illegal discharge.

I like go first arguments and I bet the Coast Guard and other powers to be would fully understand what he is saying and drop all their rules on discharging. Absolutely agree.
 
I think most people would be surprised if they new now much "treated" sewer is dumped into our lakes and streams by municipalities and private sewer companies. You only hear a fraction of how much is really dumped - the 300 gallons that flows into Lake Norman from a manhole overflow makes the news, what doesn't make the news is the 10's of 000's of gallons that are legally discharged every day by private sewer and water companies - think the small rural systems that support lakeside neighborhoods. The problem around Lake Norman is not the boats or even the big municipalities, it is the private companies that have failures in unmanned pump stations - that's how 50 or 100k gallons spill over a month or so because no one is watching it. I mean when you flush, whether on your boat, in your house or the lakeside restaurant - it goes somewhere!

So, is it right to discharged your holding tank overboard? Absolutely not, but is that the really problem? Absolutely not. I had always heard that most marinas on LKN quietly put dye randomly in holding tanks, so if the water around your boat turns pink you know what's up!

So should you pump overboard in a NDZ - NO! Is that the real problem in our lakes/oceans and rivers - no.
 
Lol treated? Macomb county dumped like 33 million gallons of raw sewage into lake st Clair this winter


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What if you have a pig on board? is it allowed to go directly overboard or does it have to be trained to use the head?
 
What if you have a pig on board? is it allowed to go directly overboard or does it have to be trained to use the head?
Click to expand...

My understanding is, if you go directly overboard, no problem - ie hang it over the side - perfectly legal. If you go in a bucket, or any other container, then dump it over board, that is a problem, at that point the container you just whizzed in is now considered an MSD and is subject to the overboard discharge laws.
 
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katricol said:
Mark.... exactly. It's feel good "****" because I never dump my holding tank into the water, only into a pump out boat. The pump out boat brings it to the town system,,,,which in turn during a large storm it can't handle, wait for it....dumps it into the water we boat in
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That always amazed me. I think the State was dumping everything from Jones Beach in the Bay for years too. At least that's what the rumor was.
As for me, I use the pump out in the Bay, but if I am out in the Ocean I usually take the opportunity to legally dump. Haven't done it yet with this boat because the seacock is tough to get to, but did it regularly with the old boat because it had an easy to get to "Y" valve.
Then again, I have a pretty strict head policy. It's liguid only except in cases of extreme emergency.
 
A few years ago (2014?) my towns treatment plant was overwhelmed by just 2 or 3 inches of rain over a two day period.
They released an estimated 25millon gallons of partly treat waste into the harbor!!!
Not a one-of event either!

Ever wonder why towns test the beach water quality for swimming??????
Its not the boaters or whales or aliens...it's $$ to upgrade facilities to handle it!
And.....they keep building more and more high rise residential buildings without talking about impact on existing systems that are affected.
 
BillK2632 said:
If you go in a bucket, or any other container, then dump it over board, that is a problem, at that point the container you just whizzed in is now considered an MSD and is subject to the overboard discharge laws.
Click to expand...

Crap... all those years I never knew the Country Crock bucket mom kept under the rear seat in our Stingray for underway relief was so sophisticated :grin:

(of course I say this with a Dometic 972 under the rear hatch of my 185...)
 
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Such a timely thread. The CG Auxiliary was at our marina this past weekend offering safety inspections. As they passed my dock on Saturday I asked if they'd be willing to give me a "pass" if my macerator seacock was still open from winter storage. They said nope, gotta close it and lock it or remove the handle. No exceptions. I understood, thanked them for their time. I'll get 'em next time.

I had a pretty good chuckle as they walked away. Not 200 yards from where my boat is slipped a sewage line running under the Grand River ruptured back in March of this year. During the four days this leak was active it discharged 2,000,000+ gallons of untreated sewage into the river and ultimately Lake Michigan.

On a good year I might need to get pumped out a few times....80 gallons of mostly water? It's almost hard to take this particular law seriously when just a few short months ago we were "barley inconvenienced" by this 500,000 gallons per day of sewage dumped into the river by the city.

Alas....I'll get my safety inspection sticker later this year. Just need to remember to get that seacock closed.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2017/03/no_contact_advisory_from_2m_ga.html
 
I'm always amazed that municipal sewage treatment plants dump bazilloins of gallons of untreated sewage into our waterways and nobody from the EPA or any other gubmint agency even looks askance at that.

But boy, should a boater dump his tank he's in deep sh!t.
 
BillK2632 said:
My understanding is, if you go directly overboard, no problem - ie hang it over the side - perfectly legal.
Click to expand...


I think I have just found a new use for the 'vent holes' in my swim platform.......

cliff
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Municipal Sewage and septage (like from your tanks, or a septic tank) are quite different. Municipal sewage is mostly water. (Not that it makes it right)
 
Gofirstclass said:
I'm always amazed that municipal sewage treatment plants dump bazilloins of gallons of untreated sewage into our waterways and nobody from the EPA or any other gubmint agency even looks askance at that.

But boy, should a boater dump his tank he's in deep sh!t.
Click to expand...

I'd be curious about how hard it is to get away with if you boat on a large body of water (eg, Lake Michigan). Is a lake that size so extremely popular in the summer that you're constantly seeing traffic (and thus they might see a sewage discharge), even if you're 10+ miles from shore in open water?

Even if someone might cross your path, would they see anything? A Shurflo macerator discharge pump is 13 gpm or 1,664 ounces per minute. A boat at 25 mph is covering 2,200 ft/min. That's 3/4 of an ounce of discharge per foot of travel into the turbulent water of a wake, which would presumably mix it up more and make it harder to see.

I don't endorse this, mind you, but it makes me wonder how many people actually do it on larger bodies of water.
 
When I empty my "personal holding tank" it get sucked into the Lake Anna Nuclear Power plant at a rate of 2 MILLION gallons per MINUTE!!! It comes out the other side about 14-15 degrees warmer!
Here's today's stats from the "cold" and the "warm" side of our lake.

temp.JPG
 
I had a friend that ran his macerator discharge line to the exhaust line. That way he would empty his tank while running the boat.
 
mobocracy said:
I'd be curious about how hard it is to get away with if you boat on a large body of water (eg, Lake Michigan). Is a lake that size so extremely popular in the summer that you're constantly seeing traffic (and thus they might see a sewage discharge), even if you're 10+ miles from shore in open water?

Even if someone might cross your path, would they see anything? A Shurflo macerator discharge pump is 13 gpm or 1,664 ounces per minute. A boat at 25 mph is covering 2,200 ft/min. That's 3/4 of an ounce of discharge per foot of travel into the turbulent water of a wake, which would presumably mix it up more and make it harder to see.

I don't endorse this, mind you, but it makes me wonder how many people actually do it on larger bodies of water.
Click to expand...

I know plenty of folks that discharge into lake Michigan and/or the rivers leading into it. Probably more common than most think on bigger boats equipped with macerators...
 
In my book, anyone who discharges their holding tank into the Great Lakes is an asshat. There is a huge difference between relieving one's bladder while swimming, and dumping the contents of their tank into the water, yuge difference.
 
Steve195 said:
When I empty my "personal holding tank" it get sucked into the Lake Anna Nuclear Power plant at a rate of 2 MILLION gallons per MINUTE!!! It comes out the other side about 14-15 degrees warmer!
Here's today's stats from the "cold" and the "warm" side of our lake.
Click to expand...

As long as you aren't dumping mass quantities at the sandbar :smt043
 
sfergson727 said:
In my book, anyone who discharges their holding tank into the Great Lakes is an asshat. There is a huge difference between relieving one's bladder while swimming, and dumping the contents of their tank into the water, yuge difference.
Click to expand...

I suppose. But with all the references here to the millions of gallons already being discharged it's kind of hard to get too excited about it. At least for me...
 
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