If you have the fresh water to spare, go with the fresh water version of the Elegance AND the optional Smart Flush panel. Toilets designed to use pressurized flush water are much quieter than sea water toilets and also eliminate those pesky odors caused by sea water left sitting in the system.
Yup, that is exactly the plan. I have run my Groko Model K for years by connecting the intake to the sink drain in the CAL Cruising 35 (see
www.botanybay.org) and after 19 years of living aboard and 10 (hummm, I think it's closer to 15 now that I think about it) it has had few if any problems.
I have no idea what you mean by, "I am planning on using the 1" line option to aid in the freshwater flush cycle clearing the line." 'cuz a 1" discharge line doesn't "rinse out" any better than the standard 1.5" line.
Well, if you push 1 gallon (or half a gallon) through a 1" line you have pushed more "feet" of water through the hose leaving less of the original waste in the line. Let's see, 0.5^2= 0.25*Pi = 0.785 sq inches of cross section, while for the 1.5 inch line it is 0.75^2 * Pi = 1.76 square inches of cross section. Thus for the same amount of clean water coming in after the waste you would get a little over twice as much total flow. What I am assuming is that there is some mixing in the line and that the higher flow rate will result in the clean water after the waste clearing the line more completely.
Why would you need TWO independent electric tank discharge pumps, separately plumbed? If you're concerned that you won't be able to dump the tank at sea if one pump fails, make sure to do plenty of preventive maintenance, and carry a spare pump instead of over complicating the plumbing.
And that would be the trade off, there are some who argue strongly against plumbing the toilet directly to the tank without a direct overboard discharge option. After sailing from Los Angeles to Hawaii, then Kwajalein Atoll, Midway Island, and back to Los Angeles I have never wished I had done differently. However, boat maintenance in the middle of the ocean is a bit of a pain and so the thought of having a pump pre-mounted and possibly pre-plumbed (as a completely independent system) is somewhat appealing. For those who can just stop in a nice cove and work on the boat I would completely agree with you, it is just a thought of not having to work on it at sea. On the other hand, since both heads go to independent holding tanks with independent pump out systems it is probably not a big deal to wait for the weather to go dead calm and then turn your head upside down to work on it.
Btw...the Raritan SeaEra (again, pressurized flush water version) should fit the space in your aft head very nicely...and speaking of that head...surely you're not gonna connect a toilet at the aft end of a 55' boat to a tank that's only about 6' away from the forward toilet? That's at least 30'! There isn't a toilet made that will fit in your aft head that can push bowl contents even half that far!
Not sure why you would think I would be pushing that far, both heads are completely independent. I do like having one head which is independent of the electrical system, the reason is twofold, 1) if I am working on the electrical system (either at anchor or at sea) I tend to shut everything down and pull the master fuse which removes all power to the boat, it is a bit nicer for the guests to not have to hang it over the side or the like in that case. 2) Complete failure of the 24V electrical system either due to salt water intrusion into the battery bank (significant flooding at sea which is then recovered but the batteries are shot) or a lightning strike. While I agree that at that point in time you have other significant issues, when you are 1000 nmi from anywhere and plan to sail home without power you still have options.
That said, the real question remains, is the extra verticle rise for the vented loop when going from the head into the holding tank the right choice or direct plumbing to the middle of the top of the holding tank. I will be having a custom tank made so all of the fittings will be "welded" into the top of the tank and I can put them anywhere I want them.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
David
