SanX vs. Lectra/San
The SanX has one advantage over the Lectra/San: it's both a Type III (holding tank) and a Type I (treatment device). The Lectra/San has no holding capacity, so it's necessary to install at least a small holding tank too. However-- The Lectra/San requires no added chemicals...it makes a totally natural form of chlorine by charging the ions in salt water with electrical current. As soon as the stimulus (electricity) is removed, it immediately begins to break down into its elements again, so there's no environmental impact from it. The SanX, otoh, requires the use of a nasty formaldehyde-based brew called TDX I don't think I have to tell you about the negative impact of formaldehyde on the environment...and worse yet, it runs about $20/gal at discount and uses a quart per treatment cycle...which means you only get 4 treatments per gallon. When we were SeaLand distributors, we had a TDX spill in the warehouse. It had to be treated as a HAZMAT incident. And after that experience, I would advise strongly against carry extra gallons aboard a sailboat...tacking and heeling offer too much opportunity for a jug to leak. The Lectra/San reduces bacteria to between 0-200...average is about 50, which meets federal water quality standards for swimming. The SanX barely meets the 1,000 required federal by federal law for Type I MSDs. The Lectra/San has a list price of under $1000...and is available at discount--even with an optional salt feed tank--for considerably less. The last list price I saw for a SanX was 3 years ago--$1300...and that didn't include the overboard discharge pump, which is another $250+ at discount. No matter how much the SanX is discounted, you can buy a Lectra/San and a small holding tank for use in "no discharge" waters for less than you can buy a SanX...and pumpouts cost about the same as each TDX treatment. So from both an economic and an environmentally responsible standpoint, the Lectra/San is the better choice by far. When you take all of the above into consideration, and know that pumpout equipment is SeaLand's biggest profit center, it's not hard to understand why SeaLand no longer advertises the SanX...why their reps at boat shows promote holding tanks as the ONLY "right thing to do," and is a driving force behind universal "no discharge" regulations.
