Converting to pumpout

[waggle]

Hi all.

 

If I was to buy a boat with (for example) a cassette toilet, how difficult would it be to convert to a pump out toilet - either a dump through or a macerator.

 

An idea of costs involved would be appreciated too.

 

Thanks guys

[Martin Kedian]

Hi Not to hard a steel tank would need to be made and fitted with the required pipework this would cost about £300 the rest is quite simple Regards Martin

[denboy]

Don`t do it you have the best loo system around for a boat

[WotEver]

Don`t do it you have the best loo system around for a boat

 

15 Love...

[Ray]

You'll need a tank and the toilet, the latter around £250 - £350 and the former about £270 looking at Midland Chandlers website.

 

You'll need hoses for the outlet and (at least one) vent. My guess probably about another £75 - 100.

 

And spending that is the easy bit.

 

You then have to cost in the alterations to the boat. A macerator might be easier because you only need to locate the toilet and the tank and link them with pipework, although you'll have electrics as well as plumbing to tackle. However, and with no experience of costs for them, they may still work out dearer than remodelling the bathroom and/or bedroom (not forgetting any bulkheads between) to locate the tank under a dump through and possibly partially under a bed.

 

We have a smallish tank, about 4ft wide by 2ft deep by about 18 inches high (IIRC). Estimated capacity around 140 litres which we reckoned would last two of us about two weeks. Has worked out a bit less than that although had we put the outlet at the back lower corner, nearest the side of the boat with the tank having a slightly tapered floor, we could probably have emptied the tank almost completely when we pumped out.

 

Instead we went for an outlet on the top of the tank, against the passageway alongside the toilet compartment, so we need to stand on the oposite side of the boat to get the content to move nearer to the integral part of the outlet pipe, and that has to have a gap underneath so the content can be sucked upwards. As soon as the content level falls below the bottom of the pipe you start sucking air not content so the tank never fully empties.

 

We have our outlet in the roof - ideal for not being on the wrong side of the boat. But the pump has to lift the content about 6ft from the base of the tank and (I guess) when the pump is removed the residue in the outlet pipe drops back into the tank to add to which you never managed to extract from the floor of the tank.

 

I still reckon that a pump out is better, but carry a Porta Potti as a reserve in case you can't find a Pump Out station (open) when you need one. Also, I prefer a dump through as there's less to go wrong - friends of ours will only put liquids in their macerator loo because of problems they've had, including the amount of flush water that ends up in the tank.

 

So back to your orginal question. How complicated / expensive will depend on your DIY type skills, the layout of your boat and what you end up fitting. You might find a yard to do it for you, but I doubt they'll be cheap.

 

Tank costs will vary depending on size. Single occupant, occasional holiday user could get almost 4 weeks out of our tank (if they use the pub's facilities when they visit). On the other hand, two adults and four kids living on board wouldn't even get a week out of our tank but hire boats do fit tanks that will survive for a fortnight for a family that size.

[deletedaccount]

vacuum loos use less water and block less than macerators, or so I've been led to believe.

 

I've got one on my boat but only time will tell really.

[nb Innisfree]

We have a smallish tank, about 4ft wide by 2ft deep by about 18 inches high (IIRC). Estimated capacity around 140 litres which we reckoned would last two of us about two weeks

 

Your tank is approx 330 litres with those dimensions

[Greybeard]

Poo

One question which is often asked is "What do you do about the poo?" There are several legal, and one illegal, solutions. The illegal solution is just to dump the stuff through a hole, preferably off deck and below water level. In this case it is essential to have some sort of valve arrangement, otherwise there is a risk of what is technically known as "re-entry" followed by loss of buoyancy. It is also a good idea not to do it when anybody is in the vicinity. The penalty for dumping poo in the water is so horrible that it cannot be described here except to note that the liquid they give what is left of you to drink at bedtime in the dungeon looks like, but is not, chocolate.

 

The three legal solutions are:

 

1.Store the stuff in a big tank under the loo, then pump it out periodically. In deluxe versions, the tank is under the bed and the sludge is pumped there. This creates real fun when the pump, or the tank, needs cleaning out.

2.Use a Porta-Potti, AKA Elsan. Stinky.

3.Go on shore.

There is in fact a fourth solution which is clean, odourless and easy to operate (since many Americans use it in their hunting lodges, it must be). It allegedly produces only fine crumbly material suitable for putting on rhubarb (although in a recent survey, 100% of narrowboaters said they used custard). But this solution is expensive, requires extensive engineering ability to implement, and therefore hardly anybody in this country knows about it except life members of the Thomas Crapper Society. Which you aren't, so don't bother asking.

Tests of manhood

There are two narrowboat-poo-related tests of manhood that must be undergone by those who wish to become fully qualified marine engineers. The basic test is to empty out and flush a full poo tank using only British Waterways equipment, without ending up with brown boots. The advanced test is to walk half a mile with a full Porta-Potti while keeping boots pristine, and then to empty the contents into a "suitable" British Waterways facility. The examinee gains bonus marks for knowing the three main indicators that a poo-emptying site is "maintained" by BW : a) It is no longer located as shown in the most recent version of any waterway guide (except where such location is immediately adjacent to a pub terrace - see "Shroppie Fly: Why not to eat outside" and "Canalside dining at Audlem: What exactly IS in those buckets that people keep carrying past my table?") ; The door is locked by some means other than the BW key supplied to boaters, or has a spring so strong that it is impossible after unlocking the door to keep it open while turning to pick up the poo container ; c) The light is either too dim to guarantee the correct alignment of poo-spout with poo-receiver-rim, or is on a timer set to exactly one half of the shortest interval necessary to empty the smallest commercially-available poo container. Note on heading: MANhood is technically correct because any woman achieving even the simpler of these tasks would instantly be made an honorary man under the Marine Engineering Code, Chapter LXVII Sect. 198.23., to avoid the seven years' bad luck that would attend upon having a woman on board who could change a fuel injector or would volunteer to steer a narrowboat into a lock while "there are people watching".

[carlt]

Poo

One question which is often asked is "What do you do about the poo?" There are several legal, and one illegal, solutions.

Surely only being able to think of one illegal solution demonstrates a lack of imagination??

[international_boatbuilder]

Surely only being able to think of one illegal solution demonstrates a lack of imagination??

 

:lol: spliting my sides ;)

[Greybeard]

Surely only being able to think of one illegal solution demonstrates a lack of imagination??

The imaginations there..............but owning up to it is a different matter

[Chagall]

Poo

One question which is often asked is "What do you do about the poo?" There are several legal, and one illegal, solutions.

 

 

 

 

send in sewergirl?....it would be cleared within moments....

Edited July 29, 2009 by Tanis

[Canal Shop Man]

There is in fact a fourth solution which is clean, odourless and easy to operate (since many Americans use it in their hunting lodges, it must be). It allegedly produces only fine crumbly material suitable for putting on rhubarb (although in a recent survey, 100% of narrowboaters said they used custard). But this solution is expensive, requires extensive engineering ability to implement, and therefore hardly anybody in this country knows about it . . . .

This solution is called a composting toilet which is alive and well and available in two varieties for narrowboaters.

It is more expensive than cassette toilets, but generally cheaper than pump-outs; takes up less space and is much more pleasant to empty.

[Greybeard]

send in sewergirl?....it would be cleared within moments...

 

Who is this 'Sewergirl'? Has she got sewper powers? What does her avatar look like?

 

This solution is called a composting toilet which is alive and well and available in two varieties for narrowboaters.

It is more expensive than cassette toilets, but generally cheaper than pump-outs; takes up less space and is much more pleasant to empty

.

 

Compost. Could I use it to grow strawberries to go with my custard?

 

Having read about the attributes of composting toilets and their requirements for a good stir up occasionaly and also the storing of the 'poo' stick I'll poolitely decline your kind offer to sell me one.

 

ps

 

What are you sitting on in your avatar picture?

 

GB

Edited July 29, 2009 by Greybeard

[Chagall]

Who is this 'Sewergirl'? Has she got sewper powers? What does her avatar look like?

 

 

its an alter ego, believe me you don't want to know .....but blimey it is indeed sewper at sucking up and spewing out filth!

[mikevye]

Don`t do it you have the best loo system around for a boat

 

Always prepared to listen to other opinions but in my circumstances moored online with no Elsan facility near the boat the tank/macerator unit on the boat is ideal.

[waggle]

This solution is called a composting toilet which is alive and well and available in two varieties for narrowboaters.

It is more expensive than cassette toilets, but generally cheaper than pump-outs; takes up less space and is much more pleasant to empty.

 

 

 

Thanks guys.

 

I'll look at the composting loo option before I go any further.

 

Waggle.

[WotEver]

Always prepared to listen to other opinions but in my circumstances moored online with no Elsan facility near the boat the tank/macerator unit on the boat is ideal.

 

15 All....

[AlanH]

Always prepared to listen to other opinions but in my circumstances moored online with no Elsan facility near the boat the tank/macerator unit on the boat is ideal.

One argument for a pump out is that you don't have to carry containers of sewage around and if, like me, you only use marina pump outs some other poor b*gger deals with the stuff.

20-15?

[WotEver]

One argument for a pump out is that you don't have to carry containers of sewage around and if, like me, you only use marina pump outs some other poor b*gger deals with the stuff.

20-15?

 

No, 15-30

[Albion]

Thanks guys.

 

I'll look at the composting loo option before I go any further.

 

Waggle.

 

Look by all means but don't just look at one in a shop, all fresh and clean and full of salesman's hype. Go and see/smell one in use and then decide between the only two sensible options pump out and cassette. Of those there is only one really sensible option and that is a cassette toilet with two spare tanks

Roger

[deletedaccount]

whop wants to poo in a bucket and flush it down with some sort of fancy washing up liquid?

 

ewww,

[carlt]

whop wants to poo in a bucket and flush it down with some sort of fancy washing up liquid?

 

ewww,

Is that any worse than pooing in a tank and have it slopping about, on your boat, for weeks?

 

ewwww

[Naughty Cal]

Is that any worse than pooing in a tank and have it slopping about, on your boat, for weeks?

 

ewwww

 

Yes, because at least you dont have to see it again once its in the tank slopping around

[carlt]

Yes, because at least you dont have to see it again once its in the tank slopping around

I can see the appeal if you get someone else to pump out for you but then the Yorkshire thrift kicks in and I can't bring myself to spend valuable cake money on poo disposal.

 

Self pump-out is just to appalling to contemplate.