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Holding Tank


jddevel

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 Is there an advised fitting that can be installed in a black water holding tank that will allow connection to a water supply to allow for flushing. PLUS how far  from the bottom of the tank does experience dictate should the dip tube for pump out terminate please. Thank you in anticipation.

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If its a dump through? Just stick the hose down the hole?

My pump out pipe is quite lose to the bottom of the tank, only takes some very solid solids and it can get stuck, but as its right next to the dump through hole i can easily get a stick down there and wiggle free the solids.

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There are rinse out deck fittings and I would expect the tank to come with a rinse out spigot already fitted. If you are having a bespoke tank just specify a rinse fitting. On my boat and the hire fleet when holding tanks were very new I fit  an internal horizontal pipe with holes drilled along its length across the width of the tank furthest from the pump out fitting. In my experience this helps push sludge towards the pump out.

As for how the pump out tube, I would say for pump outs have a larger gap then a folded up piece of toilet paper but smaller than a depth of a bar of soap, even then you may still have to go down the hole to clear the bottom of the pipe so make it close to the toilet locations. With a maccerator I would suggest about half an inch.

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My Vetus tank was purchased from a chandlery with various fittings to be installed by me. However it did not come with the "flush spigot". I must confess Tony that I like the idea to

5 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

fit  an internal horizontal pipe with holes drilled along its length across the width of the tank furthest from the pump out fitting

Really makes sense. Thank you.

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Some vacuum toilets evacuated the tank so a flush fitting would be a potential air leak. Modern ones work differently so that is not an issue. Whilst I disagree with Vetus in not fitting a flush being Vetus implies its a maccerator toilet that mashes everything to a slurry so less chance of solid buildup in the tank. I suppose Vetus feel a flush is not needed.

If there is no inspection hatch I suspect you could fit a flush spigot by using a plumbing Essex flange but I would be worried about keeping it fluid, and more to the point, smell tight.

Also remember that if you go down the biological route its a good idea to leave some bugs in the tank after a pump out to inoculate the fresh deposits, that is unless the anaerobic (smelly) bacteria have got the upper hand.

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Thank you Tony.

I agree with your logic regarding Vetus and the absence of a flushing facility. Yes it is a macerator and the tank does have an inspection portal. As a leisure cruiser I was more concerned about the winter months when the tank would remain unused really. I will just have to take the appropriate action and just give it a clean before winterizing.

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My tank has a seperate inlet for rinsing and or venting if you like. For what its worth I never rinse my tank out I simply pump it out and never put any form of toilet stuff in it. There is absolutely no smell whatsoever in the boat and only minimal when pumping out outside the boat. The reason I dont rinse is that as its a macerator each flush uses loads of water so the tank is more than ninety five percent liquid anyway.

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Holding tanks do have a tendency to get a build up of hard anaerobic sludge on the bottom of the tank. This is just not removed during normal 'pump out'.

Just putting a hose down the pump out pipe from the side of the jetty does not shift this.

With a 'dump through' toilet the sludge build up results in bad bathroom smells after each pump out'

To remove the layer of sludge, I have made up a 2ft length of copper pipe with a shut of tap & a hose connection at one end.

At the other end is a 90 degree pipe fitting bend, with a 'jet fitting'. In my case a drilled out radiator air bleed nipple.

This gives a really powerful jet of water when connected up to the jetty rinse out tap via a length run through the boat to the bathroom.

I just open up the 'dump through valve on the toilet' & stick the 'sludge buster pipe' down the hole.

Turn on the shut off tap & direct the jet from side to side thus scouring the sludge from the  bottom of the tank whilst the 'Pump out machine' is still working.

I do this twice a year to banish holding tank smells !!!

Tony

 

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My decision finally taken to have a holding tank was for the benefit of the users. Sometimes potentially my family, whose familiarity with the use of cassettes may with some of them be a bit off putting. For me with a history in the building trade and the "workings" of sceptic tanks and sewers it isn`t a problem BUT not for others. Each to their own.

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