No holding tank options?

[captain69]

Well, maybe my thinking that “a little pee never hurt anybody” is wrong.

Here's Why Urologists Recommend You Don't Pee in a Lake | Well+Good

Okay, But Is It Really That Bad To Pee In The Sea?

Tourists will now be fined £645 for urinating in the Spanish coastline.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

 

[captain69]

Ah. Upon closer reading, the “lock the door to the head“ only applies to type one and type two. But, yes, I’m bemused as to the required precautions, when simply within the 3 miles zone, but not specifically a NDZ.

 

[smokey73]

I am not at all bemused and think the precautions are appropriate. Of course as they say for locking your car or your house "Locks are for honest people." It seems the locks or zip ties are more to prevent honest people from inadvertently discharging waste overboard because of a mispositioned valve. The regulations prevent knowledgeable honest people from intentionally discharging waste where they are not allowed to discharge not the securing devices. Of course people who don't obey the rules can easily unlock the lock, put the handle back on, or cut the zip tie then discharge overboard and hope to not be caught (which is actually unlikely for the during the time of the discharge). Then they can put it back on. Just a fact of life. Locks are for honest people.

The ocean is a pretty big place and the 3 miles is very likely more that the regulators had to pick a distance and 3 miles is a convenient one and is used for other purposes. It is probably not based on exhaustive scientific research. Works for me though. They could have picked 12 miles too but I'm glad they used 3 miles not 12 miles

Good Lord. Nobody that I know of on a boat jumps overboard to pee, so bacterial infection from "backflow" is not an issue. The ocean is a big place and my thoughts are if urine from recreational boating is an environmental concern it is way way down on the totem pole.

 

[JBP-PA]

... while not ever putting anything into that shiny unused tank. Once it's tainted, that's it for life. It'll always have some kind of residue.

Why not just get a composting head? That's what they do, separate the solids from the liquids. Then use that shiny unused tank for Rum.

BTW, I'm pretty sure dumping pee overboard is still illegal as the law (in the US anyway) just says sewage is "body waste".

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I once read that 70% of MOB situations are due to people falling while peeing over the side of the boat. Not sure how true that statement is but funny nonetheless.

If the OP really wants to make this happen without scrutiny from the authorities, setting up a sink with small faucet to be used as a urinal might work

 

[jssailem]

dumping pee overboard is still illegal

That agrees with what I read.. But just airing your junk out and releasing a stream - or - dribble is not currently an issue in open waters...

Up here in the pure waters of the Pacific NW.. Both Seattle and Victoria have been known to release their effluent into the Sound and Strait to be flushed away by the tides. Recent history reports that both communities are now cleaning up their act. I guess "better late than never" is a good thing.

For cruisers of the Salish Sea, get a look at the latest info in the 2024 Waggoner's Guide. The writer's there have compiled a list of locations (pg 512) providing blackwater pump out's for sites in BC.

Seattle/King County

Since 2013, both King County and the City of Seattle have been subject to consent decrees with the Environmental Protection Agency and state ecology department over sewage discharge, said Shawn McKone, of the ecology department.​

In areas with older infrastructure, both King County and Seattle feature combined sewer systems, relics of a less-sanitary, bygone era.​

“You’ll find this throughout the country in older cities. They originally constructed the sewer and stormwater systems together and treated it all together at once,” said Mark Isaacson, the director of King County’s wastewater treatment division.​

During heavy rain events, combined sewers were designed to overflow, sending a diluted mix of stormwater and untreated sewage into local bodies of water like Puget Sound.​

​

Victoria, BC

The Greater Victoria area no longer uses surrounding ocean waters to flush away raw effluent now that a $775 million sewage plant has started treating the equivalent of 43 Olympic-sized pools of waste daily.

The opening of the system was recently celebrated online by political and environmental leaders after decades of effort to get a sewage treatment plant.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan told Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in the video call that Victoria started dumping its raw sewage into ocean waters that flow toward Puget Sound in the United States in 1894.​

"As a born and raised Victorian, I've been contributing to this problem my entire adult life,'' he said. "I'm happy to say I'm not doing that anymore.''​

 

[Benny17441]

Does anyone just use the head solely as a urinal, and pump directly overboard (or just pee off the side of the boat), and use a composting toilet for the solid waste, thereby never putting *anything* into the holding tank?
My understanding is that if ever boarded by USA for inspection, finding the head set to pump overboard will get you in big big trouble, but I wonder if inspectors would see reason when presented with the composting toilet.
There are too many unknowns for me to even really cover this topic, but I’m hoping someone else has some answers.
PS: a lot of people in Canada just pump it all directly overboard pretty much anywhere outside of the marina.

It is legal to pee and defecate directly overboard, but the minute you put it in a container it is not legal to dump it overboard.

 

[BigNickMontana]

My boat did not have much room for a tank, I wound up building a custom fiberglass tank that sits above the water line on the starboard side, it is a tall skinny tank that fits behind my sink.

Works incredibly well how I have it setup, toilet pumps into the tank, there is a low point drain on the tank that goes to the through hull. You have to open 2 valves to send it overboard, one at the through hull, one at the tank, keeps things simple.

BTW a ziptie holding the valve closed will satisfiy USCG.

 

[MikeHoncho]

All composting toilets have a urine container. What you do with it or the composting side of it is up to your morals and the laws. With a composting toilet there is no need for a black water holding tank. When I had my traditional system, I had the seacock valve handle removed to the valve could not be opened. It was never inspected but I think it would be acceptable.

 

[captain69]

Interesting that free peeing is okay, but peeing into a cup in the cabin, and tossing that overboard is not. (I'm not gleaning that position from reading the actual rules though.)

I thought I'd mentioned it before: I *do* have a "composting toilet" in one head, which is where all poop goes at the moment. I'm just trying to decide if it's "bad" to pee in the other "normal" toilet in the other head, and pump that directly overboard, so I don't sully the virgin holding tank and don't have to trek through companionways, weather, and guest quarters just to do the midnight duty....

FWIW, I despise sewage dumping, even "treated sewage", into our recreational waterways. I spent many an evening washing off municipal waste after a day of surfing the Cali coast, and I grumped about it every time. I saw "no swimming! raw sewage!" signs in Santa Cruz within the last five years, so it's still a serious problem. I don't want to contribute to that. IMHO, it's the poop and other chemicals, and the QUANTITY of urine, in sewage that causes the most problems--but this thread has gotten me thinking; maybe just obeying The Law 100% is the best solution.

On the plus side, if I do inaugurate the holding tank, maybe I can rig up a bidet (which is a nonstarter on a composter). Not having a bidet is one of the things I miss the most when on the boat.