Lovely boat but no pump out.

[Boat&Bikes]

Hi,

 

Our present boat is the only boat we have owned and has a pump out loo which we like. Looking to change and have found another but has no pump out. We have no experience of other loo types such as this one,its a Thetford cassette. How much hassle is it emptying and roughly how often would it require emptying? Boat is generally just two people aboard.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[Naughty Cal]

If you really like the pump out loo why not just retro fit one to the boat?

[Athy]

Hi,

 

Our present boat is the only boat we have owned and has a pump out loo which we like. Looking to change and have found another but has no pump out. We have no experience of other loo types such as this one,its a Thetford cassette. How much hassle is it emptying and roughly how often would it require emptying? Boat is generally just two people aboard.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

Very little hassle. It becomes just part of the daily routine. You do, of course, have to ensure that a sanitary station is on your route, otherwise you may have to pay to empty the cassette, for example at a marina or boatyard. We manage this with little difficulty: we carry a spare cassette but have never yet needed to use it.

[Alan de Enfield]

How big is the pumpout tank on your existing boat ? (lets say 500litres)

How often do you pumpout ? (lets say every 3 weeks - 21 day)

You are producing about 25 litrs per day.

 

If your tank is 250litres then you are producing 12 litres per day.

 

Work out your own 'production levels' (do a poo-audit)

 

A cassette is 20 (or maybe 22) litres so you can work out how long it will last

 

With 2 adults ours last about 3 days but can be stretched to 4 days if you occasionally use the odd pub toilet or hedge.

 

Emptying it totally hassle-free (the wife does it)

 

Edit to add - having a spare cassette extends us to a week, which means if we dont want to move for a day or two we can 'survive'

Edited May 7, 2014 by Alan de Enfield

[bottle]

and the cassette, when full is very heavy and awkward to carry.

[Athy]

and the cassette, when full is very heavy and awkward to carry.

....which is why many of us have a little folding trolley to put it on if we have to take it any distance to the sanitary station - but you can moor right outside most sanny stations so that is not a problem.

 

I would not say that it's "awkward" to carry - it has a handle after all. It's no more awkward than carrying a small suitcase.

[Dekazer]

Ian, how much hassle it is will depend on various things. I can't remember if you CC or have a mooring. If you're on a mooring with an Elasn, it's very easy indeed. Carry (or wheel on a trolley) cassette to Elsan, chuck contents down Elsan, return to boat.

 

If you're on the move, you are reliant on canal side Elsan points (sanitary stations). The number and condition of these can vary - on the London canals there aren't enough for the number of boats, so they're busy, and they can be unpleasant. Around the system you'll find some good, some bad, and sometimes you won't find one at all. It's worth keeping a spare cassette for these eventualities.

 

To my mind the advantages are: fewer bits to go wrong; easier to fix if it does go wrong; free to empty; can be emptied even when the boat can't move.

 

We've only just got our first pump out (Jabsco) and I confess to being a little nervous about it. I'm sure I'll get used to it though. If they really are that good, you could consider fitting on to your new boat. Would the cost be prohibitive, even if the boat is perfect in all other ways?

[Neil2]

The key to using a cassette loo is, as others have said before, use any opportunity to empty it. Otherwise you end up with a very heavy object, to manoever out of an awkward space and it's also more unpleasant to empty.

[Athy]

 

 

If you're on the move, you are reliant on canal side Elsan points (sanitary stations). The number and condition of these can vary - on the London canals there aren't enough for the number of boats, so they're busy, and they can be unpleasant. Around the system you'll find some good, some bad, and sometimes you won't find one at all. It's worth keeping a spare cassette for these eventualities.

 

 

I think that Waterways' official line is that sanitary stations are situated approximately half a day's cruising apart. Now, that's a moveable feast (if such a word is applicable to such establishments). For a start, boats cruise at different speeds and for different lengths of time each day. Secondly, the spacing of sanny stations is not quite as regular as Waterways would suggest. To take the example of the stretch of canal with which I am most familiar:

 

Banbury: sanitary station.

Cropredy (two hours' journey): sanitary station.

But then...

Napton Bottom Lock (eight hours' journey): sanitary station.

But it gets better...

Braunston (two hours' journey): at least two sanitary stations, possible more.

 

These are all free to use. Half way between Cropredy and Napton there is Fenny Compton Marina which has facilities, but you have to pay to empty your cassette.

 

I don't know if this spacing is fairly typical of CART waters, but I'm sure that people will be along soon to tell me.

[john6767]

and the cassette, when full is very heavy and awkward to carry.

They are heavy certainly, but the Thetford 200 ones are not awkward to carry at all, they are well designed with handles. Other makes/models could well be awkward, but the 200 is the most common Thetford which the OP says that boat has.

 

I have no experience of pumpout, but I would have though the biggest different as has been said is the frequency of which you have to think "toilet". With a pumpout I guess you forget about it for weeks or months, but with a cassette you realistically think about it most days when cruising, and where will the next place be where you can empty it. You need to have more than 1 cassette, we have 3 but treat the 3rd for emergencies only. One cassette lasts the 2 of us 2 days realistically.

[Clifford]

If you were thinking of getting a pump-out fitted, remember when considering costs that there are two types. I don't know which you had before.

 

The lo-tech "dump-through" works much like a portapotti or cassette, except that the tank is bigger, fixed to the boat, and is pumped out through a tube, rather than dragged to a "glug'n'gag" hut. (So nothing like a portapotti or cassette, at all, really). Not much to go wrong, provided visiting kids can be persuaded not to send action man bog-diving or something.

 

The bogs with a blender. Macerator loos whisk everything off through a little tube to a more distant (and bigger?) holding tank (often under the bed, I believe). More prone to blockages than a dumpthrough, and if you have had your breakfast you can read blogs of people donning heavy rubber gloves and getting intimate with crusty washers, valves, tubes and blades.

 

I think you can guess from my totally impartial description that we have a dumpthrough. We USED to have a portapotti (bletch!). I gather that cassettes are less disgusting, but I think the reply above sums it up - it's no bother at all BECAUSE THE WIFE DOES IT.

[bottle]

Well, as far as I am concerned, cassette is awkward and heavy and it is very easy to do ones back in trying to manoeuvre it through the boat.

 

I do have a trolley but is the lifting out of the boat and the lifting up to the disposal point that is the difficulty.

 

I have a pump out, and forget about 'it' most of the time, occasionally look at the gauge and empty every ten weeks on average.

 

Suits me but may not suit you.

[Supertramp]

The cost implications may affect some people thoughts. Pumpouts can cost anything around £10 - £20, maybe once a month or so. Thats averaging £200 a year.

The cassette is almost always free to empty (some marinas do charge, but its easy enough to avoid those with a spare cassette).

 

I'm also not sure I want many gallons of 'poo' stored under my bed.

[junior]

Once you've had a cassette loo you will never want to go back to a stinky pump out.

[WJM]

I have four cassettes and this gives me well over a month between trips to the Elsan empty point. My boat has a cupboard that holds three cassettes. One of the many advantages of cassettes is that you can empty them into a normal toilet if you cant find an Elsan point.

[Magic Potion]

There's a dump through tank on mine but no loo ..... the porta potti does me fine .....

[Machpoint005]

The OP wasn't asking about the relative merits, but wanted to know how much hassle the increased emptying frequency was. This obviously depends on where you are, but before our conversion to macerator it was a right pain finding Elsan disposal points every day -- or at least every other day. We felt that our relaxing days were being dictated by the need to unload waste, which really isn't the primary object of cruising!

[peterboat]

Hi,

For me cassettes are a non starter my old boat had pump out and like you it worked great for me. My present boat had no toilet so I borrowed a cassette to bring it back when I got back the first thing I did was buy a composting LOO a seperate villa it works takes up little room and only requires emptying every couple of months look it it up on tinternet make your own decisions dont listen to them on here poo pooing them as most have never seen one let alone use one!!

 

Peter

[Machpoint005]

Pardon my ignorance, but where do you empty the compost? I could see this working if you had a garden at your mooring, but otherwise surely there's a lot of transport involved?

[Alan de Enfield]

. My present boat had no toilet so I borrowed a cassette to bring it back when I got back the first thing ...

 

 

Are you sure ?

A cassette loo is normally a fixed item (and probably plumbed into the water) and the cassette accesssed thru a cut-out in a wall

Do you mean a Porta-Potty ? (totally different, can be awkward to handle when full)

[MtB]

Pardon my ignorance, but where do you empty the compost? I could see this working if you had a garden at your mooring, but otherwise surely there's a lot of transport involved?

 

The "compost" is a euphemism for dried up sh!t.

 

It isn't compost at all, no matter how much the vendors of these composting loos would like you to think it is.

 

MtB

The key to using a cassette loo is, as others have said before, use any opportunity to empty it. Otherwise you end up with a very heavy object, to manoever out of an awkward space and it's also more unpleasant to empty.

 

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the thing that makes cassette bogs simple and stress-free. Get a couple of spare cassettes. Then there is no need or pressure to be constantly worrying about using every opportunity to empty it.

 

 

MtB

.

[Athy]

 

Are you sure ?

A cassette loo is normally a fixed item (and probably plumbed into the water) and the cassette accesssed thru a cut-out in a wall

Do you mean a Porta-Potty ? (totally different, can be awkward to handle when full)

I think you are splitting hairs here. The lower part of a portable toilet (the part which holds the contents) is surely a cassette also, so "cassette loo" can mean one which is plumbed in (as you describe, and as we have) or a portable one. The principle remains the same: you have to empty it at regular intervals and you do so by taking the part which holds the waste to the sluice, or Elsan disposal point, or whatever you care to call it.

[Supertramp]

The OP wasn't asking about the relative merits, but wanted to know how much hassle the increased emptying frequency was. This obviously depends on where you are, but before our conversion to macerator it was a right pain finding Elsan disposal points every day -- or at least every other day. We felt that our relaxing days were being dictated by the need to unload waste, which really isn't the primary object of cruising!

I can see that if you only had 'one' cassette, you might feel pressured into getting it emptied at every opportunity, however I think that most people with this type of toilet have 2 or more cassettes, (i have 3) and there is NO pressure to find an elsan more than once every week or even two sometimes.

When cruising, we have to stop for water every week, so its no hardship to use an elsan as well.

 

If you are iced in during the winter, or have an engine breakdown or stoppage,, a pumpout is your worst nightmare

[Neil2]

 

The "compost" is a euphemism for dried up sh!t.

 

It isn't compost at all, no matter how much the vendors of these composting loos would like you to think it is.

 

MtB

 

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the thing that makes cassette bogs simple and stress-free. Get a couple of spare cassettes. Then there is no need or pressure to be constantly worrying about using every opportunity to empty it.

 

 

MtB

.

The point I was making is despite the typical capacity of a cassette being 20 litres, you don't want it to get anywhere near that as it becomes a weary exercise to remove it and dispose of the contents. I agree having one or two spares (as we do) makes life easier but only if you cycle them before they get too heavy.

[Clifford]

I wouldn't dream of pooh poohing your toilet!

 

Seriously, we always thought that if we bought a boat with a cassette, we might change it to a 'composting' loo. But now we have a pumpout, so we are still sitting on the fence.