Hi all
So I am about 3 months into narrowboat ownership and have come up against the toilet debate already - had one pump out done on the way to my permanent mooring and have now discovered that I am in desperate need of another one. While replacing the bed base we discovered that there is a leak from one of the hose connections and somewhere at the back of the loo itself. Not ideal when everywhere is closed for Christmas!
We currently have an old steel tank and what I think from memory are 38mm hoses that run up to the gunnels. No ideal how old they are but I suspect as old as the boat (so 30+ years) and have possibly started to crack/fail with age.
So once we have gone to town with the duct tape and stabilised the crappy situation, I think my options are, I think: a) replace the hoses and have an indicator fitted to the tank, carry on with the pump-out system (proving challenging with navigation closures coming up), OR b) replace the whole toilet system with a cassette loo, avoiding the issue about needing to get the boat 3 hours up the canal in order to get a pump out. Thoughts on either? Composting sounds like too much of a palaver for me .
Would anyone know of someone who could come and take a look at all of this and advice me/do the work? We are on the Leeds & Liverpool near Burscough (where there are Elsan facilities but no pump out...) Any and all advice and pointers would be appreciated!