porta potti

[Rick Westlake]

In the two states I've had to deal with (New Jersey and Montana) pump outs are not free. The idea of paying $5 bucks to pump a few gallons from a porta potty tank seems silly when I can just carry it up and dump it out in the bathroom or even at my own home toilet.

I'll echo that feeling - but I can see the case for a marina "saying no" to dumping porta-potties in their bathrooms.

I've got a five-gallon tank on my potty. If I filled it, that would be forty pounds of "septage", to use the waste-manager's term. It would be awkward to handle, and it would take care and muscle to pour it slowly enough that the toilet bowl wouldn't overflow ... and to keep it steady so I didn't spill it on the bathroom floor.
How many people let their holding tanks get nearly full before they dump the tank?
How many of those are just in a hurry to get it dumped, and - shall we say - take insufficient care?
And how many of that group are going to clean up after themselves?

Finally - how many times will the marina staff clean up after jerks from that last group before they "Just Say No" to dumping porta-potties in their bathrooms? Not many - and I can't say as I blame them, either!

So the only thing we can do is be very careful ... and discreet ... and follow the Seven Seas Cruising Association's policy of "Leave A Clean Wake." The price of doing otherwise is obvious: five bucks a pump-out.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Canadian regs on lakes are quite strict, more so than the US regs. The opposite is true in salt water. Aside from just a few protected bays along the Canadian Inside Passage, you can dump blackwater directly overboard anywhere in the Pacific Canadian waters. No need to go off shore. As bad as this sounds, it really isn't so terrible given the very deep water around here and the 14' twice a day tides that flush these waters.

Puget Sound is the opposite. On the US side of the border you cannot dump blackwater anywhere. Washington state provides pump out facilities all over the place and they are all free. Many large marinas even have a small boat that will come to you and pump out you holding tank at your slip for free (not including the tip). Unfortunately though, while almost every marina has a free pump out station, a lot still do not have the special porta potty dump receptacle down at the dock and you are forced to use the toilet in the restroom.

I've never had a problem dumping my 6 gallon tank in a toilet, at home or else where even when it is completely full. One trick is to flush the toilet first and then dump as the flush is emptying the bowl. It helps to get the water flowing down the drain and then the 6 gallons from the porta pottie just follows it down without a lot of splashing. It's really not that much more volume when you consider that even a low flow toilet used a couple gallons of water and older ones used to send even more down the drain. Think of the flow rate into the system when the pump out station is emptying a large boats 50+ gallon tank.

[Russ]

How many people let their holding tanks get nearly full before they dump the tank?
How many of those are just in a hurry to get it dumped, and - shall we say - take insufficient care?
And how many of that group are going to clean up after themselves?

Finally - how many times will the marina staff clean up after jerks from that last group before they "Just Say No" to dumping porta-potties in their bathrooms? Not many - and I can't say as I blame them, either!

So the only thing we can do is be very careful ... and discreet ... and follow the Seven Seas Cruising Association's policy of "Leave A Clean Wake." The price of doing otherwise is obvious: five bucks a pump-out.

Good points.

I've never dumped ours at the marina. We have always taken it home or stopped on the way to dump in one of those "open pit" outhouses. Yes, consider the next guy even if you aren't dumping your septage.


--Russ

[Jim Bunnell]

One consideration not mentioned is that MSD style porta potties usually come with a dumping spout as well as the hose connections. Mine uses the same opening for connecting either one. This means I can use it to pump out on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, but still rig it as a carry off tank for local sailing. Keeps me legal and still saves money around home. Just put a heavy plastic bag and a rubber band or wire tie around the disconnected hose end.

Jim

[Phil M]

One consideration not mentioned is that MSD style porta potties usually come with a dumping spout as well as the hose connections. Mine uses the same opening for connecting either one.
Jim

Exactly which Marine Sanitation Device style porta pottie are you using that has both the dumping spout and the hose connection?

Phil M

[delevi]

I have the Dometic unit in the pictures posted. Works great. Be sure to get the 6 gallon version. I installed a through deck pumpout and an air vent leading to the side of the hull just below the rub rail. This is much better than hauling a holding tank full of waste to a toilet, which is not only an unpleasant chore but quite an embarassing one. The only issue with installation is the footprint is too large to fit on the raised section of the head in the To work around this, I built a plastic platform on top of the raised fiberglass area. Plastic is about 3/4" thick. The platform lays right on top of the fiberglass, attached with screws. For the section that hangs over (approximately 3 inches,)I installed three support legs. Tap Plastic made the whole thing after I took the measurements for a total cost of around $20. I simply had to attach the legs and mount the platform to the fiberglass raised section in the head compartment. Then I mounted the toilet brackets to the platform. After that came the deck fittings and hoses. It's a bit of work but well worth it.

By the way. I use the West Marine brand chemical and not happy with it. Perhaps will try the Pinesol. What about just dumping half a bottle in there with no marine chemical? Would that work by itself?

Leon

[Jim Bunnell]

Phil,

I have the Thetford Porta Potti 465 MSD http://tinyurl.com/yhq5svc - they make several different models, but any with "MSD" in the title seem to have the same connection set-up. You can download the manuals from their site for installation details.

Jim

3C is the pump-out and vent connection, replaced by 3A for dumping.

[Rick Westlake]

One consideration not mentioned is that MSD style porta potties usually come with a dumping spout as well as the hose connections. Mine uses the same opening for connecting either one. This means I can use it to pump out on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, but still rig it as a carry off tank for local sailing. Keeps me legal and still saves money around home. Just put a heavy plastic bag and a rubber band or wire tie around the disconnected hose end.

I'd been nervous about the "twist-lock" nature of the pump-out fitting, on my Dometic. I think I have to turn it quite a ways to lock it down - and good head hose is very stiff, isn't it? On the Dometic, the pump-out hose goes straight up from the back of the holding tank, so it might be less of a problem for me than I visualize for your installation.

Does the Thetford potty have a "twist-lock" fitting for the pump-out adapter? Was that fitting a problem for you, converting from "pump-out" to "pour-out" and back? And if so, how did you overcome it?

[Kelly Hanson East]

Rick - I would like that 9.5 gallon holding tank and real china bowl on that Dometic, but I also have to plumb that into the boat water supply, and then also lose the cability to unload the cassette manually....hmmmm...decisions, decisions....

[Gypsy]

West Marine sells a toilet that sits on a large 9-10 gallon tank and sells for about $500.00
I think the toilet itself is porceline with a plastic waste. Its designed to be pumped out.
Has anybody used one of these ?

[sctodd]

yes I have installed one on my . I had to install a pressurized water system on board for the flush function but it was well worth the expence. Here in Ontario it is illegal to have a Porta potti on board. I found that this offence also fell under the Federal Fisheries Act and if they could prove (or you could not disprove) you dumped overboard the fine could be massive.

Also the Admiral likes the fact that she doesn't have to sit dowwwwwwwwwn as she did on the previous porta potti

Pump out prices usually runs about $10 to $15 dollars and they usually let me hose out the 9 gal holding tank to clean it thoroughly. Small price to pay not to have to carry and then manually dump out the tank of the porta potti

[opie]

sctodd,
can you reference the specific language of the Ontario law regarding pottys? Or a URL link?

[Kelly Hanson East]

To clarify Ontario Regs

You can have a PP on board if it is permanently attached to the vessel and has a provision for a shore-based pumpout.

http://204.9.137.18/docs/forigen.html

[Gypsy]

yes I have installed one on my . I had to install a pressurized water system on board for the flush function but it was well worth the expence. Here in Ontario it is illegal to have a Porta potti on board. I found that this offence also fell under the Federal Fisheries Act and if they could prove (or you could not disprove) you dumped overboard the fine could be massive.

Also the Admiral likes the fact that she doesn't have to sit dowwwwwwwwwn as she did on the previous porta potti

Pump out prices usually runs about $10 to $15 dollars and they usually let me hose out the 9 gal holding tank to clean it thoroughly. Small price to pay not to have to carry and then manually dump out the tank of the porta potti


Does it HAVE to have pressurized water to work ?

[Gypsy]

yes I have installed one on my . I had to install a pressurized water system on board for the flush function but it was well worth the expence. Here in Ontario it is illegal to have a Porta potti on board. I found that this offence also fell under the Federal Fisheries Act and if they could prove (or you could not disprove) you dumped overboard the fine could be massive.

Also the Admiral likes the fact that she doesn't have to sit dowwwwwwwwwn as she did on the previous porta potti

Pump out prices usually runs about $10 to $15 dollars and they usually let me hose out the 9 gal holding tank to clean it thoroughly. Small price to pay not to have to carry and then manually dump out the tank of the porta potti

Does it HAVE to have pressurized water to work ?