Head System Water Supply

[bjac]

I have a situation that demands a lot of use of the toilet on board. I find that it uses my fresh water supply very quickly while cruising or at anchor. I was wondering if anyone has thought about disconnecting the fresh water supply line for the toilet water supply, and interfacing it after the strainer / filter that also supplies the A/C. That way only sea water would supply the toilet.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[JVM225]

My boat has a seperate through hull fitting to supply raw water to the manual head(toilet). If you really want to have an unlimted supply of water, that would be the way to go.
But, to be totally honest, I keep mine closed, and opt to use fresh water instead. My boat isn't equipped with a fresh water supply line to the head, so I have to use the shower hose to fill the bowl. It's a minor inconvenience, and takes some training of passengers and crew, but it's worth it to me.
The reason I don't use the raw water is because it causes the whole system to smell bad.
After trying just about every odor killing product out there back when I still used the raw water, I decided to give the fresh water a try instead. Presto! No more offensive odors!
I'd check with other boaters in your area who use raw water to see how it effects their systems. If they have no odor problems, then you are in luck and the raw water is the way to go.
If they also have an odor problem, then stick with the fresh water.

 

[swaterhouse]

Are you pumping the waste overboard? Your fresh water tank should have 3-5 times the capacity of the holding tank?

Another option is to fill some 1 gallon jugs (or get a 5 gallon portable water tank).

Introducing raw water into the head will make the smell factor increase, whether its fresh or saltwater, there are microbes in the water that smell when they die. In salt water you get the added benefit that urine and salt like to combine and harden in the pipes!

 

[Bucit]

Are you pumping the waste overboard? Your fresh water tank should have 3-5 times the capacity of the holding tank?A

Not totally true. My 280DA has the same size fresh/holding tank.

 

[trflgrl]

We have raw water pickup and boat solely on a freshwater lake. If you flush generously enough to keep the lines clear, and empty, treat, and clean your waste tank adequately, you can control odor. We don't know the habits of any prior owners, and the head system wasn't in horrible shape when I bought it in spring '13, but we had way more stink at that time; now we rarely have problems. Over the last three summers, we've done multiple fill/rinse/dump/repeat cycles dockside to clear some of the old sludge, and have the recipe for homemade scaling solution so will do that, as well. We took the advice of a couple of marine store folks and others who said to flush a little more than you think you need to each time you use the head, and that has helped, as well, though of course it creates more volume in the waste tank. You'll have to find the balance of how often you're flushing in your situation, plus how long to flush each time to move everything to the tank.

We're prohibited from releasing waste overboard so must pump more often than we did before, but the new routine has improved our boating experience big time. If you have and wish to use the option to dump overboard, you'll be home free.

 

[jason78]

Friend of mine used to have a Chris Craft that pulled the head water from the lake. He had huge issues with odor control.

 

[Creekwood]

Friend of mine used to have a Chris Craft that pulled the head water from the lake. He had huge issues with odor control.

My Campion also pulled lake water for the head and did not have a carbon filter on the vent. It was a manual pump head so not big vacuflush whoosh of air but wow. On a hot still day it was nasty outside the boat. Lake water does raise a real stink. You have to use the formaldehyde toilet stuff to control it. If you leave it untreated it's just horrible.

 

[bjac]

Thanks for all the info guys. Since we don't want to introduce another problem (new smells) I guess my best option is to carry an extra 5 Gal water jug. For info sake my holding tank is 28gals and my fresh water is 40 gals but when you factor in all the little things like dish washing, hands & face etc in the mornings, and other little things, it doesn't take long to empty that 40Gals of fresh.

 

[JVM225]

Thanks for all the info guys. Since we don't want to introduce another problem (new smells) I guess my best option is to carry an extra 5 Gal water jug. For info sake my holding tank is 28gals and my fresh water is 40 gals but when you factor in all the little things like dish washing, hands & face etc in the mornings, and other little things, it doesn't take long to empty that 40Gals of fresh.

I like emptying the 40 gallon fresh water tank on my boat as often as possible. It keeps the fresh water fresher. Although we don't drimk it, I still like knowing that it's fresh and there is nothing growing in there.
Another tidbit of advice: A couple of ounces of chlorine bleach added to the 40 gallons of fresh water keeps it nice and clean in there.

 

[duckmnn]

I also have raw water feed to my head.I break a 3" chorline swim tablet up.I put a piece in strainer and a piece in ac strainer too.Keeps both running clean .And no smell in head.