) which was glued into an elbow and another small section of pipe for the hose. The components probably could be gotten from Home Depot but I got them from the vacuflush people. They had them on hand and they fit the rubber gromet. The rubber gromet alone was supposed to seal it all up... but I put some silicone around everything anyway.

The hoses were a #$^%& ! I have a redundant system with two vacum tanks and two pumps mounted under the forward bunks. I routed the hoses from under the aft end of the berth into the bilge in the forward cabin (I had to cut some access holes) and then straight back to the tank. There is only room for two hoses to make it thru there so I went "two into one" from the pumps so I could run one from the new dip tube back to that bilge area for the overboard pump and thru hull. I hope that made sense.....

Bernie

 

[REBrueckner]

The West Marine Advisor, available in the paper or online version, has toilet discharge plumbing option schematics. No discharge zones are just that..lectrasans, while helping the environment, are illegal in those zones.
As posted, an ideal might be a lectrasan plumbed to a holding tank...but that does introduce a maintenance chore. You will have to decide if your daily poopy will adversly affect the environment or swimming where you boat and whether the lectra san helps. Otherwise, a holding tank is a good compromise.

 

[J's Dream]

OK...I wanted to ressurect this thread. I am in the final stretch of re-doing the bathroom on my '69 45C. I have no holding tank, only a Lectra-San. I would like to keep this set-up (meaning not installing a holding tank) but I would like to replace the Raritan PH II electric head I currently have.

My questions to you guys is...what would be the best raw water electric head to install? I know Vacuflush are the favorite, but they're only for freshwater. Thanks...

Jason

 

[Boss Lady]

Since the law doesn't say how big your holding tank has to be, I would put a small tank in place to comply with the law when you can't dump treated waste overboard. There are more and more restrictions on solid waste discharge within the 3 mile limit. That also eliminates the idiot factor if you get boarded since they will be able to see your "holding" tank. You may also find that you may actually have to use it on occasion when in controlled waters. I have always used a healthy dose of clorox in all my holding tanks, so no smell. I do not understand the fermentation tank mentality. The stuff stinks because of bacterial activity. The electrasans create clorine from seawater, so no smell. You can do the same thing with a $2.00 jug of clorox. The vacuflush is popular, because they use very little water, and very trouble free. The traditional macerator heads need a larger holding tank for the same number of flushes. I have a raritan head that is factory refurbished if you need it, it was flushed less than 20 times before it was removed from the boat.

 

[Rickysa]

Jason,

You can use the Vaccuflush with a Lectra-San, it just requires a salt feeder (from Lectra-San) installed inline after the head. That's the way I'm going.

Rick

 

[hunshatt]

Rick, Lectro san has a new setup with the holding tank built in.
got the lit at FLBS. Far as heads, cant say enough about the raritan atlantis. Love it. event the stupid people haven't been able top clog it yet.

 

[J's Dream]

Rick,

I think you nailed it! Thats the perfect set-up for me...freshwater head (to eliminate the raw water stink) and a Lectra-San to avoid holding tank headaches.

OK, so now that we've figured out how...the question is which toilet to buy?? I guess I'll take a little drive down to Miami and check out the show this weekend to do some research on the Vacuflush and the Raritans. Thanks guys!

Jason