blackwatertank

[pio]

My SO 32 of 2004 doesn't have a blackwatertank. The importer in the Netherlands can provide me with all original Jeanneau parts.

I'm interested to hear your do's and don'ts about this subject, especially regarding the air venting (filter or no filter, seawater into the tank through the air venting and leakage of the inspection opening.

[Trevor]

Hello Pio,

Our holding tank on our SO36i has no charcoal filter on the breather vent and we haven't had any bad odors. I haven't really thought about it filling with seawater so I guess it doesn't.

Prior to leaving the boat for any period of time, we simply take the shower rose and spray fresh water into the bowl and rinse fresh water through the system. That way the bacteria that grows in the saltwater is flushed through so that odors from that bacteria do not eventuate.

We do not put any tissue down the head so that reduces the possibility of blockages.

The pump out deck fitting is quite secure.

I hope this helps,

Regards,

Trevor

[sailingpages]

Hi Pio,
Similar to Trevor, we have a 36i and holding tank. Our state government regulation also requires us to have a macerating pump, so ours is an electric TMC. Other than this, which is retrofitted and replaces the base of the factory toilet, ours is a factory installation with holding tank.

Adequate ventilation of the holding tank is the most important thing to reduce odours from the tank itself. If the waste has a source of oxygen through ventilation, aerobic bacteria (non odour producing) thrive and break the waste down. This is a good thing. If there is little or no oxygen, anaerobic bacteria (odour producing) thrive and will cause a stink. The best ventilation is probably achieved by not using a filter. If there is adequate oxygen to the tank, then there should be no smell to have to filter. Non-permeable hose is important to try and contain any odour that may be produced within the confines of the plumbing.

Again, just like Trevor, we flush our toilet through with fresh water when it's not in use to get rid of any seawater organisms. If seawater organisms are trapped within the plumbing, the anaerobic breakdown of organic sulphates will produce process hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg gas). Even when flushing with freshwater, bacterial decay within the seawater hose between the closed seacock and the seawater intake pump still causes a bit of odour when the toilet is first used again. This is only when first used though as the dead bacteria laden seawater is flushed through. We think the only way to completely avoid this is to have a freshwater plumbed toilet, or to be able to inject freshwater right at the seawater intake seacock.

I haven't noticed any seawater coming in through the vent pipe. It goes out the side just below the hull/deck joint.

Regards,
Geoff.

[MartyB]

Geoff,

Another option, that I use to keep seawater out of the system, is to fill a 1 gal container with fresh water, and pour that into the head, and leave the seawater valve closed. This works to a degree with my 23 yr old boat. But I will admit to having some issues with odors. That could very well be the fact that I have the original hoses too, so possibly replacing them with new hoses will help this issue.

To the OP,

I am a bit suprised that you have NO holding tank what so ever. I had one on my boat, altho not hooked up by the original owner, he always dumped thru the thru hull. Not that it was legal in my part of the USA. I really doubt it would be that hard to hook everything up.

"IF" your head and where the hoses run is anything like my head area, you may find it easier to literally pull the cabinets out, and the toilet itself, and do all the hose work etc in a very large area vs a very tiny area. I in hindsight wish I would have taken the cabinet apart where my hoses ran, and would have done this with the cabinet apart. Only takes me anyway about 30 min to unscrew, and maybe 15 min longer to put back together. The time it takes you longer to mess with the hoses in a very contorted space is not worth the effort, it will take you longer to do it with the cabinets together than taking apart and putting back together.

Marty

[MalcolmP]

Hi Pio

The original Jeanneau tank may be made of stainless steel

if so I would suggest you might want to think about the Dutch made Vetus which is plastic moulded and in my view a better product

see
viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=hggds#/page90/

The WW.W type are easy to fit the aft locker behind the head (above the waterline) and the inspection fitting is up high and very robust

The important thing is to connect the pipes with as few (if any) 90 degree bends

It is important to put as big an air vent as you can (Jeanneau put in a smaller air vent than some) Generally I would suggest using 50 mm pipes if you have the space

I fitted a Vetus no-smell carbon filter on a previous boat, but I am not convinced this was really needed if you keep the tank and pipework flushed out

Regarding smells in heads (this is not a holding tank issue) as an alternative to pumping fresh water from the shower
www.jeanneau-owners.com/hintsandtips/nosmellheads.html

hope this helps

Malcolm

[pio]

Thank you all for the above information. In the Netherlands it is forbidden to empty the toilet to the surfacewater directly by 1st January 2009. New boats are obliged by law to have a blackwatertank when they are built in 2006 or later. My SO 32 is from 2004. That's why she doen't have a blackwatertank yet.

I've seen a new SO32i at the Dutch importer and this has a plastic rotated cast tank of 50 liters which fits very well. The WW.W tank of Vetus of 60 liters doesn't fit very well. Of course I could install an underwater blackwatertank but needs an expensive pump. So my plan is to install the 50 liters tank with a 2 way crane between the toilet and the tank in order to be able to empty also direct to surface water where this is allowed. I understand that it is recommendable to make the airventing of the tank as wide as possible. As this hose needs a loop to prevent water coming from outside, it might not be easy to find enough room for it under the gangway.