by Dottie
(Florence, SC)
Link to MIC
Houseboat Sanitation Hoses - a permeated hose in the bathroom.
Trying to change a septic sanitation hose that has permeated on our houseboat, and we need some help in troubleshooting the project.
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We recently bought a , 50 x 12.5 Lazy Days Sportsman I/O houseboat. The problem is it has a slight smell coming from underneath the vanity in the bathroom where the hose that leads from the commode to the black water tank is.It also has the same smell in the closet in the bedroom where the filter for the black water tank is, and from the filter, it leads upwards to the exhaust.I just bought a new filter, but I haven't put it on yet. However after talking with Sealand where I bought the filter, I believe the problem may be the hose has been permeated that leads from the commode to the tank.I also believe the black water tank is located under the lower bunkbed that is across the hallway from the bathroom.I don't see any way to go from the commode to the holding tank to change the waste hose. Does anyone have a manual I can use to determine how to correct this, or does anyone know how to do it?Thanks, Dottie in SCWell Dottie, congratulations on your houseboat purchase, and sorry to hear about the odors from the holding tank hoses.When it comes to troubleshooting odors from the head to the holding tank, a systematic approach is generally used.* You'll want to verify that the holding tank is solid and doesn't leak, if not, a replacement is necessary.* Verify that all the hoses and connections are tight and not leaking.* Likeyou mentioned, only hoses that are "sanitation approved" will not permeate the septic smell. Ordinary hoses will eventually transmit the odor and smell.* Holding tanks need a large size venting hose to allow the aerobic bacteria to work properly and breakdown the waste. Many people have great success with holding tank vent filters. * You can install a Odor Neutralizing System for Holding Tanks to help eliminate any foul odors.* One of the simplest solutions is to install a highly effective roof vent to draw out the holding tank odors. These are some of the basics, and unfortunately, the tanks, hoses, connections and clamps always seem to be badly positioned to easily fix or repair. As to where the hoses and tanks are situated on your boat, I don't remember exactly, yet possibly a Lazy Days houseboat owner will be able to help.The only tip I can give is to prepare all the tools necessary, and find someone small enough to crawl around and find the problem, or to hire someone to repair it for you :(On a side note, when the time comes to be emptying or pumping-out the holding tank on your houseboat, the thought of it makes people cringe. There has to be a better way to handle the whole process, and there is, it&#;s a new pump-out adapter designed for houseboats. , hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their houseboat holding tank and hose experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats
Peggie,
Thanks for the reply.
Count me as one of the analytical types. Just because &#;they have always done it that way&#; does not work for me. I subscribe to the &#;Five-whys&#; philosophy; short version: why have they always done it that way?
In this case, one wonders if 1-1/2&#; hose has always been used by the company to which you sold your business because that is what manual flush toilets needed to effectively move solid waste. Could it be that JABSCO uses 1&#; hose because their electric macerating toilets and self-priming waste pumps reduce the solid waste to sludge with sufficient viscosity and push it with enough pressure to move it through a 1&#; hose up the 3 or 4 feet to the top of the holding tank? I think so but was hoping for an expert&#;s assessment.
To answer your questions took another trip to the boat &#;
Based on the drawings in your The New! Get Rid of Boat Odors book, I have a JABSCO QuietFlush. It is original equipment on the Hunter 38. Fortunately for me, when we purchased the boat in October , the boat had hardly been used (original plastic wrap on the range, 110 hours on the engine, for example). The toilet works quiet well, drawing water from the onboard freshwater tank, or when docked from the marina&#;s freshwater line (filtered).
The entire existing hose line length, including the loop in the 1&#; hose at the toilet (ref page 50 of your The New! Get Rid of Boat Odors book), is approximately 15 feet, erring on the high side. The base of the toilet is approximately 15-inches below the base of the holding tank, and approximately 4-feet below the top of the holding tank where the hose from the toilet enters.
The loop in the 1&#; hose does not, as your book indicates, rise to a level above the input to the holding tank. I will correct that situation when I replace the hose by running it as high as I can get it then back down to the tank. As &#;&#; so flexible it can be bent almost as tight as a hairpin without kinking&#; translates to 3.2&#; radius for the Raritan SaniFlex Odor Shield hose; a factor in putting that loop in a tight space (~10 inches of space needed for a 180-degree bend).
Regarding your comment that there should not be any sludge in the hose if the toilet is flushed properly &#; I wholeheartedly agree, with one exception. The Hunter manual states (for electric macerating toilets), &#;&#; a minimum of 1 gallon to rinse urine completely out of the machinery, a minimum of 3 gallons [to] clear solids and paper. Insufficient flushing shortens the life of the motor and macerator.&#;
The exception, based on the original configuration with the plumbing, had the valve for the overboard discharge at the macerator pump (~9&#; of 1-1/2&#; hose). The first tank full of waste (perhaps in ), had the solids settle in that 1-1/2&#; overboard waste hose, which had never gone overboard due to the regulations on dumping. That waste broke down over time but sat there for perhaps 9 or 10 years. That was beyond the permeation limit of the original hose &#; and was just the job you might imagine when I removed that hose last fall and closed off the holding tank where I am showing the new valve location in my updated diagram. I will be putting in that valve, 1-1/2&#; hose, and macerator as the boat, though based where no dumping is allowed, will find its way to the Atlantic Ocean and may need overboard dumping (where allowed).
As an analytical type, I calculated the volume of water/sludge in 10 feet of 1&#; and 1-1/2&#; hose; more than twice the volume in 1-1/2&#; hose (0.41 gal vs 0.92 gal). Calculating the flow resistance between the two diameters can get quite involved, especially since I do not know the viscosity of the sludge coming out of the macerating toilet.
Again, thanks for your assistance.
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