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#11
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Amazing little critters, those friendly bacteria! Seriously, thanks for the info. I've been thinking about it since I saw the show (why, I have no idea) and you certainly cleared up my questions. Take care, Eisboch |
#12
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Peggie Hall wrote:
Terry Spragg wrote: I empty mine by...opening the "Port / Sea" through hull valve, closing the vent lines ball valves and then, after donning my lucky shower cap, safety goggles, filter mask and raincoat, pressurise the tank... Suuuure you do, Terry...and you're always offshore at least 3 miles to do it, too. Being offshore has nothing to do with this technical matter. Besides, I do not dump "ballast" casually. When neccessary, I wait for night, and an outgoing tide. The system is capable of the behavoir described, and preserves options, including about a grand in the bank, considering the alternatives. However, on the off-chance that you AREN'T pulling our leg, it may not be the dumbest idea I've heard this year, but it's a contender--an excellent way to crack a tank...or worse. Thank you. I sent you the plans for this system over 3 years ago, I think. You didn't like it then, either. Scaredy cat. I take no offense, it's an understandable fear. I built the tank in poly glass and epoxy for about 50 bucks in materials, plus leftover scraps, etc. It has been pressure tested to a head of 4 feet, with no signs of cracking, or even swelling. It has been frozen to -30 odd degrees, with some water remaining inside, undamaged due to it's shape, in a purposeful test. It's 1/4" thick, except on the top, for a reason. I do not fear a poop bomb in the slightest, especially since, after all, we each harbour hundreds of square feet of internal surface in our gut that are very happy indeed with the presence of semi processed food, the only portion of which being released from our bodies is essentially inert and useless to us except for benign bacteria in healthy people, with most of the active materials being resorbed by the process of ailimentation, upon which our lives depend. The castoff nourishes the greater biosphere, which would perish without it. It is shameful to poison it. We must learn to love our digestive symbiots, as they love and need us. Our lack of success so far is no reason to give up. Our poop is pure gold to the external world, ambrosia to the soil, emotive arguements notwithstanding. Well, mine is, I don't know about yours. This is not an effective method for damaging any reasonable tank or pipes. If it were effective in any wise, that tank would have been due to crumble into dust, anyway, and I would rather watch it explode while purging it than have it disintegrate unnoticed at sea or moored unattended. It gets pumped up to about 4 pounds of pressure on relatively infrequent occasions, so far with no mishaps. You should be wishing me good luck! I'm the guy who actually keeps his pooper through hull closed, most of the time. As a roadie tech for rock 'n roll bands including my own, I, and all of similar ilk, agree that if it's easy to break, I don't want it anyway. Bust it if you can. Be prepared. Those with an interest in commercially "legal" current defecatory receptacles have an interest in maintaining the status quo, and press their disagreeable cases to the maximum extent so as to protect their market share. Peggy, I believe you are a little conventional in this regard, having at least a personal bias, apropo simple habit and possibly genuine misplaced concern and fear for my health. I *am* pulling whatever legs are presented, in that I do not bother with the personal protective gear to which I previously alluded. It is unneccessary. The rest is truth. The system works, is independant of the scandals revolving around marina suction style pumpouts, regulations and availability, and is convenient and cheap. Millions of RV users dump out at mall plazas, every year. Why not my boat? What I really need is a pipe thread cut into the pooper through hull and a chunk of old firehose, for max convenience and lowest pressure dump. I see no reason why I shouldn't use my boat and it's facilities on it's trailer as an RV. How do most boaters handle their head's effluent problem? Thousand dollar "legal" chewy pumps in stain-less steal, rotting in their personal plumbing miasmas, with few pumpouts available, many of those broken, or of restricted availability, or expensive? Most cannot dump out cheaply, easily or freely at a mall RV plaza, but with this, they could. Our local mall has dozens of RVs parked in the parking lot every morning, waiting for the mall doors to open. The stupid and inhumane failure of downtown authorities to provide adequate public facilities for fear of attracting "undesirables" has promoted suburban retail malls to premiereship in the mass travelling shopping public market, even amongt those who travel on foot. Where do the homeless "go"? Need we, should we, restrict this freedom to wander at will, forcing them into "homes" and lifestyles they do not want? Tourism is one of the leading leisure industries ashore, but is not so easy afloat. Most boats are small, not yachts, and all require that some form of facilities be available. I offer a system that could serve conveniently and cheaply those who would enjoy such an advance. Nobody promotes it because it does not offer them a way to bilk the public. I prefer to deal reasonably and responsibly with my boat's effluent in my own way. Damn the torpedoes! Fame as an unsuccessful poop bomb builder is better than no fame at all. Terry K Wow! Sure feels good to vent. -tk |
#13
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Eisboch wrote:
Amazing little critters, those friendly bacteria! Seriously, thanks for the info. I've been thinking about it since I saw the show (why, I have no idea) and you certainly cleared up my questions. You watched it for the same reason I was so fascinated with the one they did on airport runway construction and how much different and more complex it is than highway construction...and remember it every time I fly anywhere. Also love the one they did on the west coast coastal highway and bridge construction. Why? D'd if I know...it's just interesting. -- Peggie ---------- Peggie Hall Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987 Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor" http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/p...40&cat=&page=1 |
#14
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Terry Spragg wrote:
Suuuure you do, Terry...and you're always offshore at least 3 miles to do it, too. Being offshore has nothing to do with this technical matter. No...but it is a legal matter. Environmental concerns MAY be debatable...but all it takes is one person who objects to your actions to see you doing it to bring you to the attention of law enforcement...and that can cost you BIG bucks. Besides, I do not dump "ballast" casually. When neccessary, I wait for night, and an outgoing tide. The system is capable of the behavoir described, and preserves options, including about a grand in the bank, considering the alternatives. However, on the off-chance that you AREN'T pulling our leg, it may not be the dumbest idea I've heard this year, but it's a contender--an excellent way to crack a tank...or worse. Thank you. I sent you the plans for this system over 3 years ago, I think. You didn't like it then, either. Scaredy cat. I take no offense, it's an understandable fear. I built the tank in poly glass and epoxy for about 50 bucks in materials, plus leftover scraps, etc. It has been pressure tested to a head of 4 feet, with no signs of cracking, or even swelling. It's not necessarily your tank I worry about...it's what's likely to happen to the typical tank on most boats if the same idea were applied to it. Those with an interest in commercially "legal" current defecatory receptacles have an interest in maintaining the status quo, and press their disagreeable cases to the maximum extent so as to protect their market share. Peggy, I believe you are a little conventional in this regard, having at least a personal bias, apropo simple habit and possibly genuine misplaced concern and fear for my health. I have no personal biases, nor concern for your health either...and have always been open to new ideas. My only concern is whether they'll work for at least 99% of the boating population. Too many boat owners don't even know how to flush a marine toilet correctly, and think replacing the joker valve is the solution to every toilet problem including a blocked tank vent...they don't even know what "head pressure" means--they think it has something to do with the toilet. Besides, why anyone want to go through all that instead of just opening a thru-hull and pumping a manual pump about 4x is a mystery to me...unless you just want to be different. Btw...manual and electric overboard discharge pumps are either bronze or plastic...I've never seen a metal one. And as for pumping out at an RV dump station...plenty of trailer boat owners do it. It's a relatively simple matter to replace an overboard thru-hull with one that's threaded to accept a macerator pump or hose fitting...the rest is easy. Wow! Sure feels good to vent. -tk Even though little of it had to do with the subject. -- Peggie ---------- Peggie Hall Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987 Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor" http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/p...40&cat=&page=1 |
#15
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On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 04:58:33 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote: Terry Spragg wrote: I empty mine by...opening the "Port / Sea" through hull valve, closing the vent lines ball valves and then, after donning my lucky shower cap, safety goggles, filter mask and raincoat, pressurise the tank... Suuuure you do, Terry...and you're always offshore at least 3 miles to do it, too. However, on the off-chance that you AREN'T pulling our leg, it may not be the dumbest idea I've heard this year, but it's a contender--an excellent way to crack a tank...or worse. I have an old boat which came with a y-valve so the holding tank could be bypassed. I changed that so the head always flushes into the tank. I then put a T in the pumpout line with a bilge pump on the new branch leading to the former dumping seacock. When over 3 miles offshore, which is frequent for us, I just open the seacock and pump. Shoreside pumpout works normally, holding the check valves closed in the bilgepump. Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a Does one child rape really change Strom Thurmond's lifetime record? For better or worse? |
#16
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Windjammer wrote:
"Peggie Hall" wrote Btw...manual and electric overboard discharge pumps are either bronze or plastic...I've never seen a metal one. Wow! I thought bronze was a plastic Ooops...typing fingers got ahead of my brain! I means to say I'd never seen any made of any OTHER metal. Salt and urine are just too corrosive for any metal except bronze to survive very long. -- Peggie ---------- Peggie Hall Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987 Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor" http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/p...40&cat=&page=1 |
#17
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Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote:
On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 04:58:33 GMT, Peggie Hall wrote: Terry Spragg wrote: I empty mine by...opening the "Port / Sea" through hull valve, closing the vent lines ball valves and then, after donning my lucky shower cap, safety goggles, filter mask and raincoat, pressurise the tank... Suuuure you do, Terry...and you're always offshore at least 3 miles to do it, too. However, on the off-chance that you AREN'T pulling our leg, it may not be the dumbest idea I've heard this year, but it's a contender--an excellent way to crack a tank...or worse. I have an old boat which came with a y-valve so the holding tank could be bypassed. I changed that so the head always flushes into the tank. I then put a T in the pumpout line with a bilge pump on the new branch leading to the former dumping seacock. When over 3 miles offshore, which is frequent for us, I just open the seacock and pump. Shoreside pumpout works normally, holding the check valves closed in the bilgepump. Rodney Myrvaagnes That's about what I do, but I pump it my way, from the top, pushing in air insteasd of pulling out the "ballast." The head always flushes into the tank, unless I open the port / sea valve and close the tank vent lines, in which case, it goes overboard. One is tempted to use a checklist. I suppose it's time to renew the instruction books. It boils down to flipping a few switches in sequence. It could be electrified and made automatic, even put on a timer. Too much trouble. The reason I wanted to do it my way was so I didn't have a pump used for poo lying around, or dedicated to such occasional use, or needing cleaning. Besides, I had all the stuff on hand, except for the plastic vent line ball valves, about 15 bucks. I don't even need clamps on the vent hoses, the pressure is so low the barbed fittings do just fine without them. Non the less, I did install clamps, so stuffing sneakers or whatever into spaces near the tank under the V-berth couldn't pull anything loose. I certainly cannot justify about a grand (Canadian) to "go" the other way. I do not recommend breaking your local regulations, but tidal flushing carries much more than a little natural runoff, not only from pulp mills, farms, and cottages, but also from millions of fish. It's natural, even essential to the ecology, unless it's overdone, say like in Noo Yak, or Bawston. Mind, emergencies are emergencies, exacerbated by a local lack of facilities, indicitive of a lack of local demand or any serious requirement to alleviate messy situations. I am on a mooring with my nearest niegbours a mile away, except for about 50 cows in the shoreside pasture downstream. The saint John river is a very large river, and we are in the tidal estuary. We daysail, except for an annual week or two of cruising. Who would dare suggest I was anything like the problem, well known, of local industrial and municipal polluters? Laws must be enforced equally, not selectively, and town and cities seem to get away with it every time it rains hard. It would be discriminatory to chase me and not the local mayor, knowing, even designing the undersized systems they use to save money. Would it be reasonable to declare an entire city unfit for habitation because of inadequate sewers? That is the logic of it. I cannot understand how "ethical" politicians can pass such stupid laws. Perhaps they are hoping someone will sue, so they can justify raising taxes? I have a right to campaign against them and their hypocritical "conventional wisdom." I believe we must all adopt different methods ashore, like composting toilets, or some uncommon better ideas. This would relieve legal pressure on boaters to defecate legally over the side. What the hell are national banks for, if not to finance common defense against enemies like disease, and internal stimulation of local industry, while improving infrastrucure, or mental health? Who cares if the price of imported oranges might rise? Terry K |
#18
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Windjammer wrote:
Peggie, I agree that this would not work for everyone, but it is not that bad an idea. Many holding tanks would be capable of handling a small internal pressure. In my own case, the tank is solid fibreglass with a 1/2" well secured "Starboard" cover. A calculation would have to be done on the cover because it is the weakest part - It is well secured around the edge, but does span about 30" in places. The fibreglass part of the tank is as strong as many small boat hulls and well capable of handling some pressure. My tank will self drain to about 1/3 full which leaves about 10" to displace - this would take a pressure of about 0.36 psi to empty. I imagine that many tanks see a higher vacuum than -0.36 psi when being pumped out, so would probably handle this quite easily. To do this, I could stuff a little putty or ?? into the vents, then use a cheap air pump with a gauge to slightly pressurize using the pumpout connection. All this of course while offshore only! Terry may or may not have been serious, but sometimes there are good ideas that don't follow conventional practices. Keep an open mind - A system designed to work this way would eliminate the need for a macerator pump - one less expensive electrical item to go wrong. GM I'm very serious, except for the requirement to wear protective gear. I take it you calculated your pressure requirement. I was unable to measuer the pressure requirement with my tire gague, it's so low. I used plastic ball valves in the vent lines and a shraeder valve "line flush adapter" RV accessory for the air connection, screwed into an automotive radiator flush adapter. The first time, I used wooden tapered plugs to seal the ventlines, another piece of equipment every boater should carry. The cost of a macerator pump is, of course, the main motivation. Terry K |
#19
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Peggie Hall wrote:
Hi Eisboch... I have been using Raratan KO now for a couple of years on my boat and have been satisfied with it. However, the heads are Vac-U-Flush units and I typically have a pumpout every week or so therefore it is hard to judge how effective the KO treatment is. The type of toilet has nothing to do with what happens in a holding tank...the only thing ANY toilet can do is move waste from the bowl to the tank. However, whether pumping out every week makes any difference depends on the size of the tank. Recently I was watching "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel and the show was describing a huge waste water treatment plant. Several large containers - basically huge holding tanks - called "Digestors" are used to process the waste water. The Digestors are charged with live bacteria that eats up the solids - similar to how KO is advertised to work. The digestors were described as being heated to 120 degrees to activate the bacteria. Without the heat it would take years for the bacteria to reduce the solids according to the show narrator. I saw the same show. There are all kinds of bacteria, specifically cultured to accomplish different things.Most can't stand temperatures above 120 F--in fact, 120 F is the temperature at which milk is pasteurized. But there are "hardier" strains specifically cultured to withstand slightly higher temperatures. You also have to remember that these TV shows are aimed at a mass market that doesn't have (or need) an in-depth bio-chemistry education...so it's also entirely possible that the tanks are only heated to 119.7--barely below the temp that's lethal to bacteria...which producers of a show like Modern Marvels would round off to 120. There's enough material in "not all bacteria are the same and how different strains function" for at least two more similar shows! Onboard sewage consists only of organic matter (body waste) and flush water...anything that can do down a drain--including storm drains--ends up in a sewage treatment plant...not only organic matter, but petroleum, chemicals, rubber, plastics...you name it--if it can be flushed down a toilet or a drain, it is...and it all has be broken down and separated as part of sewage treatment. Sewage treatment doesn't completely emulsify everything either...the goal is turn as much as possible into liquid that's discharged...the remaining sludge is carried away to be spread on lands owned by sewage treatment plants. Why do they heat it? Because bacterial activity increases or decreases with temperature...the warmer it is, the more active they are and the faster they multiply, till the temp gets high enough to kill 'em (which is why holding tank odor is more a problem in hot weather than in cold weather). Conversely, the colder they are, the more sluggish they become...going dormant below 40 F. The increase/decrease in bacterial activity/mulitiplication is not a straight line, though...if you saw it charted on graph, it would be fairly flat from 40 F through somewhere in the mid-70's...then start to rise sharply with every degree. So the objective in a sewage treatment plant is to heat the tanks to JUST BELOW the temp that would start to kill the bacteria to make the li'l buggers the most active they can be, to get as much done as quickly as possible. Is Raratan KO effective without heating the tank? Yes. The bacteria in KO multiplies at the same rate as the bacteria in waste...so yes, it's affected by temperature, same as any other bacteria. It's cultured to work at ambient temperature, which inside the tank rises and falls with the temp of the flush water...solar heat or onboard heat warming the boat, or heat from engines if the tank is in the engine room etc. I noticed on the bottle that it warns against storing below 40 degrees... It also warns against storing where the temperature can rise above 110...for instance, in your car or a dock locker in the sun in which solar heat can produce temperatures close to 200 F...even higher. so I assume the bacteria is temperature sensitive. All bacteria is...but when it comes to preventing odor, oxygen is the "key ingredient" at any temperature...which is why those big tanks in sewage treatment plants are also aerated. Further, the bacterial action, similar to composting, generates considerable heat. If the tank is insulated efficiently, it might require cooling of some sort. Making wine is a similar type of thing, and the yeast employed works much better at close to 75 degrees, but dies above 80. Composting can generate a lot of heat, that's why compost heaps continue to work over the winter, even though the outside temperature may be very cold. Terry K |
#20
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WaIIy wrote:
On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 02:30:08 -0300, Terry Spragg wrote: I am on a mooring with my nearest niegbours a mile away, except for about 50 cows in the shoreside pasture downstream. The saint John river is a very large river, and we are in the tidal estuary. We daysail, except for an annual week or two of cruising. Who would dare suggest I was anything like the problem, well known, of local industrial and municipal polluters? Laws must be enforced equally, not selectively, and town and cities seem to get away with it every time it rains hard. It would be discriminatory to chase me and not the local mayor, knowing, even designing the undersized systems they use to save money. All your bull**** excuses don't make it right. Ah, you're just jealous because you can't crap at all. That, or you are a millionaire with a new hypersonic turd disintegrator / steriliser with chrome dust covers on your boat, bought and paid for with your unearned inheritance. Right or wrong depends on what is actually done, not on what might be done. As if crapping near water was some sort of mortal sin! If it is there's gonna be a lot of fish in hell. That's millions of fish. Many millions, and a few stupid people who can't be bothered to really think. You can't blame the fish. I think you all just want to keep the "lower classes" off of the water that you think belongs to you, by making crapping illegal without expensive equipment, inspections and license bribes paid to the cappo dos crappies. Almost every coastline settlement has similar problems caused by inadequate sanitation systems, starved for funding by warmongers. Talk about priority shifts, mission drifts, and exit strategies! The government is supposed to serve the common people, not their rich industrial buddies. Now there's a moral arguement about right and wrong for you, along with the arguement that would require you to do some real original thinking work about these things instead of swallowing the foolishness and lies it is convenient for the "officials" to expurgate down your silly moronic gullet. Don't forget, the most modern humanist teaching sponsored and forced down our kid's throats by social engineering politicians is that there is no such thing as right, wrong, or morals, but only pragmatic circumstances. Wouldn't want to get out of lockstep, would we, now, "WaIIy?" How DO you pronounce that? The topic concerned effective methods of emptying the holding tank, not wether or not is should be criminal to do so in inappropriate circumstances. Poop doesn't make people slip, people stepping in poop makes them slip (and it disturbs the cow patties;-) Did you ever take a ride on a cow pattie? On a real big, fat, dinner plate sized wet and gooey cow pattie with thin skin dried on top? I did, once. It's quite an education, and not toxic at all. I admit to a venting paroxysm, regarding stupid politicians and stupid laws and hypocritical selective enforcement of commercial marina pumpout requirements, but that is all. I do not advocate frequent or careless pollution of my own front yard, or yours. Besides, turds are like vitamin pills for the dirt from which we all spring, upon which we all stand, from which we all eat, and into which we all will return. Proud or afraid, s'truth, it's good for us. We shouldn't misuse it. It has a natural function, undeniable and unavoidable. What is interesting is how come it's OK for 50 cows, herded there by a farmer / feedlot industrialist to crap next to my front yard and in the intra tidal zone, but I may not do the same? The cows don't seem to mind much, and frankly, "WaIIy", it doesn't bother me much, either. It's *only* about 50 cows, mind. I have never noticed any strikingly unusual ****tiness, except from you and a few other silly devils who's names I shall not evoke. I suppose you think it's better to dispense antibiotic poisons along with your fecal contributions to my ecology, thus contributing to the evolution of more pathological frankengerms, while padding the wallets of those drug dealer friends of politicians who would insist I must become addicted to their brand of poison and unneccessary, expensive, mechanical dispensers? They also want you addicted to their "security" and tetracycline "growth hormone" polluted beef. Soon, all cows will be dependant, unable to survive even their own artificially mutated simbiots-cum-poisons, like frankengrains are being developed so natural food will become illegal, even extinct, and more profitable. I am not paranoid, there really is a stew of plots out there. Terry K -Yes, it shure feels good to jest let 'er go regardless, sometimes. Politeness be damned. Y'ever notice how 'polite' and 'politics' seem so similar and dissimilar at the same time? |
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