My waste holding tank uses a gravity feed to empty the tank when I'm offshore. The waste hose coming from the bottom of the tank has clogged so that opening the seacock doesn't drain the tank. I have a standard deck outlet for pumping waste at the dock. Has anyone used a chemical product to clear a similar blockage. I'm trying to avoid the mess of removing the hose to clear the blockage.
Waste Holding tank
- Thread starter Stan21606
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A couple of things you can try...
Hopefully your problem is only due to the discharge hose being packed with sludge as a result of never flushing out the tank, and not something that someone shouldn't have flushed. Assuming that you only have a tee fitting in the tank discharge line...send water under some pretty decent pressure down the deck pumpout to try and stir up the sludge enough to free it up enough to break up the clog. If that doesn't work, enough water into the tank to cover the bottom to a depth of about 2"...add 22 oz bottle of Raritan K.O. and wait 48 hours. If it is only sludge, that should be enough time for the bacteria in the K.O. to break it down and emulsify (liquify) it. Do NOT try any drain openers or other chemicals...they can damage the tank and plumbing. If none of the above works, you prob'ly have a wad of something that shouldn't have been flushed down the toilet jammed into the discharge, which is gonna require some "surgery" to remove. If you pump out and thoroughly rinse out the tank before you take the hose off, that shouldn't be too unpleasant a job. But first, make sure that a sea critter hasn't set up housekeeping on the outside of the thru-hill. If it does turn out to be sludge, start making a habit of rinsing out your tank at least once a month...it's easy to do...just put a few inches of water into the tank with the seacock closed...then open the seacock and continue running water till what's coming out is clean. If it's not sludge, you need to educate your guests about what can and cannot go down the toilet.
Hopefully your problem is only due to the discharge hose being packed with sludge as a result of never flushing out the tank, and not something that someone shouldn't have flushed. Assuming that you only have a tee fitting in the tank discharge line...send water under some pretty decent pressure down the deck pumpout to try and stir up the sludge enough to free it up enough to break up the clog. If that doesn't work, enough water into the tank to cover the bottom to a depth of about 2"...add 22 oz bottle of Raritan K.O. and wait 48 hours. If it is only sludge, that should be enough time for the bacteria in the K.O. to break it down and emulsify (liquify) it. Do NOT try any drain openers or other chemicals...they can damage the tank and plumbing. If none of the above works, you prob'ly have a wad of something that shouldn't have been flushed down the toilet jammed into the discharge, which is gonna require some "surgery" to remove. If you pump out and thoroughly rinse out the tank before you take the hose off, that shouldn't be too unpleasant a job. But first, make sure that a sea critter hasn't set up housekeeping on the outside of the thru-hill. If it does turn out to be sludge, start making a habit of rinsing out your tank at least once a month...it's easy to do...just put a few inches of water into the tank with the seacock closed...then open the seacock and continue running water till what's coming out is clean. If it's not sludge, you need to educate your guests about what can and cannot go down the toilet.
Reverse flush.
Stan: My first thought would be to do a reverse flush. Get a hose with a nozzel and put it in the thru hull and turn it on. You will want to have the valve that drain the tank open too! PS: What type of boat do you have? I have seen this on some model in the past.
Stan: My first thought would be to do a reverse flush. Get a hose with a nozzel and put it in the thru hull and turn it on. You will want to have the valve that drain the tank open too! PS: What type of boat do you have? I have seen this on some model in the past.
Waste tank
My boat is a Beneteau 361. The boat was originally plumbed for a deck pump out and a direct, bowl to ocean, hose. I added a t-connector to allow me to dump my tank offshore without the use of a macerator pump. The waste tank on this Beneteau is above the water line so gravity works fine. The boat is in the water so clearing it with chemicals will be the easiest. If the chemicals don't work I'll get in my dingy and back flush the thru hull.
My boat is a Beneteau 361. The boat was originally plumbed for a deck pump out and a direct, bowl to ocean, hose. I added a t-connector to allow me to dump my tank offshore without the use of a macerator pump. The waste tank on this Beneteau is above the water line so gravity works fine. The boat is in the water so clearing it with chemicals will be the easiest. If the chemicals don't work I'll get in my dingy and back flush the thru hull.
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