blue for de loo

[Guest]

Hi guys n gals, any suggestions welcome, how much blue should we put in the holding tank, think the tank holds about 30 gals 'so iv'e been told' cheers

[Jim Riley]

Heard tell you can put a sachet of yeast in. No blue chemical. Just don't drink the resulting brew. Without ice!

[Nightwatch]

We don't use blue. We use odourlos. Have done for a year or two. Seems to work well. Not brave enough to try yeast or bio soap power.

 

Martyn

[stagedamager]

Elsan blue is 60ml for every 10 litres. Not sure about others.

Regards

Dan

[Up-Side-Down]

Hi guys n gals, any suggestions welcome, how much blue should we put in the holding tank, think the tank holds about 30 gals 'so iv'e been told' cheers

 

A holding tank, unadulterated with any additive, and left to its own devices is the biologically sensible way to go! My 80 gallon holding tank has been in continuous use now, without any form of additive, for 16 years and never smells. It is vented through a charcoal filter in the hull which is supposed to be changed every year or so but as there is never any odour emanating from it, the replacement still sits in the cupboard with the spare oil and fuel filters!

 

If blue has been added to your tank in the past it might take a wee while for the natural bacteria to re-establish themselves but over time I'm sure they will.

[Richard10002]

Not sure "guys and gals" is PC anymore?

[ditchcrawler]

Not sure "guys and gals" is PC anymore?

Maybe its Mac

[Peter X]

In fish tank filtration the bacteria population, once established, works on the basis that there is a regular supply of raw material for it because the amount of fish in the tank doesn't change suddenly. So in theory I would expect the natural method, as we might call it, to work in a boat holding tank so long as the loo gets used fairly regularly, e.g. for a live-aboard. But if not used for a long period, e.g. parked in a marina over winter while the owner goes off into bricks and mortar, maybe the numbers of bacteria would decline, then fail to cope in the spring, resulting in a pong for a while until the bacteria multiply again? I'd expect more of a problem if you start the spring off with a boat full of people for a weekend...

 

That's a theory, but does that happen in reality?

[Tony Brooks]

Not in my experience but I suspect the colder temperatures tend to suppress microbe growth. However when using nothing or any of the biological type additives one is seeking to suppress the anaerobic bacteria that make the smells and encourage the aerobic ones that do not.

 

Personally I would forget blue and move to any of the biological additives such as has been mentioned or Biomagic, New Blue Loo Company (that one is blue if you feel you need blue fluid), and so on. I have not had much success with the "natural" type Elsan liquid.

[Machpoint005]

We don't use blue. We use odourlos. Have done for a year or two. Seems to work well. Not brave enough to try yeast or bio soap power.

 

Martyn

 

Another vote for 'nothing at all'. We have a macerator system - don't know if that makes any difference to the rapidity of breakdown.

[Guest]

Not sure "guys and gals" is PC anymore?

Thanks for the replies, Not sure the above is relevant to the question asked! As I am concerned it is a friendly greeting.

 

We are using 'blue' as it was suggested & used when we bought the boat, we are still new to NBs we live on full time & pump out every 3 weeks, we were not sure if we use the correct quantity, cheers.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Guest

[Tony Brooks]

Thanks for the replies, Not sure the above is relevant to the question asked! As I am concerned it is a friendly greeting.

 

We are using 'blue' as it was suggested & used when we bought the boat, we are still new to NBs we live on full time & pump out every 3 weeks, we were not sure if we use the correct quantity, cheers.

 

Conventional blue "preserves the turds" and is not good at killing the anaerobic bacteria in the longer term. It may be OK on a hire boat with weekly pump outs or more but once you extend the time you seem to get smells. We all used to use blue before the biological treatments became available and we understood more about the biological action in holding tanks as opposed to bucket and chuck its. Even if you are using the correct amount of blue you are still likely to get smells, especially once the weather warms up.

[Guest]

Conventional blue "preserves the turds" and is not good at killing the anaerobic bacteria in the longer term. It may be OK on a hire boat with weekly pump outs or more but once you extend the time you seem to get smells. We all used to use blue before the biological treatments became available and we understood more about the biological action in holding tanks as opposed to bucket and chuck its. Even if you are using the correct amount of blue you are still likely to get smells, especially once the weather warms up.

Thank you for that Tony, easy reply to understand, will change treatments. Many thanks.

[Woodstock]

Thank you for that Tony, easy reply to understand, will change treatments. Many thanks.

Just a thought-It may take a while to optimise your tank as any blue residues remaining after you pump out may knock out the good bugs in the bio products- so you may need to use more Bio product initially. We use odourless in the tank and ecover for the bowl and rim- we did have a few whiffs initially- not sure what the previous owner used though, but much better now

Edited May 20, 2015 by Woodstock

[Tony Brooks]

Thank you for that Tony, easy reply to understand, will change treatments. Many thanks.

 

Just remember it may take months for the last vestiges of blue be diluted sufficiently to stop it interfering with the microbes. During this period you are likely to get smells, but it will gradually settle down. When you are using a biological fluid the normal procedure is to dose as per the instructions and then if it starts to smell add more to encourage the aerobic bacteria.

 

It is also good to get a free flow of air across the surface of the effluent. Ideally the tank will have two large diameter breather pipes of say 1" ID or more. However few boats are built like this. I added an extra 22mm breather to my tank. The less air you can get into the tank the more likely you are to get smells.

 

If your toilet is a dump through it may help to fabricate a metal box to house a 12V computer fan that will extract air from the tank. this helps prevent the waste dropping into the tank displacing and gasses back up through the toilet. It is even more effective with a second breather. I control my fan with a push button pneumatic "hall" light switch.

 

If its a maccerator of vacuum toilet it is important to ensure the flush delivers sufficient liquid to allow the solids to be submerged otherwise some smells could result.

[Naughty Cal]

We dont put anything in our tank.

[J R ALSOP]

I wouldn't worry about how much blue or whatever you put in, someone I know sat on the loo and went straight through the top of the holding tank. I have seen a lot that rust from the inside out. One person even having to have a large plate replaced in the hull side as it was a integral tank.

[Woodstock]

We dont put anything in our tank.

Not even wee?

[OldGoat]

Is the addition of Blue to a holding tank a recent phenomenon? Or just because it gets an airing on these for a?

(I ask 'cos my marina had to switch from a filter bed to lorries because folks started to use Blue in their holding tanks. Consequently the price of a pump out session has almost doubled.

 

FWIW before we discovered odorloss and yeast - we bubbled air through the tank (had to switch it off in locks...) - and all it did was to leave an unpleasant smell as we went along our progress.

Just thought it might amuse...

[Jim Riley]

A campsite I went to in North Wales has a cesspit, they insist on bio in the cassettes cos formaldehide blue kills the bugs.

[OldGoat]

A campsite I went to in North Wales has a cesspit, they insist on bio in the cassettes cos formaldehide blue kills the bugs.

A load of poo in a tanker is treated as hazardous waste - hence the increased cost of my pumpouts.

Whereas the volume of waste in cassette systems is small (what is already in there recirculates), so the cost of processing is less. In a pumpout system you're adding fresh water as flush.

 

Methinks folks are too 'precious' nowadays and throw wobblies as the slightest of smells whether of ordure or even cooking.

Boating is only one step away from basic camping......

[Machpoint005]

A load of poo in a tanker is treated as hazardous waste - hence the increased cost of my pumpouts.

Whereas the volume of waste in cassette systems is small (what is already in there recirculates), so the cost of processing is less. In a pumpout system you're adding fresh water as flush.

 

Methinks folks are too 'precious' nowadays and throw wobblies as the slightest of smells whether of ordure or even cooking.

Boating is only one step away from basic camping......

 

Two steps - you forgot about caravanning!

[gazza]

 

Two steps - you forgot about caravanning!

I thought swearing wasn't allowed on here?

 

You could have at least used a few @#£ for those of a nervous disposition

[Naughty Cal]

A load of poo in a tanker is treated as hazardous waste - hence the increased cost of my pumpouts.

Whereas the volume of waste in cassette systems is small (what is already in there recirculates), so the cost of processing is less. In a pumpout system you're adding fresh water as flush.

 

Methinks folks are too 'precious' nowadays and throw wobblies as the slightest of smells whether of ordure or even cooking.

Boating is only one step away from basic camping......

It might be for you but it certainly isn't for us

[Machpoint005]

I thought swearing wasn't allowed on here?

 

You could have at least used a few @#£ for those of a nervous disposition

 

I should have spelt it in French, with one fewer 'n', So, pardon my French.