Toilet Talk

OK, for all you nurses out there this is probably no big deal.  However, as an engineer, someone who barely has to deal with people, dealing with people’s excrement is a bit traumatic.  This is the story of replacing our head (marine toilet) and our holding tank (where things should go when you flush the head).  It happened back in the fall, but I was too traumatized to write the story.

When we bought Kailani the head seemed to work and the holding tank seemed to hold, but when we actually sailed the boat around the south of Florida to our current location we found some problems.  First, a little history - Marine heads got their names from old wooden sailing ships.  The toilet was basically a hole cut in the boat that you could sit on. There were usually two; one of each side of the bowsprit which is all the way at the front of the boat or the head of the boat.  Anything that went in would just fall directly overboard.  It is a little confusing because the bathroom is called the head and the actual toilet is called a head, but we're talking about the toilet for now.  Marine heads do not have a tank like a house toilet does.  When you want to use the head you start by switching a valve to the “wet” position and pumping a handle to push some water into the bowl.  The saying is “nothing goes into the bowl that hasn’t passed through your body.”  Marine heads are notorious for getting clogged and you can’t just call a plumber.  Putting a bunch of paper in the bowl is a sure way to stop it up and the rule is – if you stop it up, you get to unstop it.  So, you do whatever it is you need to do and if you need to use paper, you typically put that in the trash, not the bowl.  Afterwards you pump some more water into the bowl then flip the switch back to the “dry” position and empty the bowl.  Simple, as long as everything works correctly. 

Plaque in our head.

 

The new head.

 

In a harbor the waste goes to the holding tank and offshore the waste just goes straight overboard.  There is a three way switch in the line that allows the waste to go from the head to overboard, from the head to the holding tank or from the holding tank to overboard.  That allows the tank to be pumped overboard when the boat is offshore.  It wouldn’t do to be stuck with a full tank offshore.

When we sailed the boat from the west coast of FL to the east coast we found that a valve on the water inlet had cracked and was leaking.  To get around that problem we used the fresh water shower to fill and flush the head.  That solution worked for a week, but we needed to replace the valve because that fix wasn’t going to work long term.

In addition to the inlet water leaking the head itself was leaking.  We thought it might just be the inlet water, but even after shutting off the inlet water the head was still leaking.  That meant it was waste water leaking out onto the floor.  Yuck.

We had a couple of options at this point.  Option 1 was to rebuild the head.  It was a Groco head, made of bronze, bullet proof and would likely last forever.  On the down side the Grocos are horrible to rebuild and require a vise and special tools.  Option 2 was to buy a new inexpensive head.  It would cost about twice as much as a rebuild kit for the Groco, but it would require very little work to replace.  Also, it would be much easier to rebuild.  Pretty easy choice – we went with a new Raritan head.  It won’t last as long, but they are cheap to buy and easy to rebuild.

Then we had one more problem.  Our holding tank wasn’t holding.  Thirty years ago, when our boat was built, there were no regulations about dumping waste overboard.  Since boats didn’t need to contain their waste they didn’t have holding tanks; everything went directly overboard.  Then in the 90’s most states began requiring boats to contain their waste and use pumpout stations.  So, old boats like ours had to find room to add a holding tank.  The easiest way was to install a soft sided flexible tank.  Those didn’t require any real modification to the boat; just stuff them into the bilge where ever they would fit and you’re finished.  Great solution, but the flexible bags have a limited life.  Ours had passed that limit long ago and everything that went into the tank now leaked out into the bilge.  For those who don’t know, the bilge is the lowest point of the interior of the boat.  Everything drains down into there and is then pumped out by an automatic pump.

Summing it all up, we had a leaky inlet valve, a leaky head and a leaky holding tank.  I started with replacing the leaky inlet valve and the head at the same time.  Since I was going to have to disconnect all the hoses for both jobs I figured I may as well do it once, instead of twice.  We bought a new head, a new valve, new hose clamps and new hoses then went to work.  There was no way to get all the “water” out of the old head, so we double bagged some heavy lawn garbage bags and carefully moved the head into them, tied them closed and got the whole mess off the boat.  The new head fit perfectly and the new hoses and valve went in without a hitch.

Then the fun began.  We ordered a new holding tank, once again getting a bag type because it would fit easily.  Once it arrived I just needed to switch it out with the old tank.  The old tank had leaked waste into the bilge, so I dragged a water hose into the boat and sprayed everything down until the area was clean.  The leaky bag wasn’t empty, but it was as good as it was going to get.  I disconnected all the hoses, opened the boat, cleared a path then lifted the bag out.  It started out well; no drips or spills.  I had to lift the bag up to get it out the companionway and that’s when it happened.  The bag leaked on my hand, down my arm, on the steps and on the floor.  Let’s just say the leak wasn’t urine.  I almost dropped everything right there and ran off the boat screaming and waving my arms around.  Then I realized that if I did that I would still have to get it out of the boat and it wasn’t going to get any easier.  I continued up the steps being careful where I put my feet and making sure to keep all the parts with holes elevated.  I managed to get it off the boat, up the dock and into the trash can without spilling anymore, but I still had it on my hand and arm.  I headed straight to the bathrooms and scrubbed down until my skin was red.  Back at the boat I still had some cleaning to do.  I cleaned so thoroughly three months later there is still a clean spot on the steps.

After cleaning up and recovering mentally I installed the new holding tank bag.  As a water tank it has a five year warranty, as a holding tank the warranty drops to only one year.  That’s not very long and way too soon to think about going through this mess again.  We still haven’t used the new holding tank and we’re not sure if we’ll keep it.  We are thinking about cutting a big hole in the floor and putting in a hard plastic tank that will last for as long as we own Kailani.  I guess that depends on how much time we have after we finish everything else on the list. It would be expensive and messy, but in the long term the benefits may outweigh the trouble.

New holding tank installed and waiting for use.  There are three hoses - one is the inlet hose, one the pump out hose and one the vent hose.  The vent hose is there to allow for expansion; it wouldn't do to have the tank explode.