Cr@ppy problem on new (old) NB - to cassette or not to cassette?

[ruthieruthruth]

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!

[MtB]

Yes buy a Porta-Potti cassette bog to use for now and to buy you some time. Or better, buy two so you get a spare cassette.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390880492265?

Then once you've done a tonne of homework you'll figure out what a shit job it is removing a rusted-through black water tank is, and how it is best done in the summer. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Welcome to the forum. Cassette vs Pump Out on your very first post!

If the tank itself is on good condition, then I'd say replace the hoses.

Steel pump out tanks reportedly tend to rust most at the top, so perhaps tap the top of the tank gently and see if the hammer goes through? 😬

It is possible, if the boat hasn't been on the move, or pumped out often in its recent history, that there is a layer of solidified waste 💩 at the bottom of the tank that is reducing its capacity and has lead to you needing another pump out more quickly than you thought. I've not owned a pump out, but a search will show up ways of hopefully breaking this down for removal.

Are you planning to be based at Burscough, or somewhere else with no pump out facility? If so, then the great Cassette vs Pump Out debate answers itself in your case.

[ruthieruthruth]

Yes, the tank itself seems very solid and the loo works without much of a smell etc, it's just that somehow a 3 hour one way trip up to the nearest pump out station seems like a much bigger endeavour than before I bought the boat. Seems a shame to replace it when it is largely in good working order but I think the freedom of being able to just take a cassette in the car or just go 1 hour up the canal to the nearest Elsan feels much more convenient! So replacing the drop through with a cassette seems like the best option for sure.

 

The real trouble is, I have neither the skills, time or inclination to do this myself - how do I best find some clever soul who might be persuaded do it for me?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

4 minutes ago, ruthieruthruth said:

how do I best find some clever soul who might be persuaded do it for me?

Offer them lots of money! Not very helpful, I know, but as you can guess, it is a horrible, time consuming job and any one with the skills will want a good reason to take it on, rather than other paying work that is nicer to do.

[Tracy D'arth]

2 minutes ago, ruthieruthruth said:

Yes, the tank itself seems very solid and the loo works without much of a smell etc, it's just that somehow a 3 hour one way trip up to the nearest pump out station seems like a much bigger endeavour than before I bought the boat. Seems a shame to replace it when it is largely in good working order but I think the freedom of being able to just take a cassette in the car or just go 1 hour up the canal to the nearest Elsan feels much more convenient! So replacing the drop through with a cassette seems like the best option for sure.

 

The real trouble is, I have neither the skills, time or inclination to do this myself - how do I best find some clever soul who might be persuaded do it for me?

So if you have a good, non smelling loo and a serviceable tank, replace the hoses.

Then buy yourself a DIY pump out kit and save money ever more, no loo blue, no pump out fees, no fragile plastic cassette slides.

You don't need a sanitary station when you have your own kit, any loo or foul manhole will do. Even someone's septic tank can be used, especially as you will not need chemicals.

[ruthieruthruth]

Yes, that was my plan - I'm struggling to work out who to ask though. Any pointers on where to start would be great! Would be easier if the boat yards were open, I know, though that would still be a bit of shot in the dark for me. 

 

Anyone know of any marine plumbers (if that is even a thing) they would recommend in the North West?

[David Mack]

57 minutes ago, ruthieruthruth said:

The real trouble is, I have neither the skills, time or inclination to do this myself - how do I best find some clever soul who might be persuaded do it for me?

A Porta Potty type of loo doesn't require any skills to install. And if you have the space to store it, it is useful to have one when you have a working pumpout system as a standby for when the pumpout tank is full or something has gone wrong.

[ditchcrawler]

I think you have done very well lasting 3 months on one pump out and the tank is now over full and sitting in the pipes. As others have said, get a portapotty for naow and the tank pumped out soon as possible. a 3 hour cruse is a nice day out on the boat, you must want to go boating at some point.

[pearley]

it's just that somehow a 3 hour one way trip up to the nearest pump out station seems like a much bigger endeavour

 

3 hour return trip surely. Scarisbrick Marina nearest pumpout to Burscough. No locks but a few swing bridges. If you require an engineer then they are probably the best to ask.

[bizzard]

Always have a porta pottie, a simpletype  in case you can't move the boat, iced in ect.

[magnetman]

A pan of ash from the fire as a receptacle and a bent soup ladle to transfer the stool into the fire works wonders. 

 

there is energy in the stool. On a good day one can get several minutes of heating out of it. 

 

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

A pan of ash from the fire as a receptacle and a bent soup ladle to transfer the stool into the fire works wonders. 

 

there is energy in the stool. On a good day one can get several minutes of heating out of it. 

 

 

 

 

Do you save it all summer?

[magnetman]

No I light the fire every day. 

Its just in summer it doesn't need to be going all the time as the weather is warmer. 

[truckcab79]

Are mobile pump-out boats not a national thing?  We saw one on our journey from Hemel to Harefield and just assumed that it was a logical solution for those living along the tow-path. A bit like those fuel boats that bring coal and gas to you. Or did we see one of the few?   

[magnetman]

There are not many lavender Boats around. Fewer than one might expect. 

Not looked into it but I think if you are doing this legit there may be a few waste disposal hurdles to jump over. .

 

I have seen someone who offered elsan chuck and pumpout using a workboat discharging their own holding tank to a commercial sewer near a main road but am not convinced that there was any sort of contractual agreement in place. 

 

 

[truckcab79]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

There are not many lavender Boats around. Fewer than one might expect. 

Cheers.  Just recall seeing it and thinking ‘yea. That makes sense’.  Surprised there aren’t more.  Most be loads of boats on the towpath that never move. (Ignoring whether they should or not) 
 

i

[bizzard]

I suggest eating about 25 eggs a day to bind you up so you can't go. To unbind yourself when you get a bog eat 15kg of stewed prunes, meanwhile keep legs crossed just in case.  Pee in the sink.

[truckcab79]

21 minutes ago, magnetman said:

There are not many lavender Boats around. Fewer than one might expect. 

Not looked into it but I think if you are doing this legit there may be a few waste disposal hurdles to jump over. .

 

I have seen someone who offered elsan chuck and pumpout using a workboat discharging their own holding tank to a commercial sewer near a main road but am not convinced that there was any sort of contractual agreement in place. 

 

 

Just assumed that they in turn transferred it legitimately to a waste company. Seemed like a good business venture.  Far less hassle than having to move to a pump-out if you weren’t travelling anyway.  

[magnetman]

3 minutes ago, truckcab79 said:

Just assumed that they in turn transferred it legitimately to a waste company. Seemed like a good business venture.  Far less hassle than having to move to a pump-out if you weren’t travelling anyway.  

 

It does seem like a good setup but I think there must be hurdles. 

 

One obvious problem is that you would have to have metering equipment. You would need to charge by the litre. 

 

How would you know that the person whose Boat you are sucking has not got a bilge full of oily water and rerouted their pumpout fitting? 

 

This could nacker your pump. 

 

People probably don't know how big their tanks are. If one were to do retrospective volume-based charging it could get a little awkward explaining to the Boat owner 'You have three quarters of a tonne of shit under your bed dear'. 

 

I think its a lot more awkward than it seems. 

 

This is without even considering disposable vapes, contraceptives and baby wipes as part of the product mix. 

 

Seems a crap business !

 

then you have to deal with the man with the road tanker. He will want his pound of flesh. 

 

Its probably like ice cream vans. Daggers drawn and protection rackets. 

 

Can you tell I considered doing this ? 

[GUMPY]

28 minutes ago, bizzard said:

I suggest eating about 25 eggs a day to bind you up so you can't go. To unbind yourself when you get a bog eat 15kg of stewed prunes, meanwhile keep legs crossed just in case.  Pee in the sink.

Simple unbinding is easy.

Just take a dose of Moviprep.

If you've taken it you will know.😱

[truckcab79]

Pretty sure they had a meter and it was going into semi-transparent bunded tanks so easy enough to see what was going in to be fair.  Given the tanks I assumed it was then lifted in tank for disposal and swapped for cleaned empty ones.  Pretty easy to do. 
 

Likewise easy to charge a premium for the service as you’re paying for convenience and your time saved. 
 

Vaguely similar for my work if the job is smaller than a skip I use a licensed waste company. They come to my client and collect. They then dump to their yard and when full book a grab lorry to clear.  Probably got £5-£10k worth of collections that they then book a grab lorry for.  Grab lorry costs say £500. 
 

Obviously a whole load of other business and staff costs but superficially a very lucrative business if you price it right.  Where there’s muck as they say.  

[bizzard]

4 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

Simple unbinding is easy.

Just take a dose of Moviprep.

If you've taken it you will know.😱

Or Liquid parrafin.

[ditchcrawler]

Halsall offer this service there is also someone you will visit by road with a trailer, but that doesn't come cheap 

[bizzard]

A lorry load of plums was stolen in Bognor last week............................Police are looking for two men on the run.