SCUMBAG BOATER

[Guest]

Hi catweasel

we have been using biological washing machine liquid in the cassette for a couple of weeks,also using some in the rinse tank.

 

loo now has a pleasant fragrance,and when it is emptied,the contents pour more easily than before.

 

i got the suggestion from this venerable forum(hope i spelt that word correctly),will let you know if there are any problems encountered.

Thanks

[Athy]

.

 

Trust me emptying a three day old full cassette tank with no toilet fluid in it is not something you want to be doing very often.

 

Certainly not - not more than once every three days, I'd say.

[MaryP]

I'm astonished that people don't use recycled paper as a matter of course! After all it's not recycled TOILET paper , it's recycled paper for use in the toilet. One of my friends is very squeemish about it!

[carlt]

I'm astonished that people don't use recycled paper as a matter of course!

I used to use recycled Daily Mails but stopped because I felt dirtier after I'd wiped, than before.

[GUMPY]

There's a large, 90' trip boat around here that, in six years of being on and around the river, has never once been seen to go to the pumpout. A friend who used to work there explained that they have a weighted hosepipe.

 

It's a bit of a tricky situation, because if a fuss is made, all boaters will be tarred with the same brush, and everyone will assume that all boaters do it- which is untrue, only a small minority do.

 

It's against some local byelaws, I'm tempted to email the Conservancy and ask them which of their byelaws they're going to bother to enforce.

 

Depends on where you are, I assume on the Cam?

Certainly on the Ouse and Nene its legal to discharge sewage from boats into the river.

This is changing due to the water framework directive but its going to be a slow process as the EA admit they cant suddenly make the change due to there being to many boats with sea toilets

Edited November 24, 2011 by idleness

[cereal tiller]

I used to use recycled Daily Mails but stopped because I felt dirtier after I'd wiped, than before.

Now there's a thought!

 

if all the JUNKMAIL that comes through peoples letter boxes was made of absorbent and bio-degradable material,it could be used as an,ahem, "end" product?

[luctor et emergo]

snip**

Everyone will fetch up living in a little cabin at the back like on a working boat, with the rest of the space devoted to holding tanks.

 

you make that sound like a bad thing...

:-)

[Theo]

We switched to Green Loo from Blue Loo because our moorings landlord (an organic farmer) did not want any of the blue stuff poured down his disposal 'ole. I assume the green stuff is more natural. But some posts above suggest that Blue Loo can be harmful; what does it do?

 

The idea of using the old formaldehyde stuff is to kill all the bacteria and add a strong perfume. No bacteria to decompose the poos means no anaerobic products to stink but leaves the smell of poo. The strong perfue is to mask the poo smell. /what you are left with is perfectlyv preserves poos in their original stte which might be hard and difficult to pour out of the PP. Formaldehyde in the environment kills bacteria, harmful or good so the farmer is right to object to it.

 

The eco friendly stuff provdes oxygen so that the poos decompose with much less odour being aerobic decomposition. The poos are not preserved and, over a day or two, liquify so become much easier to pour out.

 

Do read labels on green stuff, though. At least one is the old formaldehyde stuff with a different colour and a new scent.

 

Nick

[Tam & Di]

Tam & Di, on 24 November 2011 - 03:48 PM, said:

snip**

Everyone will fetch up living in a little cabin at the back like on a working boat, with the rest of the space devoted to holding tanks.

 

you make that sound like a bad thing...

:-)

 

Well I was going to suggest that everyone would need a butty to take their holding tanks. That would be a better idea, and they could put everything in there - the fresh water, fuel, black and grey water, their generators, batteries, wood pile ........

[Theo]

The main purpose of using chemicals is to break down the solids, only really necessary when the tank is gravity fed as in dump through.

 

Keith

 

Formaldehyde preserves the solids. Eco Freindly additives help the bacteria to break them down.

 

Nick

[Biggles]

Anyone report it?

 

Whilst on this pleasant subject, can anyone recommend or otherwise using bio washing powder/liquid in a porta potti so as to avoid using the deadly blue stuff? If it is OK which type and what quantity etc?

 

Many thanks.

 

 

Works brilliantly in the MH and we can go weeks between empties if we only use it weekends. Wish I'd used it on the NB now but I went with blue. Only found out about Bio powder as I was selling the boat so kept with its as the new owners my be sceptical.

 

When we were on the boat for a week or 2 at a time, I never bothered with blue at all as we had a reasonably quick turnover and emptied every reasonable opportunity.

[mayalld]

The idea of using the old formaldehyde stuff is to kill all the bacteria and add a strong perfume. No bacteria to decompose the poos means no anaerobic products to stink but leaves the smell of poo. The strong perfue is to mask the poo smell. /what you are left with is perfectlyv preserves poos in their original stte which might be hard and difficult to pour out of the PP. Formaldehyde in the environment kills bacteria, harmful or good so the farmer is right to object to it.

 

The eco friendly stuff provdes oxygen so that the poos decompose with much less odour being aerobic decomposition. The poos are not preserved and, over a day or two, liquify so become much easier to pour out.

 

Do read labels on green stuff, though. At least one is the old formaldehyde stuff with a different colour and a new scent.

 

Nick

 

 

The only trouble with that account of things is that it isn't borne out by empirical testing.

 

My experience is that whilst using blue loo, the solids DO break down, and that in our cassette, by the time it is full you have a pretty much uniform green coloured liquid (tending towards a slurry).

 

Perhaps if you use sufficient blue, it can have the effect you describe, but used economically, it seems to allow the contents to break down into a liquid form, without allowing too much decomposition to set in with associated bad smells, whilst providing a masking aroma.

 

If you have any evidence to support the view that the typical concentration of Methylene Glycol that a cassette load of water plus a following flush will arrest decomposition, rather than defer it, please quote it.

[WJM]

 

My experience is that whilst using blue loo, the solids DO break down, and that in our cassette, by the time it is full you have a pretty much uniform green coloured liquid (tending towards a slurry).

 

 

 

 

I totally agree - my experience concurs exactly.

[Albion]

The only trouble with that account of things is that it isn't borne out by empirical testing.

 

My experience is that whilst using blue loo, the solids DO break down, and that in our cassette, by the time it is full you have a pretty much uniform green coloured liquid (tending towards a slurry).

 

Perhaps if you use sufficient blue, it can have the effect you describe, but used economically, it seems to allow the contents to break down into a liquid form, without allowing too much decomposition to set in with associated bad smells, whilst providing a masking aroma.

 

If you have any evidence to support the view that the typical concentration of Methylene Glycol that a cassette load of water plus a following flush will arrest decomposition, rather than defer it, please quote it.

 

I agree with Dave (Oh damn, will that get me ostracised now? ) you don't end up with undissolved solids using the blue. In fact it seems to be the same consistency with the green as it is with the blue but just slightly whiffier slightly more quickly. Neither are unpleasant, but there is a slight difference. I know that formaldehyde is supposed to preserve things perfectly but it doean't seem to make much difference in a cassette as Dave and I have said.

Roger

[system 4-50]

I use the cheap recycled toilet paper from supermarkets as i find that it disintegrates completely and there's never any evidence of it when i root through the contents of my cassette when emptying.

When I was small, we used the Yorkshire Post, but the ink came off on your hands. I wonder how well it would decompose?

[luctor et emergo]

Alternatively, a diet of Brown Ale, negates the need for chemicals....

[Phil Ambrose]

We put yeast in our tank, although I don't know whether it would have time to work in a cassette.

 

Could give a whole new meaning to "I've got one brewing"

 

Phil

[FadeToScarlet]

Depends on where you are, I assume on the Cam?

Certainly on the Ouse and Nene its legal to discharge sewage from boats into the river.

This is changing due to the water framework directive but its going to be a slow process as the EA admit they cant suddenly make the change due to there being to many boats with sea toilets

 

Yes, on the Cam. It is a bit awkward, because hireboats from the Ouse, fitted with sea toilets, use this stretch too. And there is a suspiciously large number of moorers who're never seen to move...

 

It's against the Cam Conservancy's byelaws to discharge sewage overboard, but as you say, not the EA. The thing is, the Conservancy don't give a *insert the obvious reference here* about people happily breaking that byelaw- but they will try to prosecute for other ones.

 

OK, it's nothing like as bad as the Thames, but the Cam sees a great deal of use downstream of the tripboat's mooring, and downstream of most moorings, by people of all ages from about 8 or 9 years old upwards, the thought of being splashed with the contents of a mass tank dump isn't a pleasant one.

[Mac of Cygnet]

It is extremely difficult to find the active ingredients of the 'green' toilet fluids. When I last tried, a name of a chemical was produced by a mate whose speciality was decontaminating cruise liners after outbreaks of Norwark virus (well, we've all got to make a living). However, the name was so long and unmemorable that it's disappeared.

 

I've managed to dig up the Health & Safety sheet of one product, though, and am quite surprised at how harmless they think it is, especially the item I've highlighted:

 

 

HEALTH AND SAFETY DATA SHEET

 

GREEN TOILET FLUID 1 Ltr, 2 Ltr

 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Deep green medicated fragrant biocidal liquid surfactant

 

HEALTH HAZARD Skin None known

Respiratory None known Eyes None known

FIRST AID Wash affected areas with copious of water

 

INGESTION Drink water

 

FIRE HAZARD None

 

SPILLAGES Dilute to drain

 

Blue Diamonds Environmentally Friendly Toilet Fluid is an extremely safe product unaffected by temperature change. Non-corrosive towards metals, glass, plastic and painted surfaces.

 

Use as directed on container label, with slight adjustments for particular applications.

 

Transportation handling and storage – no special precautions are necessary.

 

Has anyone any knowledge of what's in these things?

[Neil2]

It is extremely difficult to find the active ingredients of the 'green' toilet fluids. When I last tried, a name of a chemical was produced by a mate whose speciality was decontaminating cruise liners after outbreaks of Norwark virus (well, we've all got to make a living). However, the name was so long and unmemorable that it's disappeared.

 

I've managed to dig up the Health & Safety sheet of one product, though, and am quite surprised at how harmless they think it is, especially the item I've highlighted:

 

 

 

Has anyone any knowledge of what's in these things?

 

That particular product has POLYMERIC BIGUANIDE HYDROCHLORIDE as its main constituent.. It's a sanitiser used extensively in hospitals etc but is more environmentally friendly than formaldehyde.

 

It is important to observe the dilution instructions for all these holding tank products. Too much and you will get the "pickling" effect some have remarked on, also it raises the concentration of formaldehyde beyond a safe disposal dilution. If you stick to the recommended dilition it should result in a formaldehyde dilution of less than 0.01% which is a safe level for discharge into a mains sewer.

[Tiggers]

I have just been involved in a health and safety update at a marina, and the item that took up the most of our time over EVERYTHING was blue. It is a carcinogenic as so very potent. Saying that, I do still use it in my cassette, never had a problem. If you get the stuff on your hands though, they dry up and flake almost immediately

[Nightwatch]

Now, bare/bear in mind that I was drugged up to my eyeballs and suffering hallucinations and so on. When I was recovering from an eventful heart op with complications I had a tracheotomy installed to help with keeping me alive. When the nurses decided that it was time to have the tube(s) removed they tested to ensure that the holes weren't any more, I had a drink of what I can only describe as smelling, looking and tasting like 'loo blue' Not that I regularly take a nip of the stuff.

 

As I say I wasn't very well at the time but all you health professionals out there, is there something like loo blue but with a different identity used for such a purpose?

 

Perhaps this should have gone onto Fuzzy's problem page as it really playing on my mind. I do realise I am opening myself up to some psychiatric advice and assessment.

 

Martyn

[GUMPY]

OK, it's nothing like as bad as the Thames, but the Cam sees a great deal of use downstream of the tripboat's mooring, and downstream of most moorings, by people of all ages from about 8 or 9 years old upwards, the thought of being splashed with the contents of a mass tank dump isn't a pleasant one.

Indeed which is why its better to do a little at a time and not all in one hit.

[ditchcrawler]

The main purpose of using chemicals is to break down the solids, only really necessary when the tank is gravity fed as in dump through.

 

Keith

In 11 years I have only ever used "Blue" once in our tank with a drop through loo and that is the only time I have had problems with solids when having a pump out. A tank normally lasts the two of us 3 weeks.

[i love my narrowboat]

We put yeast in our tank, although I don't know whether it would have time to work in a cassette.

 

 

I have heard of several people putting yeast in. I think I may give it a go, but as Joe has the honour of emptying our cassettes I will get the outcome from him.