Sewage in Bilge

[Brad Hoff]

Peggy,

I replace the hoses on my holding tank about 6 months ago and noted that the intake fitting on the top of the tank had a looser fitting than the other hose fittings. Thinking nothing of this I put on the hose clamp and was glad to be finished with a very nasty job. After a hot weekend on the boat the other day I noted a very strong smell coming from the bilge. I found that the intake fitting was letting the sewage from the head pump run down the tank and into the bilge. What I have done so far is to flush the bilge for about 1 hour with fresh water. I then put in about 1/2 bottle of Raritan CP (all that I had on hand). This has been sitting for about 3 days. I plan to flush this out and put in some bleach to kill any bacteria, let is sit for about 1 hour and again a long flush of fresh water. I will vacuum out all of the remaining water I can. Does this sound like the correct action to take? I appreciate any ideas you can provide.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Not the right way to do it...

C.P. was the wrong choice, and the way you used it not likely to work.

Do NOT use bleach!! Or any other chemical cleaning product...it won't work.

Buy some PureAyre PureAyre The company is in Seattle...your neck of the woods, and I think Fisheries carries it. If not call 'em and find out who does.

You cannot eliminate an odor untill ALL the source of the odor has been removed. So first, clean up the spill completely with detergent and water and thorughly rinse it all out. Next, dry out the area...use a wet vac, dinghy bailer, sponge, bucket...whatever you have to mop up ALL the excess water. THEN spray every surface, nook and cranny in the affected area with the PureAyre (a pump garden sprayer is the best thing to use)...be sure to get it under and behind the tank. DO NOT RINSE! Just let it dry with hatches open so that plenty of fresh air can circulate for at least 24 hours. Turn a fan on if possible.

That should do it. If it doesn't, you haven't gotten the entire spill up yet or you missed a spot with the PureAyre.

Btw...I'm assuming that you have fixed the leaking fitting?

 

[Brad Hoff]

Thanks Peggy,

I have not fixed the leak yet but will do so before I use the head again. I have a gallon of PureAyre and was planning on finishing up with it (great stuff!). My thought with the bleach was to both disinfect and countereact any urine that may be left. The guys at Fisheries in the head/bilge department recommended using bleach and the PureAyre. I thought I would check with you on this. I'll use some detergent, flush, and then vacuum out all I can. I have a dehumidifier that I think I will set in there to dry out the remainder.

I also though of using the Raritan KO. It seemed to work when I used it after a spill while changing the hoses. I poured it full strength all around the holding tank and into the bilge. I assume that using it undiluted helped breakdown the spilled sewage. Thanks again for you help.