Macerator pump out port?

pstew96

pstew96

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My friends house boat has a valve and connection that is directed to the bottom of the boat, could this be for the macerator pump that must surely have been deployed years ago? The boat is 35 years old. And if it is for a macerator, would the macerator have to have anti backup properties? I picture hooking it up and having the water backup into the toilet tank....Frightful!
 
Is there an actual pump with a switch somewhere, maybe a breaker on the breaker board?
The valve, is it a Y valve with one hose going to the bottom of the boat and another going to a holding tank?

Being that it is a houseboat, can we assume the boat never goes 3 miles out in the ocean where overboard pump out is legal.

As far as water backing up into the head (toilet), there is a duckbill at the bottom of the head that prevents backup. If there is any kind of backup, then it's time to replace the duckbill.

FYI, the marine sanitation forum is a better place to ask this question
 
You can’t rely on duck bill to prevent back flow unless the head and tank are at least 18” above waterline Most macerator discharges have a vented loop to prevent back filling the tank.
 
This boat is 35 years old, there are no breaker switches and we have yet to figure out what goes to where, all there is, is a ball valve coming up from the bottom of the hull, no hoses after the valve.
That other forum has been dead for a long time, nobody looks at it.
This guy is planning ocean trips, but I wont be going with him and his toilets tank has practically no capacity so maybe an overboard discharge is needed. A macerator attached to the toilet hose to a thru hull. Bringing that big barge to a pumpout is a hassell...
 
Ocean trip
35 year old house boat
Unused sea cocks

Yep.:: don’t go!!

Connecting a head forndirect discharge, unless locked, is illegal
 
I have houseboats for over 30 years. A houseboat that age most likely did not come with black water tanks. The macerating toilet was mostly likely plumbed directly to standpipe in the hull. The houseboats that age that did come with black water tanks would normally have a valve to direct the outflow from the toilet either to the tanks or directly overboard.
 
Black water tanks have been mandatory for like 40 years to more
 
Do you have any friends who are a little more boat savvy that can crawl around the bilge and can figure out your system?
Do you have a Y valve? Do you have a holding tank? Do you have a macerator? Do you have overboard discharge? Do you have a deck pump out fixture?
FYI, you can have direct overboard discharge without having a macerator pump. A manual pump head with a straight hose to an underwater thru hull doesn't need a macerator pump.
 
Maybe this boat has a similar set up to my 32 year boat. Sealand Traveler 711, they are a fresh water feed toilet sitting a 9 1/2 gallon holding tank, all one unit. They can be pumped out through a deck fitting or they can be pumped out with a macerator over board. I have since removed the y value and macerator from the foward head but the ball value is still there. The macerator for the aft head is still back there. The through hull now feeds the air condition pump.

Good luck
Niles
 
A manual pump head with a straight hose to an underwater thru hull doesn't need a macerator pump.I am weary of connecting to this outlet as I would be afraid the sea water would back flow to the toilet and flood the boat. I don't know if I would trust a anti siphon adaptor. There are 2 thru hull outlets on the side that are capped off, this is an old boat and who knows who did what with these...
 
quote:
Originally posted by pstew96

A manual pump head with a straight hose to an underwater thru hull doesn't need a macerator pump.I am weary of connecting to this outlet as I would be afraid the sea water would back flow to the toilet and flood the boat. I don't know if I would trust a anti siphon adaptor. There are 2 thru hull outlets on the side that are capped off, this is an old boat and who knows who did what with these...

Click to expand...


I didn't mean you should do that, it's something that should NOT be done. I'm just saying the houseboat might be set up like that.
You need someone who knows there way around a boat to tell you just what you have. Right now, everything is just a guess
 
Again connecting Head output directly overboard is illegal. Makes no sense on a house boat which is timely to spend time offshore
 
No I think you may have miss understood, the content of the toilet goes into a tank that sits under the toilet, to empty it, the switch to the macerator has to be switched on in order to pump it out, so that's not illegal, many boats have that accessory. Also I am wondering if this macerator pump has to be primed in order to pump it....
 
quote:
Originally posted by pstew96

No I think you may have miss understood, the content of the toilet goes into a tank that sits under the toilet, to empty it, the switch to the macerator has to be switched on in order to pump it out, so that's not illegal, many boats have that accessory. Also I am wondering if this macerator pump has to be primed in order to pump it....

Click to expand...


OK, you never explained it like that.
Is the head and tank one piece of equipment or is the head and tank separated and only connected by a hose?
When you pump out, where are you pumping to?
Are you pumping out thru a deck fitting?

If you are pumping to a deck fitting, the suction from the shore pump-out should be sufficient to pull everything out without using a macerator pump.

Not giving you a hard time, but you aren't giving us all the information we need.

Again, you need someone who knows their way around marine sanitation equipment to go over this boat and tell you just what you have and how it works.
 
Ok so now there is a holding tank... the question still remiains being a HB. It is illegal to discharge untreated black water overboard in inland waters and within 3nm of land incl all of Long Island sound

My guess is that this is why there is no macerator on the boat...
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

Black water tanks have been mandatory for like 40 years to more

Click to expand...


Most houseboats built for inland lakes prior to 1980 did not have waste water tanks. Most houseboats built after 1980 that did have waste water tanks did not have them hooked up.

I would hazard a guess that at least 30% of all houseboats in the water today are dumping straight overboard.

It is not legal, but it is being done.
 
That must be why it was disconnected, it can't be easy to pilot a house boat out to sea though not impossible, unlikely.

I think the solution is to get a larger storage tank for the smaller tank to over flow to and for him to visit the pumpout stations. The one the toilet is attached to is only about 5 gallons. Maybe another 5 to 10 gallon tank will work.

Thanks guys for the responses!
 
Another 5-10 gal.....I’d go at least another 20-30 gal minimum
 
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