Holding tank cleanout.

seadaddler · Jun 30, 2014

Bigger

Even if you get the bigger boat you will need to empty any way,if 6 adults what I do if don't want to use my holding tank liquid only I use jugs 1 or 2 gallon jug and just empty in home tiolet.
I have seen portable electric pump out for people in your situation and it pumps
in and out on wheels.
Shop vac sounds like it could be messy to empty

Nick

Morgan donor · Jun 30, 2014

You have to go porta-potti. Cheap simple and effective. Used one for years on a variety of boat, no leaks either.
Remember if you put one of those blue packets that deodorize the brew, don't pour it down the toilet if you're on a house septic system. It may kill all the microbes that keep the septic functioning. Best in a city sewer.
No deoderizer and its safe in the septic.

wflowe2 · Jun 30, 2014

You and guests can take an occasional "swim" to cool off and refresh

Scott T-Bird · Jun 30, 2014

I applaud your sense of propriety! Or ... you must have some pretty intense enforcement! BTW, how's the regulation of agricultural runoff measure up in that area?

Rick Webb · Jun 30, 2014

How Far From Dock to Septic Tank?

A pump, a hose and some pvc pipe and your all set.

If you allow your neighbors to use it you may even be able to get a grant to pay for it.

Gunni · Jun 30, 2014

Whale makes a couple of different manual waste diaphragm pumps that could be plumbed into your system with a valve and would allow you to pump out your holding tank.

Tom G P-21 · Jun 30, 2014

How about taking a different approach

You said the boat is now at your dock. Can a truck drive near to your dock? Just an idea but how about a septic system pump out service, or the companies that handle port o'lets. They might be able to come to you and run a hose to your boat. I don't know how much it would cost (definitely more than a shop vac) or even if it can be done, but thought I'd suggest it. That way someone else would have to worry about disposing of your "problem".

ceolwynn · Jun 30, 2014

woodster said:
how about getting a 25 gallon shop vac and put a fitting on the suck hose that will go into the deck pump out

I actually have a marina neighbor who tried that... about
there times, the shop vac and hose cleaning made him invest in something better

BigEasy · Jun 30, 2014

I have used a shop vac dedicated for this purpose. Just insert the hose end to the deck pump out fitting and vacuum. After all of the liquid is pumped, run fresh tap water thru the head and into the holding tank. Then vacuum the tank again. Its a nasty job--use rubber gloves; however, its cheap & it works.

Chris Patterson · Jun 30, 2014

It's best and cheap to just use a siphon. You know, just like you're getting gasoline out of an auto, only the taste is worse. Might wanna keep a stiff drink handy.

JRacer · Jun 30, 2014

Admiral said:
Marina is too far away to be practical.

Where the heck on Grand Lake are you that the nearest marina is 37 miles away?

jibes138 · Jul 1, 2014

Here's a solution that works just fine. Take the outlet hose off your macerator pump where it attaches to your thru hull for overboard discharge. Insert the hose into a 5 or 6 gallon plastic jerry jug. Turn on the macerator pump and observe when the jug gets close to full. Turn off pump, dip hose in a bucket of bleach water, cap jug and remove jug. Get another empty jug and repeat until tank is empty. Take jug home and pour carefully down the toilet. Same idea as a porta potti but the macerator grinds everything up into a nice liquid. Reattach hose to through hull and clamp. The outlet hose from a macerator pump is only about an inch so it fits into the spout of a jug just right. It helps to have a switch right near where you are working so you don't overflow the jug by mistake.

Ron20324 · Jul 1, 2014

How about a tank either underground or above to pump from boat to large tank, then once in a while have the pump truck empty it?

shemandr · Jul 1, 2014

JRacer said:
Where the heck on Grand Lake are you that the nearest marina is 37 miles away?

I know! I had to Google it just to see.

MrBill_FLL · Jul 1, 2014

if you go the shopvac route pull the filter before use... -I like the bucket in the middle concept. cheap/simple if it can lift that far.

a MSD porta pottie has a built in pump out. but its probably not going to have enough storage.

woodster · Jul 1, 2014

Chris Patterson said:
It's best and cheap to just use a siphon. You know, just like you're getting gasoline out of an auto, only the taste is worse. Might wanna keep a stiff drink handy.

MAN that will leave a CHITTYtaste in ya mouth

Stu Jackson · Jul 1, 2014

jibes138 said:
Here's a solution that works just fine. Take the outlet hose off your macerator pump where it attaches to your thru hull for overboard discharge. Insert the hose into a 5 or 6 gallon plastic jerry jug. Turn on the macerator pump and observe when the jug gets close to full. Turn off pump, dip hose in a bucket of bleach water, cap jug and remove jug. Get another empty jug and repeat until tank is empty. Take jug home and pour carefully down the toilet. Same idea as a porta potti but the macerator grinds everything up into a nice liquid. Reattach hose to through hull and clamp. The outlet hose from a macerator pump is only about an inch so it fits into the spout of a jug just right. It helps to have a switch right near where you are working so you don't overflow the jug by mistake.

Good idea, Dave. Maybe take this one step further and connect the macerator output to the thru hell deck fitting and attach a hose from it to a tank on wheels on your deck.

If he even has a macerator, many lake boats do not. We sometimes keep forgetting that many of our fellow skippers have different systems than those of us on the coasts.

All sorts of options...

As far as chopping stuff up, Peggie has reminded us that #2 degrades very rapidly into liquid and that the appropriate paper also degrades, so there really isn't much hard stuff.

Scott T-Bird · Jul 2, 2014

He's not worried about #2 ... like most of us on a lake, we simply don't go there. He's worried about the bi-product from an evening with 6 adults drinking beer. Honestly, the lengths we go to when common sense tells us that the solution is really very simple ... sheesh, think about the massive volume of waste from farm animals and the amount of nutrients from fertilizers and pesticides that are washed thru that watershed and then realize how little the impact from boatloads of beer drinkers can really be.

If he is that worried about the impropriety (or maybe enforcement is similar to Volusia County!) then I suggest that he cut a clean out hole in the top of the tank from where he can insert a hose and pump the contents on his lawn or into the septic field cleanout while he is resting at his dock at his lakeside home. The neighbors might not understand, tho.