Peggy,

Last spring, we discussed the idea of a connection between the head
sink drain and head flush intake so fresh water and deodorant could
easily be run through the system. I’m finally getting around to the
jobs I put off all summer.

I decided that having a tee and valve in the sink drain wasn’t a good
idea as it was just an invitation to clogging from hair, etc. Two
valves open would also short circuit sea water unseen to the bilge
sump where it would pump overboard until the battery ran down. The
boat would then sink. Here’s what I did.

I put a tee at the seacock threaded into a second ball valve. This
goes to a four foot length of hose with a female garden hose fitting
on the end. I keep one of those garden hose shut off fittings in the
end in case someone ignores the cable tie and turns the valve on by
mistake. I can also always find the hose shut off fitting if I need
one for some other purpose. The hose tucks up the trunk to the vent
loops so it is above the water line anyway.

To flush the head, I hook up the shore hose with the seacock open.
This gives me an unlimited supply of fresh water as well as back
flushing the intake. Hopefully, the critters growing in it don’t like
fresh water either. By slowly closing the seacock, I can pressurize
the head slightly. Seeing some of the stuff coming out around the edge
of the rim makes me think this is a good idea anyway.

If I do want to use the on board fresh water, the hose is long enough
to reach up into the sink. If I want to run something besides fresh
water into the head, I can stick it in a bucket.

Ever wonder where your head is in relationship to the waterline? The
clear hose makes a great indicator. The waterline on our boat is one
half inch above the rim of the head so I am going to be very careful
about always making sure the seacock is shut off before leaving!
--

Roger Long