All I want for Christmas is a...

[DannyS]

Porta Potti. O.K., that's not all I want, but I'm contemplating ripping out the existing toilet, hoses and holding tank. The hoses and possibly holding tank are permeated and thus, the boat stinks. I've had a porta potti on smaller boats and though not a pretty job emptying the thing, it never stunk up the boat. Looking into the cost of replacing hoses, possibly a tank, and perhaps a new toilet (the existing one never worked well) etc. and I could put a nice dent into the cost of a new mainsail. Is there a good reason that I shouldn't do this? I sail Lake Superior and in buzzing through the archives I've read mumblings about Canadian waters not allowing porta pottis. Any thoughts?

 

[ed]

new concept out too!

Sont know about the law up there but somebody has come out with some bags with chemical additives you can use. it does not smell, stores the stuff for several says before filling. and when disposed of can be legally thrown in a dumpster because the chemical treats the waste. im sure someone will know about it and respond.

 

[sailaway78]

Another idea

They do make Porta Potties with a pump out rig on them. I have one on my S2. It has a regular pump out hose and deck fitting, along with a vent. Holds 2 gallons. It mostly eliminates the drudgery of hauling it out to dump, but at the cost of having to undo the pump out and vent hoses should you need to take it out to empty.

 

[Clark]

Thetford has a model that has a

3 gallon water tank and a 6 gallon holding tank that can be plumbed for pumpout or haulout. One even has a choice of manual flush or electric! Consider too that if/when you go to sell the boat, you'll probably take a hit unless you have something rigged for pumpout. (assuming your profile is correct and you have a 35' O'Day)

 

[jimq26]

First of all - read our archives on this topic.

There have been hundreds of posts on this very topic. You are correct that Canadian waters do not allow the use of porta-potties unless they are permanently mounted with proper pump outs. After you learn all that - check out the chandlery here (see link)Go ahead - rip out that old crap and replace it. You'll never regret it. The new Thetford units give you about 63 flushes - equivalent to a conventional 15 gallon holding tank.Our "head mistress" has many postings in the archives on this very topic.Hey - that was easy eh?

 

[Stillraining]

I have the

electric model in my Sea Ray ( yes I still have a stinkpot to. at least untill I can find a buyer ) anyway It works great.  The 6 Gal holding tank lasts about 1 day though with my family of 5 ( 4 women !!! ) so I dont know what Jim is refering to exactly, maybe 60+ flushes on a set of battries? And yes ours is plumbed to the deck for pumpout and also a y valve to a maserartor for the 3 miles offshore rule.Edit:I should add that we did get it to full once and it did overflow at the gasket joining the holding tank to the upper unit. There was no sign of any leak from just looking around the unit.  Anyway we did have a very stinky ride for a half of a day untill we got to a pumpout. Of corse that didnt fix the smell . So it wasent utill I seporated the two halfs that the cause was found. There are several cavities for efluent to acumalate between the two halfs. So you have to watch that. Ours is several years old now and probably needs replacing, but it has worked verry well.

 

[BungalowBill]

Porti is way to go.

Danny, I too sail on the big Lake. I had a problem this summer with a leaky metal holding tank and decided to go with the 6 gal capacity porti potty. It works great and has the pump out option (I have not used the pump out option yet). There is plenty of capacity for a weekend or longer so my advice is go for it. The porti has no odor and works great and was way cheaper than any other option.

 

[DannyS]

Here is my quandry

Perhaps this is better suited for the Head Mistress forum but since I started here, I'll continue... the layout of my boat has the head on the port side, holding tank under the v-berth and pumpout on deck, starboard side. That's somewhere north of 20 feet of permeated hose to stink up the boat. I'm thinking of going the porta potti route to eliminate the long run of hoses. The elimination of hoses is one reason I'd rather not plumb the porta pot in. I thought I'd keep the holding tank and toilet(as far away from home as possible) in case I ever decided to sell the boat. The big bonus I see is freeing up a ton of storage space where the tank sat. There was already a lot of space there but I never stored anything in there because it always came out smelling like you know what.

 

[RobG]

Sealand MSD

In my opinion the Sealand is a better design. I put one in last year after I had the same leaking problem mentioned above with the Theatford. The Sealand is all O rings and rebuildable if needed. I got the 5 gal MSD.Danny, with the holding tank beneath the unit the pump out hose is only exposed to the waste while pumping out, not on every flush. Also with some carefull routing you can keep a down hill rout towards the unit. After pumpout I back flush the hose from the pumpout fitting outside the boat which becomes the initial water charge for the new chemical load. Have fun with this.

 

[Jim]

Why not simple get a

bucket?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Self contained system could very well be...

the way to go, 'cuz if your tank is 20 hose feet away from your toilet, you're right...that's no good. So I'm guessing that your head is aft in the cabin and your tank is in the bow. When the head is forward, the bow is the best place for the tank...but NOT when the head is aft.If that's the case, a self contained system may indeed be the best answer...but to plumb it to eliminate all the problems assocated with your current sytem will require relocating the vent thru-hull and maybe the deck pumpout fitting.So I think we need to talk about this. If you'd like to do that, email me (I'm in all the owner directories) and I'll reply with a phone #. Why not get a bucket? Because, unless you only use it when at sea at least 3 miles from the nearest point on the whole US coastline or any coastal island, it cannot legally be emptied till you get back to shore and can find a place that'll let you pour into a toilet. "Bucket and chuck it" is just as illegal in all US waters as dumping a tank or flushing a toilet directly overboard.

 

[NautiDuck]

Plumbed MSD

We have one with a 5 gallon tank and pumpout connection. It is wonderful.

 

[higgs]

I have had both

I like a properly installed tank with high quality hoses. If solids go into the porta potty it is pretty disgusting emptying it and it is nice not to walk down the dock with that tank trying to pretend to onlookers that you are carrying nothing. Many marinas frown on emptying that tank into their toilets so you do have to be surreptitious.If you anchor out, the 5 gallon tank is not going to last you very long and you will be forced to dump overboard or move to a dock. Sure,you can dump all those solids over the side, but you will not feel good about it. A properly installed 20 gal tank, toilet, and hoses will serve you well for many years. You can do it yourself if you are careful and deliberate. Use double clamps and good hose.

 

[Stillraining]

I agree

Had my sea Ray had the room for a holding tank I would have converted. I was single when I owned my previous sail boats so the porta potty worked, but now with a family I cant do the porta potty thing any more. It just takes up to much crusing time going in to pump out all the time, as in the PNW Islands here you are rarely greater then 3 miles from some shore or another.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

I live in Manitoba but sail in Ontario

As for the law it is not country wide. In Manitoba for instance, you can, (and I do) have a port a potti aboard legally. In fact the law states that it is a requirement is you comsume alcohol on board, but that is another story!In Ontario, indeed port a potti's are not legal, and MSD must have a holdign tank and pumpout. I cannot speak for any other Canadian provinces as these are the only two I sail in. (in Ontario I sail in a buddy's boat, and it does have an MSD)Now this brings up an interesting question. I hope to retire (some day!) perhaps in a few years and take may weekender down into the southern states for a few winter months to sail. What are the laws in Texas lets say for visiting boaters who, like me, only have a port a potti aboard?

 

[Manny]

Happy with mine

I put in a porta potty in my 27'. The Admiral doesn't complain about it so I'm happy!Just put a little Odor Los in it after you empty it and it is fine. Manny

 

[sand sailor]

doing the same

and im going msd porta my self .no holding tank from the start and dont want to put one in

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Roger, US law doesn't dictate type of equipment,

Only that the boat must be equipped and plumbed to hold (or treat and discharge where legal) sewage ("human body wastes and the wastes from toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body waste). You can store it in anything you want to as long as you don't discharge (defined in federal law as "includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, pouring, pumping, emitting, emptying, or dumping") it into ANY inland waters or any coastal waters closer than 3 miles from the nearest point on the whole US coastline. Federal marine sanitation laws prevail in all states. Individual states can only adopt provisions of federal law, they cannot make up their own laws (a few have tried it, only to have it overturned in court). So what's legal in, say, Missouri, is also legal in Texas and all other states.

 

[DannyS]

Arguements for and against

Thanks everyone for the input. Here are my reasons for and against removing the existing tank, toilet and hoses.For-1) Our marina doesn't have pumpout services so I have to go to another marina to do so, not that big of a deal, it's only 3 miles away, but still somewhat out of our way.2) Get rid of the stink! As stated before, the head is on the port side (Peggy, forward of the salon, traditional layout) tank in the bow, pumpout fitting starboard side. The hose for the pumpout fitting runs up through the hanging locker and it is permeated as well so anything in the hanging locker aquires the stink. The hose is roughly 10 feet from head to tank and 10 feet to pumpout fitting (20 feet total).3) Our marina is very blue collar (not the white shoes/gold chain crowd, no offense) so no one cares if I'm carrying the porta pot back and forth.4) Gain more useable storage in the bow where we need it. The boat has a tendency to squat in the back since we've been forced to store everything back there.Against-1) Less capacity. We are a family of 4, 2 boys ages 7 and 9, my wife and I.2) We anchor out most of the time, however our cruising grounds are mostly wilderness islands with many pit style toilets on the islands that in an emergency I have used to empty the tank on our former boat.3) Emptying the tank, enough said.4) In order to plumb the porta pot in I would be looking at another deck fitting on the port side to avoid the long run of hose to the starboard side fitting.In the middle-1) We plan to cruise the Canadian shores of Lake Superior and eventually the North Channel of Lake Huron where there are few marinas, mostly wilderness, so sailing around with a full holding tank can be a problem with either traditional tank system or porta pot. Since it sounds like the porta pot needs to be plumbed in to be legal in Canada, so my question is this, is it feasable to plumb the thing in but also have the option to remove the porta pot to empty the tank if no pumpout services are available?

 

[Tim]

Same Idea

I am doing the same type of thing. My v-berth stinks like there is no tomorrow and the admiral hates it. I am none too fond of it either.I am ripping out the pump out head and the seawater intake and discharge lines and glassing over those holes.I am installing a porta potti with a 5 gallon tank on it. This is the style with a pump out option.I am keeping the existing holding tank. I am going to run a line from the potti pump out fitting to the tank and use a pump to allow me to move waste from potti to tank. Pump out will then be from the remote tank.I figure by replacing all hoses with new and elminating the seawater flush which I hear is a big cause for smell will do wonders.