Waste Water

[anthony]

The waste water on my boat does not come out any where despite testing by filling up the sink and looking over the side with pricked ears for the sound of water.

I have also found a good 25 litres under the floor under the calorifier which IM assuming is due to the waste leaking or draining into the bloody cabin.

You can imagine the missus when i told her we had water under the floor.

She had me taking up flooring to check the boat!!!

It dont help with the boat listing to one side which enhanced the waters depth inside.

[alan_fincher]

The waste water on my boat does not come out any where despite testing by filling up the sink and looking over the side with pricked ears for the sound of water.

I have also found a good 25 litres under the floor under the calorifier which IM assuming is due to the waste leaking or draining into the bloody cabin.

You can imagine the missus when i told her we had water under the floor.

She had me taking up flooring to check the boat!!!

It dont help with the boat listing to one side which enhanced the waters depth inside.

Anthony,

 

If it's a sink or wash basin you are talking about, then waste water arrangements are generally very obvious, if you go crawling underneath....

 

Most will have a fairly substantial pipe taking a fairly short route from the bowl to a fitting (or welded outlet) on the boat outside. Generally this is a very short pipe run, but not always. Simply look for your waste pipe(s) and follow....

 

I'm told that early boat showers, on things like Harbourough Marine boats of the '70s, actually deliberately drained into the bilge, and then the main bilge pump was expected to be used to remove it.

 

But such an arrangement would only be possible in a boat where the cabin bilge flowed continuously into the engine bilge.

 

More likely these days is a welded dam between main cabin and engine area, so water finding its way under the accomodation floors will not flow further back into the engine area, (or not, at least, until its above the floorboards ).

 

It's not entirely obvious from your description if you have one continuous bilge throughout, or separated areas, I think.

 

You need to be clear on this point, because it will limit where water can be coming from (or going to...)

[stuart]

If you do have a so called "wet bilge" where your sink(s) drain into the bilge - your pump may be faulty or the float switch on it is stuck/faulty.

 

I'd expect that you are not seeing water going overboard when using the sink waste as the float switch has not reached a level high enough to operate and pump the waste over board.

 

I personally dont like this arrangement at all - bilges should be dry and clean in my mind!

[anthony]

Thanks for the replies.

 

The cabin is separate from the engine bay.

The thing is if the float switch has not reached a certain point to empty then how much water would it hold before this happens?

 

I certainly want my bilge clean and dry.

[alan_fincher]

Thanks for the replies.

 

The cabin is separate from the engine bay.

The thing is if the float switch has not reached a certain point to empty then how much water would it hold before this happens?

 

I certainly want my bilge clean and dry.

Anthony,

 

Are you saying that you have a bilge pump that handles water in the part of the boat under the accomodation (only), and that this area is physically "dammed off" from the engine area.

 

If so that would be a surprising arrangement to me...

 

If the boat had been designed such that sink or shower water was being discharged under cabin floors, (so called "wet bilge"), I'd normally expect there to be a continuous bilge so that water ran right back to the engine area, and mixed with any rain or canal water that ends up in there.

 

I still think you need to actually look under your sinks and basins, and see where the other end of each sink waste pipe ens up, though....

[John Orentas]

Anthony.

 

You can't relay totally on an automatic bilge pump to keep your boat dry, first because the pump will not suck up that last 10mm of water, you should be looking at the problem from the other end keeping the water from getting in there in the first place.

 

You should have two totally segregated areas, the engine space and the cabin area, in the former you will inevitably get a certain amount of rainwater and perhaps a little (but only a little) drips from the stern gland.

 

In the cabin you should have a zero tolerance, there should be no water getting in there at all, the most common problems are leaks in the plumbing the second are possible leakage around windows, doors and ventilators. There may occasionally be moisture from condensation from the windows in certain conditions but this will only occur in particular weather conditions.

 

You worried me a bit when you say you can smell diesel in the cabin that should not happen, are you sure it is not just drifting in from the engine, not that it should smell there either but easily fixed.

 

Are you now at Ashton ?

[jbb]

I know someone who had a snail in waste outlet pipe - by the time he realised there was a problem there was a hell of a lot of water in his boat.

[Moley]

I agree with Stuart, cabin bilge should be clean and dry.

 

Just about everything on our boat that could leak has leaked, for some time, and it's taking me a while to get it back to clean and dry.

 

If your waste is getting into your 'dry' bilge:

1) your boat's gonna stink;

2) your hull's gonna rust from the inside.

 

Trace your plumbing and sort it out, or you too could have a bilge like mine!

 

 

Ade.

[anthony]

Yep IM back in Ashton John thanks.

 

All went fairly well apart from the dog insisting that he'd had enough and no longer wanted to be on the boat.

So he spent half a day just walking beside us with his rain coat on nose up in the air.

 

We ran out of canal water again just past ancoats.

 

The diesel smell drifts from the engine into the cabin but IM already sick of sleeping with the window open.

IM thinking silicone and a good clean in the engine bay.

Any suggestions as to what I should use for these jobs as I dont want to spend money on useless products.

 

As for the wet bilge i will just have to unscrew some panels and find the problem and God knows what else.

I have to stick some insulation in there anyway so all going well ill kill two birds with one stone.

 

According to the broker the vendor's phone numbers are all dead and they suspect he has now gone back to Thailand so I cant ask him where things are in relation to the waste which is a pain.

 

At least with the boat listing its collecting the water on the one side hopefully making the job easier.

 

Will i need to replace my damp ballast though as this will hold damp too?

Its pebbles and broken blocks.

 

Thanks for your time guys.

[John Orentas]

Anthony.

 

Glad to here you comments about having a good clean-up most people think filthy engine compartments are an act of God, once you have got it reasonably tidy it is easy to keep it that way and maintenance tasks are not so daunting.

 

Diesel leaks are usually fairly easy to fix as everything should be accessible and all the unions will be good quality, (no push-on pipes and funny clips). However there are no 'products' that will cure diesel leaks it must be done properly.

 

Finding your plumbing leaks should be a simple matter, very little will be hidden behind panels but may well be inside cupboards and such, the pipes will go directly from sink drains to fittings on the hull side though two or more sinks may share one hull outlet. Nothing complex.

 

Don't think in terms of replacing your ballast at this stage, when you fix the leaks it will, with a bit of ventilation and warmth begin to dry out on it's own.

 

Don't expect to get too much assistance from the previous owner or the agent for that matter they weren't too helpful even when they were trying to get cash out of you, you are now largely on your own. Sponge ruthlessly on your friends especially if they are motor mechanics, plumbers, painters etc.

Edited October 31, 2005 by John Orentas

[anthony]

IM quiet fortunate that apart from machanics i can do most other things myself John.

 

I managed to discover the waste outlet today.

Its actually the water feed thats leaking which seems to be tucked away some where which is a total pain in the arse but ill get there.

The waste bildge pump is also faulty so i may replace or repair it.