Kudos to Peggy Hall - Installed Raritan Fresh Head no worries about contamination now

[Monheganlover]

My new to me 2002 Catalina 310 had an odor issue. I replaced all the waste hoses and installed a larger diameter tank vent and also started using Noflex digester as recommended in Peggy Hall's book that I'd purchased after an odor issue in a previous sailboat I owned (turned out to be smelly bilge water). These changes solved the immediate odor issue in my 310. The previous owner had installed a DIY freshwater flush system using just a gate valve that routed fresh water to the previous raw water intake side of the Jabsco manual toilet. In a previous thread, I outlined this system and Peggy made me aware there was a definite potential for contamination of my freshwater supply via bacteria in the bowl that a gate valve wouldn't stop. I also found the PO had not installed a check valve.

Peggy had mentioned there was only one manual marine toilet designed for safe fresh water flush and that is the Raritan Fresh Head. So, I recently ordered it on Amazon and installed it. I already had the fresh water connection to the head sink cold water line the previous owner had put in. Prior to connecting the toilet, I disinfected the fresh water in my fresh water tank with a carefully measured bleach solution and ran it through all the lines to kill any bacteria lurking there. I then connected the toilet and installed an emergency shut off valve in the line upstream from the toilet. This is redundant in a way as the Raritan Fresh Head has its own valve that controls the fresh water flow.

As Peggy mentioned, the Fresh Head has a siphon break which prevents any back flow of waste. This also was explained to me by the Raritan rep I met at the recent Annapolis sailboat show.

The Fresh Head is reasonably priced and, best of all, it has the same screw hole pattern as the Jabsco that came with the boat. It was a pretty simple matter to attach the Fresh Head and I I was even able to use the same lag screws as the Jabsco used. To top it off, a friend was happy to take the perfectly clean and functioning Jabsco I pulled from the boat for his boat.

All in all, a pretty easy fix that anyone even slightly handy could do.

 

[sail sfbay]

Nice upgrade!!

Might want to post this modification / upgrade on this site: Catalina 310 Owner Modifications and Upgrades (sailboatowners.com)

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

You can read all about the Raritan Fresh Head here: Raritan Fresh Head

--Peggie

 

[SawyerCurt]

Should consider writing it up for Mainsheet.

 

[bear333]

Sorry but I’m still not convinced that connecting anything to black water is “safe” to connect with fresh water. Bacteria and viruses can travel just as fast as electricity does in a conducting medium given the right conditions. Would you pee on a live wire? If you really want to have fresh water to flush your sanitary system, it must be sourced completely separate from the fresh water system you use for drinking or cleaning dishes and hands. Not happening on my ship.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

That's your choice. You're right that no toilet designed to use sea water should ever be connected to the fresh water system, and every toilet mfr specifically warns against it in their installation instructions. But it's totally safe to connect toilets designed to use fresh water to onboard fresh water plumbing. Do you really think toilet mfrs would offer them if it weren't? For starters, they all must use PRESSURIZED water (boat's water pump must be on) and they all have built-in siphon breaks and backflow preventers..there's no way for water that reaches the toilet or bacteria in the bowl to back up into the fresh water plumbing.

I'm not trying to talk you into doing anything you're not 100% comfortable doing...I've always believed that, if you're gonna err, it's hard to go wrong erring on the side of caution. I just want others to know that when it comes to toilets designed to use fresh water your fears are unfounded.

--Peggie

 

[SwanSong]

Just use the shower head flexible hose aimed at the toilet bowl. Fill. Flush. Rinse.
Works for us for decades.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

There's a much easier way:

Sink drain thru-hulls are below the waterline on almost all sailboats. So re-route the toilet intake hose to tee or wye it into the sink drain line as close to the seacock as possible because the connection must be below waterline to work.
This will allow you to flush normally with sea water. After you’ve closed the sink drain seacock in preparation to close up the boat (you do close all seacocks before leaving the boat to sit??), fill the sink with clean fresh water and flush the toilet. Because the seacock is closed, the toilet will draw the water out of the sink, rinsing the sea water out of the entire system—intake line, pump, channel in the rim of the bowl and the discharge line,(Water poured into the bowl only rinses out the toilet discharge line). If your toilet is electric, be careful not to let it run dry…doing so can burn out the intake impeller. Or you can keep the sink drain seacock closed except when it's needed to drain the sink and flush with fresh water down the sink all the time...your choice.
It may also be necessary to keep the sink plugged except when in use, with a rubber sink plug or by installing a conveniently located shut-off valve in the drain hose. Otherwise the toilet may pull air through the sink when you try to flush, preventing the pump from priming.

--Peggie

 

[marchem]

There's a much easier way:

Sink drain thru-hulls are below the waterline on almost all sailboats. So re-route the toilet intake hose to tee or wye it into the sink drain line as close to the seacock as possible because the connection must be below waterline to work.
This will allow you to flush normally with sea water. After you’ve closed the sink drain seacock in preparation to close up the boat (you do close all seacocks before leaving the boat to sit??), fill the sink with clean fresh water and flush the toilet. Because the seacock is closed, the toilet will draw the water out of the sink, rinsing the sea water out of the entire system—intake line, pump, channel in the rim of the bowl and the discharge line,(Water poured into the bowl only rinses out the toilet discharge line). If your toilet is electric, be careful not to let it run dry…doing so can burn out the intake impeller. Or you can keep the sink drain seacock closed except when it's needed to drain the sink and flush with fresh water down the sink all the time...your choice.
It may also be necessary to keep the sink plugged except when in use, with a rubber sink plug or by installing a conveniently located shut-off valve in the drain hose. Otherwise the toilet may pull air through the sink when you try to flush, preventing the pump from priming.

--Peggie

We made the change Peggy describes on our 2000 C310. Easy to do, works great. Eliminates that smell from critters sitting/decomposing in the inlet line. Doing that, replacing the toilet, and replacing the waste lines makes a huge difference.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Btw...I first learned about that "fix" in the mid-90s from a customer who owned a large Tartan...it seems that's how Tartan plumbed their toilets then (they've since gone to "manifolds")...I thought it was the best idea I'd heard in years and have been recommending it ever since.

--Peggie