marine toilets
- Thread starter Charles Ranck
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There are no pros. The grey water may have detergents in them which would inhibit the holding tank and create more odor.
The trick is to use a clean fresh water flush only the last flush of the day before you leave the boat.
The easiest way to do this is to plumb the head sink out to the head pump. For regular use, open the seacock. For the last flush, close the seacock, fill up the head sink, and pump til dry.
The trick is to use a clean fresh water flush only the last flush of the day before you leave the boat.
The easiest way to do this is to plumb the head sink out to the head pump. For regular use, open the seacock. For the last flush, close the seacock, fill up the head sink, and pump til dry.
The definition for grey water is water that has been used to wash dishes or some similar requirement. It has soap and other contaminants that do not combine well with holding tank waste. But you may mean sea water or what is also called raw water. When sea water that contains salt is used, the salt reacts with uric acid and forms deposits and odor in the head and waste lines. Using fresh water eliminates this chemical reaction and the associated system maintenance problems. However, it means you have to carry a separate fresh water tank for flush water or find another solution. The concept presented above recommends using fresh water from the head sink to purge out the sea water when the head will sit unused for a period of time. Takes a bit of plumbing, but certainly is a good idea.
We just poor fresh water in the bowl at the end of the day to purge out the waste line. That does not purge the salt water in the flush feed hose, but that water does not see uric acid. Interested to hear the pros and cons of that option.
Hope I got some of that right. Lots of much more experienced folks have written a bunch on this subject. Suggest you do a bit of searching and reading and then decide what will work best for you and your boat. Or alternatively, just be aware YMMV.
We just poor fresh water in the bowl at the end of the day to purge out the waste line. That does not purge the salt water in the flush feed hose, but that water does not see uric acid. Interested to hear the pros and cons of that option.
Hope I got some of that right. Lots of much more experienced folks have written a bunch on this subject. Suggest you do a bit of searching and reading and then decide what will work best for you and your boat. Or alternatively, just be aware YMMV.
No pros, only cons
There are other good choices: 1. a toilet designed to use onboard pressurized flush water can be safely connected to the fresh water plumibing...most are electric, but they don't consume much power and a couple of options don't cost much more than a good quality manual toilet.
2. Tee your current head intake line into your head sink drain line. This provides a safe source of clean fresh water to rinse out the whole system before the boat will sit, eliminating odor from stagnant water left to sit in the intake and pump. There's been quite a bit of discussion about this in the HeadMistress forum. 3. The least desirable choice IMO is a separate flush water tank.
As for how to deal with sea water mineral buildup in the system, that can be prevented with a weekly cupful of distilled white vinegar flushed ALL the way through the system...wait an hour, then flush a quart of clean fresh water.
Gray water ("galley, bath and shower water," not JUST water that's been used for dish washing or other galley use) contains soap scum, bacteria, dirt, body oils, hair, maybe food particles and cookimg debris too...NONE of which is good for a toilet pump or sanitation plumbing. No WAY should it be flushed into any Type I MSD (treatment device)--it'll damage it...and you don't want gray water in your holding tank either...'cuz gray water is MUCH harder to manage successfully (eliminate sludge, prevent odor etc) that black water (sewage).
There are other good choices: 1. a toilet designed to use onboard pressurized flush water can be safely connected to the fresh water plumibing...most are electric, but they don't consume much power and a couple of options don't cost much more than a good quality manual toilet.
2. Tee your current head intake line into your head sink drain line. This provides a safe source of clean fresh water to rinse out the whole system before the boat will sit, eliminating odor from stagnant water left to sit in the intake and pump. There's been quite a bit of discussion about this in the HeadMistress forum. 3. The least desirable choice IMO is a separate flush water tank.
As for how to deal with sea water mineral buildup in the system, that can be prevented with a weekly cupful of distilled white vinegar flushed ALL the way through the system...wait an hour, then flush a quart of clean fresh water.
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