THE OFFENDER
I suited up with rubber gloves, and towels and two rolls of paper towels and a fan pumping fresh air into the boat. I figured I was ready to do battle with the poop........ I was wrong. EVERY hose has some form of nasty in it. Now these hoses for those who don't know are special hoses. They are designed to keep the smell from permeating through them, thus they are tough. So tough that I could not undo the hose clamps and pull them off the fitting. Nooo I had to cut them. Cutting doesn't sound bad, but I found out that saltwater will crystallize inside these hoses to form a rock, a poop rock if you will.Yea, 1 1/2" hoses restricted to less than 1/2" Did I mention NASTY, NASTY, NASTY? I had to wash the bidge out also as I had some "spillage".
SANITIZED!
Ok, enough with the details or I'm gonna toss my cookies. In the end I won! But I had to take a loooooooong hot soapy shower to get that crap off of me. (Or at least I thought I had crap on me!) I swear I could smell poop for days after in places I normally don't smell poop. I think I was just paranoid that I missed some speck of nasty.
So now its Tuesday I feel clean and I don't smell the poop anymore.
So the plan when I install a new head is to plumb it correct and legal. I will look into somehow keeping the saltwater used to flush the toilet from stinking. I hear putting a seawater strainer helps. But the research and install will have to wait until later.
Now that I think of it my fellow workers kind of shunned me Monday maybe I did miss a spot.....
This post has just made me feel great about our deicision to get an Airhead.
ReplyDeleteWe also had to take apart the existing head that was there and the smell was awful! I never imagined the head would smell any different, but now it does.
Any thoughts to using a composting toilet instead?
Dani
Dani, I have sort of looked into one. It seems that the liquid tank has to be emptied every couple of days. To me that sounds like an issue. Plus I hear of flies and smell when in warm weather. But since you actually have one you would know. I just read and listen, with no first hand knowledge. What your take on them? What issues do you have and what do you like about it? I just think that going with a holding tank would be fine. I just have to keep up on the maintance. This one had not been keep up for about 18 years. So I knew it would be nasty!
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the liquid has to be emptied every couple of days when using it full time. We have two tanks to switch out and so far it isn't an issue.
DeleteNo smell and no flies. If you get it working right you should have neither. We'll see once we actually live on the boat.
I had an airhead in my last boat. I liked it. The ONLY downside to a composting head is cold weather; the composting action stops in the winter. But if you live on a heated boat then no prob, it will still compost. I bought the airhead over the nature's head, it's competitor, because on the airhead you don't have to open it to empty the urine container. Believe me you will have to empty the urine container ALOT with two people - maybe because I drink a lot of beer - your mileage may vary! -Dan, The Seafaring Survivalist (www.seafaringsurvivalist.com)
ReplyDeleteDan,
ReplyDeleteCan you be more specific? How often do you have to empty the liquid, the waste? How many people on the boat, do you live on it? I'm sorry for the tons of questions. I hope you don't mind. I'm still not sure yet. I don't need a head right now so it was pushed down the list. But I am always gathering info. I need to check out your site it sounds interesting!
Composting heads of that small size require very close monitoring as to humidity and amount of pete etc. Insects can become an issue. There is no free lunch. Proper maintainance of your existing head and tank would have prevented the condition that you found it in. Some vinegar and baking soda at intervals..pumpouts and flushing keep heads going without smell for along time. Dont want to pumpout when u should? dont want to flush out and keep valves and vents clean and open then you will suffer.
ReplyDeleteWhat you found in buildup is the result of saltwater and urine. Vinegar , Muriatic acid will remove this. If your tank is large u will find the use of enzymes like in your septic tank will help break down the waste giving you more mileage.
Heads are for waste and single ply toilet paper...nothing else or u suffer.It is not a city sewer system. tissue/femine products/cuetips go in a waste bag not down the heads...or u suffer.
Many people go 5 years without rebuilds smell or issues. the pumps sometimes go but are not a huge issue like clogged hoses.