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Toilets, the big discussion


dominicebs

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So pump-outs don't stink when you empty them? Yeah right... I've done enough of them to know that they do, and the stink goes on a lot longer than when emptying a cassette. Also spraying yourself with shit is entirely possible with a pump-out too - it happens to people all the time.

 

I use Odorloss in my cassette, not blue. My cassette is vented and my bathroom doesn't smell. You are misinformed when it comes to the features of some modern cassette toilets.

 

These toilet discussions probably won't ever convince users of either pump-out or cassettes as to the superiority of the other. As long as we are satisfied with whatever equipment we choose then that's fine. As for myself, I used to own a boat with a pump-out and now I own a boat with a cassette, so I've lived with both for several years and I know which system I prefer.

You're cassette is vented!!? Vented to the bathroom rather than vented outside I presume........Yeugh! Thats another tick for pumpouts then.

I'm a recent convert to a pumpout toilet and dont intend to self pumpout. However after an accidental overfill I had to borrow a self pumpout kit from a very kindly boater at Pewsey, and pump out into a foul water manhole using a hand pump. I was amazed how little it stank and the slight farmyard wiff was of sewerage. In sharp contrast to that awful sweetish chemical smell of wee, poo and formaldehide when emptying a cassette which always made me want to gag.

At least we can agree on the benefits of Odorloss, though I'm surprised that a cassette can be vented sufficiantly for it to work properly.

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As for myself, I used to own a boat with a pump-out and now I own a boat with a cassette, so I've lived with both for several years and I know which system I prefer.

 

Ahh me too !! Ive had boats with both kinds and as you understand that cassette is the ONLY sensible option ( tee hee ) I think many newbies and weekenders of say only ten or less years experience may think tanks are better but I have many friends who have been continuous liveaboards for 20/30/40 plus years and with only one exception ( Disability ) they all have porta bog or cassette, usuualy mostly porta potti. Those who think that the odd splash of poo is a fate worth then death have led a cocooned lifestyle probably office based ;)

 

Tim

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Ahh me too !! Ive had boats with both kinds and as you understand that cassette is the ONLY sensible option ( tee hee ) I think many newbies and weekenders of say only ten or less years experience may think tanks are better but I have many friends who have been continuous liveaboards for 20/30/40 plus years and with only one exception ( Disability ) they all have porta bog or cassette, usuualy mostly porta potti. Those who think that the odd splash of poo is a fate worth then death have led a cocooned lifestyle probably office based ;)

 

Tim

 

You got me! :D

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I have just had a chat to a new neighbour, they have just bought a fat boat that a single woman lived aboard on our Marina. After 2 days they found holding tank was full! We have lived opposite this boat for over 2 years and it never moved. I always assumed that she had a cassette toilet, it transpired that she told them she used a drill pump to "skim" the surface liquid from the top of the tank!!!

They were rather taken aback when I pointed out that by now the tank would be full of crap and that they might well have a problem.

Oh and just for the record,our previous boat had a pumpout but now we have a proper bog.

 

Phil

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I just dont understand. Please explain.

So many people, especially livaboards, prefer cassette toilets......they must have a point, but as a livaboard who has had both, I simply cant see the advantage.

The only arguments for a cassette that I can see are cost and the often quoted argument for still being able to empty your toilet when the canal is frozen. That one seems to have been effectively countered by someone pointing out that if the canal is frozen then it's likely that the elsan station will be frozen too. A good point well made, and anyway a spare porta-potti stored on the boat would seem to offer a solution in the unlikely event of the canal being frozen for months at a time.

So what are the advantages of a cassette?.......for the benefit of the OP

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Cost, Flexibility, additional storage space, are some of the things foe me.

 

In addition to the above. We have cruised extensively in our twenty odd years and without arguement ( Can if you like ) there are vastly more locations to dispose of the contents ( elsan points ) than pump out points and although you can go longer with a pumpout there are several points on the system where this can become a problem. As a bye the way we NEVER use shore based facilities, pub toilets etc life is far too short to have to ( plan ) where the loo is concerned. :lol:

 

Tim

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In addition to the above. We have cruised extensively in our twenty odd years and without arguement ( Can if you like ) there are vastly more locations to dispose of the contents ( elsan points ) than pump out points and although you can go longer with a pumpout there are several points on the system where this can become a problem. As a bye the way we NEVER use shore based facilities, pub toilets etc life is far too short to have to ( plan ) where the loo is concerned. :lol:

 

Tim

 

Ah but in that case you miss out on that wonderful, smug feeling when you walk into McDonalds, make a smell in their loo then walk out without buying anything :D

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The only arguments for a cassette that I can see are cost...

Bearing in mind I'm from Yorkshire that is the only reason I prefer cassettes or Porta-pottis.

 

If pump-outs were free then I would have a dump through with a back-up portapotti for the times I am unable to empty the pump-out.

 

Having experienced the filth and mess that self-POs produce when they overwhelm an Elsan point I would never inflict that on anybody so that is not, in my opinion, a "free" option.

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Cost, Flexibility, additional storage space, are some of the things foe me.

Trying to be objective here.

Cost: OK I could see that one, emptying a cassette is nearly always free. It is possible to pumpout for free, but it requires keeping bulky and possibly smelly equiptment on board. The cost of pumping out is I think acceptible for most, given it's (in)frequency, although if you had to pumpout every fortnight cost would be a significant disadvantage.

Flexibility: I struggle to understand this one at all. Emptying a cassette requires frequently transporting a heavy full container to an elsan point. This container first has to be manouvered out of the boat which in my boat required it to be turned on its side causing it to drip a little. This weekly or perhaps twice weekly job is unpleasant and inconveniant and may well result in being splashed with waste. As others have said, a little splash will not hurt you, but why choose that if there's an alternative. The pumpout alternative requires you to take the whole boat to a pumpout station, perhaps on a monthly or bi-monthly basis (perhaps yearly!) where for less than twenty quid the whole pumpout process will be done for you. I rarely find moving my boat a chore but always considered emptying the cassette a chore.

Storage: My tank is less than 200lts and about a 25% of it in the bathroom with the rest under the bed. it occupies about a quarter of the underbed storage space but because it's in the center of the boat (for balence) makes some of the underbed storage more difficult to access. Its a relatively small tank but I imagine ten times the capacity of a cassette. I dont miss that storage space which is a little difficult to access and use anyway. I think a well designed system would place the tank under the floor, using no storage space wotsoever.

 

Sorry not a convincing argument for cassettes for me.

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Trying to be objective here.

Cost: OK I could see that one, emptying a cassette is nearly always free. It is possible to pumpout for free, but it requires keeping bulky and possibly smelly equiptment on board. The cost of pumping out is I think acceptible for most, given it's (in)frequency, although if you had to pumpout every fortnight cost would be a significant disadvantage.

Flexibility: I struggle to understand this one at all. Emptying a cassette requires frequently transporting a heavy full container to an elsan point. This container first has to be manouvered out of the boat which in my boat required it to be turned on its side causing it to drip a little. This weekly or perhaps twice weekly job is unpleasant and inconveniant and may well result in being splashed with waste. As others have said, a little splash will not hurt you, but why choose that if there's an alternative. The pumpout alternative requires you to take the whole boat to a pumpout station, perhaps on a monthly or bi-monthly basis (perhaps yearly!) where for less than twenty quid the whole pumpout process will be done for you. I rarely find moving my boat a chore but always considered emptying the cassette a chore.

Storage: My tank is less than 200lts and about a 25% of it in the bathroom with the rest under the bed. it occupies about a quarter of the underbed storage space but because it's in the center of the boat (for balence) makes some of the underbed storage more difficult to access. Its a relatively small tank but I imagine ten times the capacity of a cassette. I dont miss that storage space which is a little difficult to access and use anyway. I think a well designed system would place the tank under the floor, using no storage space wotsoever.

 

Sorry not a convincing argument for cassettes for me.

 

Gary

 

Just a quick question old bean ( Do you liveaboard or are you a hobby boater ) I must admit if I were unfortunate enough to have to live in my house and only hobby boat then I would probably still have a dump through pumpout bog as it aint so important. As a 24/7 365 liveaboard and many times ccer over the years then it has to be elsan points for me. Tis of course each and everyones choice its just that I am right and you are wrong :lol:

 

Tim

 

Ah but in that case you miss out on that wonderful, smug feeling when you walk into McDonalds, make a smell in their loo then walk out without buying anything :D

 

:wacko: Mcdonalds ye gods !! I couldnt ever go in one even for a free dump !! The food is inedible at best :cheers:

 

Tim

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Gary

 

Just a quick question old bean ( Do you liveaboard or are you a hobby boater ) I must admit if I were unfortunate enough to have to live in my house and only hobby boat then I would probably still have a dump through pumpout bog as it aint so important. As a 24/7 365 liveaboard and many times ccer over the years then it has to be elsan points for me. Tis of course each and everyones choice its just that I am right and you are wrong :lol:

 

Tim

I liveaboard, currently on a marina with elsan facilities and no pumpout facilities but still dont regret changing from cassette to pumpout. I used to CC (on one canal!) when I had a cassette loo, and often had to move the whole boat to the elsan otherwise all the storage space I saved by not having a pumpout would have been taken up with some sort of trolly contraption so that I could tow my poo behind a bike.

I realise of course that you are right and I am wrong, but as your rightness is based on completly bonkers logic, I think I'm comfortable with my wrongness

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What did she do with the skimmings? :wub:

 

Iain

 

Not sure, but hopefully she tipped it down the Elsan which is only 50 metres away from her boat.

The other interesting thing that I noticed was the lack of a Oil emptying pump on the lump, in fact it looks like a Tranny engine as it still has a nice yellow 5 bladed fan attached to it, a poorly marinised engine, in fact the whole boat is a pig's ear as the windows are all over the place and looking at it from a side astern position it really offends the eye. Needless to say it is their first boat.

 

Phil

 

Edited to say just spoke to my new neighbours again and he asked me if I knew someone who could service his diesel boiler, I assumed he meant Ebby,Webby or somesuch but no it turns out the boat is fitted with 240v domestic oil fired boiler, he proudly told me he did'nt need a calorifier, and they dont' have a inverter as the boat is wired for 240 volts. Oh dear what can I tell him as they want to cruise her. I've not been in the boat but suspect that without a very long hook up they wont be going anywhere.

 

Phil (sorry to go off topic)

Edited by Phil Ambrose
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  • 9 years later...

Looking at old threads and found this.  What is the size of normal waste tank ?  I have gone for pump out on my new boat, in build,  as it is a holiday boat and cost of £16 or so every 10 days cruising is fine with me.  This is based on frequency I had on last boat, though am unsure of that ones capacity.  

The new boat has, I think 210 litres.  How long should this last 2 of us ?  At 5 litres per flush, ( am thinking domestic loos here ) that's 40 flushes or so.   

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16 minutes ago, Norm55 said:

Looking at old threads and found this.  What is the size of normal waste tank ?  I have gone for pump out on my new boat, in build,  as it is a holiday boat and cost of £16 or so every 10 days cruising is fine with me.  This is based on frequency I had on last boat, though am unsure of that ones capacity.  

The new boat has, I think 210 litres.  How long should this last 2 of us ?  At 5 litres per flush, ( am thinking domestic loos here ) that's 40 flushes or so.   

You use nothing like 5 ltrs a flush on a boat.  210 is an average size, not big.

Macerator electric loos use too much water, A manual sea toilet uses what you want, same as a dump through ( which I hate )  

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Thanks for speedy reply. 

 

Have been offered 2 options, both with macerator   a  210 litre tank under centre of bed,    2nd option,  25 % smaller tank with identical size tank alongside holding water for flushing,  these both positioned on port side ,   it allows more storage under bed without the need for re trimming as tank fills.   ( one empties and the other fills up thus keeping boat trimmed. )

I like the idea but it does give smaller capacity.  Am thinking forget under bed storage and go for bigger water tank

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Our new build has a 330 litre tank with a macerator toilet. It lasts 21 days for the two of us until the level gauge reads 100% without trying to minimise water for flushing. The toilet uses 1 litre on a small flush and 2 on a large one, but can empty without a flush for liquid waste.

 

On the old boat we did 2 days on a 15 litre cassette toilet, so 21 days would be 160 litres, so the macerator uses a lot more water than the cassette, per Tracy's comment above.

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I have not had a macerator nor have I any desire to have one. I obviously read things on t’internet and it seems there’s not a great deal of support for the system. We have the gloriously named ‘ dump through’ system. Wehave a Porta potti for back up. (Just in case).

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2 hours ago, PeterF said:

The toilet uses 1 litre on a small flush and 2 on a large one, but can empty without a flush for liquid waste.

Likewise on mine.  You can be frugal or not as your circumstances suggest.  Most ladies like proper flushing loos...

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