Plastic waste tank.

[fudd]

Good morning. 
is it possible to fit a plastic waste tank that won’t start to smell. 

[mrsmelly]

My last boat had a plastic tank, there was no smell ever from the system when I owned the boat. The present owner is a forum member, if its smelling by now I am sure he will respond but I think correctly fitted plastic tanks with the best pipes and fittings are smell free.

[fudd]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

My last boat had a plastic tank, there was no smell ever from the system when I owned the boat. The present owner is a forum member, if its smelling by now I am sure he will respond but I think correctly fitted plastic tanks with the best pipes and fittings are smell free.

Thank you. It will be 5’ high 4’ deep and 1’ wide. I have this size on my current boat and because of the small footprint it rinses out really well. It will be in a vented cupboard, so should be ok. 

[blackrose]

Your question is rather non-specific (vague).

 

Presumably you mean a black waste (toilet) holding tank rather than grey? Some boats have grey water tanks. 

 

Any reputable brand of plastic black waste holding tank should be be made of barrier materials and won't smell.. However, the way it's plumbed in and vented is down to the person fitting it and if it's not done to a certain standard to prevent smells you can't blame the tank.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, fudd said:

Thank you. It will be 5’ high 4’ deep and 1’ wide.

 

That seems to be quite a large tank (about 500+ litres) can you fit that thru your doors ?

[fudd]

1 minute ago, blackrose said:

Your question is rather non-specific (vague).

 

Presumably you mean a black waste (toilet) holding tank rather than grey? Some boats have grey water tanks. 

 

Any reputable brand of plastic black waste holding tank should be be made of barrier materials and won't smell.. However, the way it's plumbed in and vented is down to the person fitting it and if it's not done to a certain standard to prevent smells you can't blame the tank.

 

 

I only asked because I have heard of people having smells from the pipes going to and from the tank and didn’t want to make the wrong choice. 

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

That seems to be quite a large tank (about 500+ litres) can you fit that thru your doors ?

Yes. It’s only a foot wide. 

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, fudd said:

I only asked because I have heard of people having smells from the pipes going to and from the tank and didn’t want to make the wrong choice. 

 

But surely that is simply using the wrong type of pipe, rather than the wrong tank.

[fudd]

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But surely that is simply using the wrong type of pipe, rather than the wrong tank.

My mate has Vetus waste pipe and it stinks. It’s about four years old. 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, fudd said:

Yes. It’s only a foot wide. 

 

I understand that on its edge it will easily go thru the door (only 1') but have you got 4+ feet of height between your hatch and the steps ?

[fudd]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I understand that on its edge it will easily go thru the door (only 1') but have you got 4+ feet of height between your hatch and the steps ?

 

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I understand that on its edge it will easily go thru the door (only 1') but have you got 4+ feet of height between your hatch and the steps ?

Just about. It’ll go in at an angle. 

[Peanut]

Butyl sanitation hose is said to be odour free, mine is.  See here:

 

https://www.asap-supplies.com/hose/sanitation-waste-hose

 

or here:

 

https://www.tek-tanks.com/product-category/plumbing-equipment/hose-and-hose-clips/hose/

 

They will do the tank and fittings too, also give good advice.

[fudd]

2 minutes ago, Peanut said:

Butyl sanitation hose is said to be odour free, mine is.  See here:

 

https://www.asap-supplies.com/hose/sanitation-waste-hose

 

or here:

 

https://www.tek-tanks.com/product-category/plumbing-equipment/hose-and-hose-clips/hose/

 

They will do the tank and fittings too, also give good advice.

Thanks. 

[blackrose]

24 minutes ago, fudd said:

My mate has Vetus waste pipe and it stinks. It’s about four years old. 

 

What kind of Vetus waste pipe? Flexible barrier sanitary hose?

 

I had a 3m length of that on my boat for 17 years and it never smelled. It's possible to over-bend it and rupture the barrier layer, but how does your mate actually know that the smell is coming from the pipe? It's often very difficult to isolate smells to a particular location or component. The only way I know of with a pipe is to take a damp cloth rub it against the pipe and then go outside and sniff the cloth.

Edited August 13, 2023 by blackrose

[fudd]

6 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

What kind of Vetus waste pipe? Flexible barrier sanitary hose?

 

I had a 3m length of that on my boat for 17 years and it never smelled. It's possible to over-bend it and rupture the barrier layer, but how does your mate actually know that the smell is coming from the pipe? It's often very difficult to isolate smells to a particular location or component. The only way I know of with a pipe is to take a damp cloth rub it against the pipe and then go outside and sniff the cloth.

 

He replaced it and it stopped smelling. 

[Tracy D'arth]

Solvent weld waste pipe will not let smells out and is far cheaper than Vetus sanitary hose which is crippling expensive and not in my experience that good.  I have never seen a vertical toilet waste tank, especially one so large in a narrow boat.  Where is the pump out fitting? In the roof?

[Momac]

 

 

34 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Where is the pump out fitting? In the roof?

I expect so . Also wondering how the toilet waste gets to the 5ft tall  tank .

[Tracy D'arth]

I presumed it was an electric loo, a dump through would be really inconvenient!

The way you treat the tank has a lot to do with smells. I have always used manual pump toilets and no chemicals what so ever, never had smelly effluent.

[fudd]

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Solvent weld waste pipe will not let smells out and is far cheaper than Vetus sanitary hose which is crippling expensive and not in my experience that good.  I have never seen a vertical toilet waste tank, especially one so large in a narrow boat.  Where is the pump out fitting? In the roof?

Yes, as is the vent-rinse outlet 

20 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

 

I expect so . Also wondering how the toilet waste gets to the 5ft tall  tank .

 

20 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

 

I expect so . Also wondering how the toilet waste gets to the 5ft tall  tank .

I have a Tecma loo. Then a 2” pipe with shutoff valve and 2 non return valves. The pipe enters at the top. 

[cuthound]

8 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Solvent weld waste pipe will not let smells out and is far cheaper than Vetus sanitary hose which is crippling expensive and not in my experience that good.  I have never seen a vertical toilet waste tank, especially one so large in a narrow boat.  Where is the pump out fitting? In the roof?

 

If its on the gunwales, openng the pump-out cap on a full tank could be interesting...

 

[IanD]

14 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

If its on the gunwales, openng the pump-out cap on a full tank could be interesting...

 

If you're referring to my post, the gunwale is about 800mm above the top of the (flat) poo tank sitting on the baseplate, so I don't expect any problem -- and this is the standard setup as used by Finesse on all their boats. I'd certainly rather have the access on the (easily-cleaned) gunwale than on the roof (as often done) when the inevitable leakage occurs when pumping out... 😞

 

[just realised, cross-thread post -- oh well, at least it's on-topic...]

 

With a tall poo tank this would obviously be a *really* bad idea... 😉

Edited August 14, 2023 by IanD

[mrsmelly]

14 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

If its on the gunwales, openng the pump-out cap on a full tank could be interesting...

 

Makes much more sense on the roof. Ive had all types and my favourite two were on the roof. No bending down and twisting the pipe round in the correct direction and so easy to reach from whichever side the boat is moored to. On the extremely rare occasion that leakage occurred twas simple to wash down with a hose that was used for tank rinsing anyway. On very rare occasion the pump would be too puny to start to lift the contents but that was very rare.

[Hudds Lad]

36 minutes ago, IanD said:

I'd certainly rather have the access on the (easily-cleaned) gunwale than on the roof (as often done) when the inevitable leakage occurs when pumping out... 😞

Never had a problem ourselves pumping out from the roof when we had a dump-thru on the shareboat, easy to get to from either side and no crouching down if it's a particularly high dock.

That said, one of the other shareholders did spill a load of blue on the roof when attempting to put some down the filler which left an immovable stain on the paintwork (which was strenuously denied), so there is that. We always put it down the pan itself.

[Just Heaven]

On 13/08/2023 at 09:54, fudd said:

Good morning. 
is it possible to fit a plastic waste tank that won’t start to smell. 

Yes, we fitted a polypropylene one a few years ago, no smell at all.

Have a look here :

https://www.justheaven.org.uk/2018/08/new-holding-tank/

 

Steve

 

[David Mack]

On 13/08/2023 at 09:54, fudd said:

Good morning. 
is it possible to fit a plastic waste tank that won’t start to smell. 

Plastic tanks are all that Lee Sanitation sell.

https://www.leesan.com/shop/tanks

[Tracy D'arth]

Goodwin plastics, Crewe. They don't smell.  Its usually the flexible pipes that stink.