A pump out question

[Sally Grim]

I´ve googled and researched pros and cons with pump outs and cassettes - but there is one practical aspect I can´t seem to find an answer to.

If we go for a boat with a pump out, and perhaps only use the boat once a month parts of the year - do we need to have a pump out each time we leave the boat, even though the holding tank may only be half full? If we leave it with contents till next month, will we get a problem with smell when we return? And will the contents "set", so it will be hard to get it out the next time?

My apologies for asking an indelicate question, I hope no one is reading this whilst having their lunch.

[Nightwatch]

No. In my opinion. If you use one of the many measures to break down what's in the tank and the bowl in retaining a water barrier then all should be well.

After many years of using products like 'blue' and 'odurloss' we have now just treat with 'bio' washing fluid or gel. Works just as well and less expensive.

I'm sure  mrsmelly will be along soon to say it's a no brainier,go for cassette. But even mrsmelly has a pumpout now,surprisingly.

Hope this helps.

[Sally Grim]

14 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

No. In my opinion. If you use one of the many measures to break down what's in the tank and the bowl in retaining a water barrier then all should be well.

After many years of using products like 'blue' and 'odurloss' we have now just treat with 'bio' washing fluid or gel. Works just as well and less expensive.

I'm sure  mrsmelly will be along soon to say it's a no brainier,go for cassette. But even mrsmelly has a pumpout now,surprisingly.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, it was very helpful!  

[Grebe]

We had a cassette for 17 years and have used other boats with holding tanks with pump-out.  In all cases we have found that leving a water seal on top of the trap/slide at the bottom of the bowl prevent odours from getting out.

Over the years we got quite lazy about emptying the cassette when leaving the boat and often left a partly full cassette on board.

We also have an emergency Thetford cassette toilet at home, which we run on laundry liquid to brek down solids and give a nice smell.

[BruceinSanity]

Leaving a pump out tank empty can be a bad idea. It's never completely empty, of course, and the remaining half inch or whatever can dry out over time, leaving the solids to set and so reduce the effective volume of the tank.

If you are using the boat only occasionally, I reckon cassette is better than pump out, but it shouldn't be the crucial factor in choosing a used boat.

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

I reckon cassette is better than pump out, but it shouldn't and should be the a crucial factor in choosing a used boat

I've corrected it for you

[mross]

I've often left our pump-out tank half full for months.  If you think about it, leaving it empty, ie a couple of inches in the bottom, is far more likely to allow it to dry out and form a crust.  As others have said, you can use some biological liquid or tablets to assist the jobbie-munchers.

Edited May 13, 2017 by mross

[Sally Grim]

37 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Leaving a pump out tank empty can be a bad idea. It's never completely empty, of course, and the remaining half inch or whatever can dry out over time, leaving the solids to set and so reduce the effective volume of the tank.

 

That is quite the opposite of what I imagined - thank you for pointing that out! 

As to cassette/pump out - I was really trying not to go there.  

[WotEver]

30 minutes ago, Sally Grim said:

As to cassette/pump out - I was really trying not to go there.  

You have to go in one of them...

[Alan de Enfield]

56 minutes ago, WotEver said:

You have to go in one of them...

Or - a bucket full of sawdust ?

[WotEver]

32 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Or - a bucket full of sawdust ?

Which some swear by. 

Once the boat is full of bags of festering poo they probably swear at it. 

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

 

Once the boat is full of bags of festering poo they probably swear at it. 

I don't allow politcians on our boat, but if one did get onboard there would definitely be swearing. 

[Sally Grim]

53 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Or - a bucket full of sawdust ?

If there´s no photos of the bathroom in the ad, is that what I should expect?

[Alan de Enfield]

14 minutes ago, Sally Grim said:

If there´s no photos of the bathroom in the ad, is that what I should expect?

Maybe - it is the latest 'eco-fad'.

Use a bucket of sawdust, when the bucket is full, put contents in a garbage-bag, store it on your boat (under the bed ?) for 6 months, then put it on your roof, in small pots, and grow you own vegetables.

 

Edit to add :

Melons are prolific and you do not even need sow the seed - they survive the passage thru' the human body - give the contents of the bag a bit of warmth, sunlight and water and you may be surprised at what your previous visitors had to eat before they came to the boat.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Alan de Enfield

[Chewbacka]

16 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Maybe - it is the latest 'eco-fad'.

Use a bucket of sawdust, when the bucket is full, put contents in a garbage-bag, store it on your boat (under the bed ?) for 6 months, then put it on your roof, in small pots, and grow you own vegetables.

 

Edit to add :

Melons are prolific and you do not even need sow the seed - they survive the passage thru' the human body - give the contents of the bag a bit of warmth, sunlight and water and you may be surprised at what your previous visitors had to eat before they came to the boat.

As tomatoes need an acid wash to make them grow, then they will self grow in your compost as well.  Having thought about it as little as possible, I will not be eating melons or tomatoes from any boat with a composting toilet as it makes for too many disturbing thoughts............. 

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

As tomatoes need an acid wash to make them grow, then they will self grow in your compost as well.  Having thought about it as little as possible, I will not be eating melons or tomatoes from any boat with a composting toilet as it makes for too many disturbing thoughts............. 

I was going to suggest Tomatoes, but, the height of the canes they need tends to preclude their growth (due to low bridges), I suppose they could be cut-back to a suitable height to b kept in the well-deck.

However I guess they could be a useful crop in London and on the K&A where cruising** seems to be a thing of the past.

 

** I was going to say 'movement', but considering the subject matter, thought better of it.

[tomsk]

Internet 'chatter' seems to have fallen strangely quiet on the huge benefits of on-board 'composting' of late.

Perhaps the wide-eyed eco-zealots and early adopting hipster types have belatedly seen the obvious drawbacks to storing many boxes of rotting turds on board that most of us have been quietly pointing out for some time now. 

[Sally Grim]

So from my initial question I have learnt 3 things:

1) We don´t need a pump out the last thing before we leave the boat. It may even be better not to.

2) We (my husband) don´t necessarily need  to empty the cassette the last thing before we leave the boat.

And last but not least:

3) I need to be very wary if I am offered home grown vegetables from someones boat. 

Brilliant!

[mross]

Why?  Tomatoes do not contain any manure.  But a good idea to wash them, as you should any fruit and veg.

[WotEver]

7 hours ago, tomsk said:

... most of us have been quietly pointing out for some time now. 

Quietly?

[Starcoaster]

A London boater posted a pic a couple of years ago of tomatoes growing out of his turd tub from seeds that he had pooped out. Someone else mentioned that when they were a kid, the lads who worked at the local sewage treatment plant used to sell tomato plants that err, grew on their own, on the side.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 hours ago, Starcoaster said:

. Someone else mentioned that when they were a kid, the lads who worked at the local sewage treatment plant used to sell tomato plants that err, grew on their own, on the side.

It may have been me :

When I was doing my ONC & HNC in electrical engineering we spent some time at the local sewage works investigating their 'set-up' as they were producing electricity from the methane gas and feeding the electricity into the 'grid'.

The 'cake' was spread onto the local fields to dry out before being 'sold on' as fertiliser. They had a tremendous crop of Toms & Melons and the sign at Sewage Works gate "Home Grown Veg For Sale' always made me smile / squirm.

 

The Works Manager repeatedly told us Students "It may be Shit to you, but to me it is bread & butter" (that stuck in my mind as well)

[mrsmelly]

21 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

No. In my opinion. If you use one of the many measures to break down what's in the tank and the bowl in retaining a water barrier then all should be well.

After many years of using products like 'blue' and 'odurloss' we have now just treat with 'bio' washing fluid or gel. Works just as well and less expensive.

I'm sure  mrsmelly will be along soon to say it's a no brainier,go for cassette. But even mrsmelly has a pumpout now,surprisingly.

Hope this helps.

Nearly missed this one  I do now have a pumpout simply because the numpty who had the boat built had it fitted and I am fed up of removing them and fitting proper boat bogs. I do however have a proper boat bog as well now on the boat. I will add that I am using the silly macerator bog because at present it works very well ( It will go wrong ) and I do not pay for pump outs. As an addition there is absolutely no smell other than when outside the boat pumping out. We put nothing whatsoever in the tank as being a macerator bog it uses eighteen million gallons of water per flush so I dont even flush the tank out between empties as its ninety nine percent water anyway. WHEN it breaks I shall simply remove it and cap it off. 

[mrsmelly]

18 hours ago, WotEver said:

Which some swear by. 

Once the boat is full of bags of festering poo they probably swear at it. 

But does anyone sell them anymore? 

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

But does anyone sell them anymore? 

I'll make you one! Bespoke (well, insofar as a bucket with a seat attached can be) compete with your first set of bags and some sawdust. I'll throw in some Glade "farm fresh" or "country canal" air freshener for free. Just add squares of Daily Mirror for a fully eco solution. You'll have to widdle in the sink though, or it'll go soggy and won't work.