Holding Tank Location

[gypsylounge]

My name is Ryan and I’m restoring an 83 year old 48’ raised deck cabin cruiser, The “Edmund G”.

The boat is currently in San Francisco but our plans are to bring her down to Southern California this fall where a holding tank will be required. Back in 1926 they didn’t have holding tanks so I’m forced to find a place for tanks and could use some expert advice.
There isn’t a stitch of plumbing on the boat now so we are designing all new systems including our sewage system.
Our current plan is to put a 53 gallon, low and flat holding tank in the engine compartment between our engines. The tank we are thinking about using is a Ronco Plastics B-312 Witch is 72”L X 15”W X 13”H. The thinking is to keep the tank centered and as low as we can get it.
My questions are:
Do you see any fault with this plan?
Are there any disadvantages to having the tank long and flat?
Is there anything else I should consider before continuing with this plan?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Ryan


Large Diagram (http://edmund-g.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/mix-bag/1-006.jpg)

[paladin]

Somehow packing waste between two heat sources goes against my nature....I think I would look into a Lectra-San waste treatment system....

[mmd]

Low and flat is good. Make sure you have adequate access for clean-out - such a miserable job should be able to be done as easily and quickly as possible.

I agree with Chuck (Paladin) about locating the tank near a heat source, though - odors are very difficult to contain, and heat intensifies them and adds to their mobility. see if anothe space can be located for the tank.

[Hwyl]

I think Lectra Sans are no longer a legal alternative in most jurisdictions. I like the Junneau and other french boat systems, where the holding tank is behind the head, there's a suction plate on deck and a seacock directly underneath. You can open the plate and seacock and flush the whole thing out with a hose. It's filled with a macerator pump, from the bottom. The consideable downside is that if the macerator pump goes, gravity is working against you.

[rbgarr]

Usually hlding tanks are more cube shaped so that the effluent drops in through the top, there is a suction tube that draws fron the bottom and the contents don't slosh around excessively. I don't know whether a long, low tank like you are considering will create problems along those lines. As mmd suggests clean-out is an issue also. Cleaning a six foot flat tank may require two cleaning ports if there is a hard buildup (?)

Here are some general recommendations for installation: http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/13.htm

Check the ABYC standards also, especially regarding vented loops, tank vents, heights relative to the waterline, bowl exit and tank head. A boatyard may let you look them over. Contact www.abycinc.org (http://www.abycinc.org) for a list of members nearby, if there are any.

[paladin]

Look for a website by the "Headmistress".....quite a bit of information on heads/systems/locations etc....

[peter radclyffe]

My name is Ryan and I’m restoring an 83 year old 48’ raised deck cabin cruiser, The “Edmund G”.

The boat is currently in San Francisco but our plans are to bring her down to Southern California this fall where a holding tank will be required. Back in 1926 they didn’t have holding tanks so I’m forced to find a place for tanks and could use some expert advice.
There isn’t a stitch of plumbing on the boat now so we are designing all new systems including our sewage system.
Our current plan is to put a 53 gallon, low and flat holding tank in the engine compartment between our engines. The tank we are thinking about using is a Ronco Plastics B-312 Witch is 72”L X 15”W X 13”H. The thinking is to keep the tank centered and as low as we can get it.
My questions are:
Do you see any fault with this plan?
Are there any disadvantages to having the tank long and flat?
Is there anything else I should consider before continuing with this plan?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Ryan


Large Diagram (http://edmund-g.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/mix-bag/1-006.jpg)
its a terrible idea, if it breaks, and engine access

[py]

I second the headmistress suggestion. peggy someone. worlds greatest authority on marine sewage

[Uncle Duke]

Peggy Hall = "Head Mistress"

You might want to find her book "Get Rid of Boat Odors! – A Guide to Marine Sanitation Systems and Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor," - Amazon probably has it....

She is, indeed, the expert.

[Woxbox]

We have a Pura-San, which is much like the Lectra-San, both made by Raritan. http://www.raritaneng.com/
It's legal most places on the East Coast, the exception being a number of small harbors and pretty much all of Rhode Island.
We installed it because the 15 gallon tank that was installed new in the boat just isn't big enough with a crowd on board, and there was no room for a bigger tank. It works and saves a lot of hassle looking for pump-outs. FYI - If we visit an NDZ, we just flip a lever to put the small tank back in action.
And I agree, you don't want to crowd the engine room or cook the sewage. There's also debate whether those plastics will contain the odors.

[gypsylounge]

Thank you to all of you for your suggestions and ideas. The first thing I did was order Peggy Hall’s book – “Get Rid of Boat Odors! – A Guide to Marine Sanitation Systems and Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor." (It’s in the mail.) Then I was able to email her and her response was to read her book. She also mentioned that the shape and size of the tank was ok but she found objection to the distance between the tank and the aft cabin head.

I checked in to a treatment system but all of the Southern California harbors and more importantly Avalon harbor at Catalina Island all have a no discharge policy. From experience the Coast Guard is very strict there.

This location would have been low enough not to obstruct any engine access but I guess I’m back to square one. Not sure what to do. What I would really like to do is put the tank on the starboard side next to the engine. There is a lot of space between the engine and the hull and our engine room is 9’ long so I could get a good size tank. The problem is when the tank is full it would add about 500lb. to the starboard side of the boat causing a list.

I’m not very excited about splitting the system and installing two tanks and two pump out’s and two pumps but that might just be what we have to do. I know there are plenty of boats bigger than ours that have single tank systems. I wounded what they do?

[Jon Agne]

After reading what the exalted Headmistress has to say, go here:

http://www.oceanlinkinc.com/

Then find their holding tank schematic:

http://www.oceanlinkinc.com/images/newdiagr1.gif

They already have patterns for about a zillion different shapes, but if you can't find one, call them. They'll stay on the phone with you while you measure your site.