Peggy When pumping the head on my boat it smells like rotten egss. Horribly. Then it goes away, but only after infuzing the cabin with some temporary foul smells. Not raw sewage as much as sulfur/rotten eggs. My boat is a newer 33. Help!
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Rotting sea life
It the rotting sea life that caught in the water intake supply line for the week.
It the rotting sea life that caught in the water intake supply line for the week.
A common problem with sea water toilets
Sea water is alive with micro-organisms. When the boat sits for a few days they die, decay in the head intake line, pump, and channel in the rim of the bowl...so the first flush when you come back is VERY stinky till all the stagnant water is flushed out of the system. There are inline chemical devices that can be installed in the head intake line which are supposed to eliminate this odor...but I don't recommend 'em. They're expensive, often messy...their effectiveness varies...and the chemical can react negatively with holding tank products. The most effective least expensive way to prevent it is to install a way to purge all the sea water out of the system. Just pouring clean water into the bowl and flushing won't rinse out the intake because nothing poured into the bowl is recirculated through the intake. My favorite solution is simply to reroute the head intake line...tee it into the head sink drain line, so that it shares the same through-hull. At the end of the weekend, after you've closed all the seacocks, fill the sink with clean fresh water...flush the toilet. Because the seacock is closed, the toilet will pull the water out of the sink...flushing all the sea water out of the whole system--intake AND discharge line. If that's not possible, another solution is to tee a short a short piece of line--using a y-valve--into the head intake line that you can stick into a bucket or gallon jug of clean fresh water.
Sea water is alive with micro-organisms. When the boat sits for a few days they die, decay in the head intake line, pump, and channel in the rim of the bowl...so the first flush when you come back is VERY stinky till all the stagnant water is flushed out of the system. There are inline chemical devices that can be installed in the head intake line which are supposed to eliminate this odor...but I don't recommend 'em. They're expensive, often messy...their effectiveness varies...and the chemical can react negatively with holding tank products. The most effective least expensive way to prevent it is to install a way to purge all the sea water out of the system. Just pouring clean water into the bowl and flushing won't rinse out the intake because nothing poured into the bowl is recirculated through the intake. My favorite solution is simply to reroute the head intake line...tee it into the head sink drain line, so that it shares the same through-hull. At the end of the weekend, after you've closed all the seacocks, fill the sink with clean fresh water...flush the toilet. Because the seacock is closed, the toilet will pull the water out of the sink...flushing all the sea water out of the whole system--intake AND discharge line. If that's not possible, another solution is to tee a short a short piece of line--using a y-valve--into the head intake line that you can stick into a bucket or gallon jug of clean fresh water.
I like the idea....
of running the intake from the sink drain, but, what to do with the thru-hull of the head? Not only would it seem odd to have a thru-hull with nothing to it, but a little dangerous to have a thru-hull with nothing stopping the water but the seacock.
of running the intake from the sink drain, but, what to do with the thru-hull of the head? Not only would it seem odd to have a thru-hull with nothing to it, but a little dangerous to have a thru-hull with nothing stopping the water but the seacock.
Most people find another use for that thru-hull
Heat/AC pump...washdown pump. If you can't use it for something else, plug the thru-hull and put a piece of hose on it that can be run well above the the waterline, secured and also plugged. That doesn't mean you can just forget it's there...it should be regularly inspected along with all your other thru-hulls. And the seacock should be "excercised" every month or so too...otherwise, it can freeze up.
Heat/AC pump...washdown pump. If you can't use it for something else, plug the thru-hull and put a piece of hose on it that can be run well above the the waterline, secured and also plugged. That doesn't mean you can just forget it's there...it should be regularly inspected along with all your other thru-hulls. And the seacock should be "excercised" every month or so too...otherwise, it can freeze up.
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