Shore power. Shore water. Why not shore sewer?

HomePort

HomePort

New Member
Nov 27, 2012
284
Rock Hall, MD
Boat Info
2015 Prestige 550 Fly
Engines
Cummins QSC 8.3 / 2x600CV + Zeus
Seriously. Why can we plug into shore power and connect to shore water but we can't hook up to shore sewer?

As anyone seen anything like this?

- Michael
 
How would you plumb a boat for that? How would you plumb the dock?

How would you feel when the neighbors sewer line backed up and flooded the dock and slips?
 
I would think it has something to do with the legality of handling raw sewage. Imagine the ramifications if a sewer pipe/hose running along the underside of the dock breaks... or a boat owner doesn't connect the boatside fittings properly... or what if a boat owner pulls away from the dock without disconnecting the sewer line? It's not like it hasn't been done before with water lines or electrical lines. Interesting thought, though!
 
You need to get your boat unwrapped and take a ride - you have too much thinking time on your hands :)

But it would be convienent, especially with a wife and 2 daughters that don't like using public toilets.
 
We have two options: pay a fee and an attendant does it by boat, or free use of the marina's portable machine that we connect between our boat and the slip-side outlet and pump away. So we do have sewage pipes all the way down the dock, but I can see the others' points about potential risks with permanent or semi-permanent hookups.

First Mate prefers having it done when we get fuel, or to do it himself with the slip-side unit....the attendant is well known to be less than thorough. :smt009 :smt013
 
Given that some people have trouble remembering to disconnect shore power when leaving the dock - you could imagine what would happen with shore sewer. :grin:
 
Just pee in the sink. It's the same as peeing overboard, but no one sees you do it. :thumbsup:
 
I do see the issues that would arise but we have put autonomous vehicles on Mars. I've got to imagine we have the capability of figuring out how to hook up a boat directly to the sewer system. Running electricity to boats is extremely dangerous if not done properly but we've figured out how to do that without killing too many people.
 
We have pump-out systems built into nearly every finger dock. There's a "trap door" about 3/4ths the way down the floating docks. Inside is a hose and a Vacuflush pump connected to a converter. In the summer both boats on a dock share it, but it's not uncommon for winter boaters to leave the hose hooked up for months at a time. The pumps are on the weak and slow side, but you can't beat them for convenience. Last fall the unit in my dock was dead, so I had to move to the next slip to pump out. I caught myself being irritated at the inconvenience of have to move the boat over 15 feet. :)
 
Our Marina is split into two areas, one has sewer hookups. It is a pump out style, one day a week your tank is emptied. Other side has free pump out the gas dock. There is a system of check valves to prevent back filling your tank due to a obstruction.
 
HomePort said:
I do see the issues that would arise but we have put autonomous vehicles on Mars. I've got to imagine we have the capability of figuring out how to hook up a boat directly to the sewer system. Running electricity to boats is extremely dangerous if not done properly but we've figured out how to do that without killing too many people.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with you more in regards to "should" be able to get it done. It's definitely a good "food for thought" type of question and one that I've never even thought of before. Without knowing all the ins and outs of what's legal and what's not, I suspect that's the entire reasoning. But, let's skip past that for now... even though it's probably a HUGE hurdle to overcome as I'm sure the EPA would be involved... which of course would then likely mean more insurance premiums for the marina.

So how could it be done? Obviously the "infrastructure" would be some type of pipe system along the docks. But would the entire pipe system be under vacuum, or would there be a different type of discharge system on the boat? Would there be some type of combination of the two? Would we keep the current location for the discharge/pump-out fitting on the boat? If the discharge system on the boat is changed, would every single marina have to also revamp their "collection" system? I don't have the answers, but these are some questions that are going through my head. It's a great "what if" question!
 
I'm sure there's a better mousetrap just waiting to be thought of. We have in slip pump out, but the limitation is the pump at the head of the dock. The system is designed to pump one boat at a time on each dock. With this infrastructure it makes sense to connect one boat at a time. If 50 boats were all connected, they would need much bigger pump capacity and much bigger pipes running the length of the dock. Current system works great for me, but I'm also not one to use the water hookup except to fill my tanks. Shore power yes, because it's cheaper than running the genset.
 
RollerCoastr said:
We have pump-out systems built into nearly every finger dock. There's a "trap door" about 3/4ths the way down the floating docks. Inside is a hose and a Vacuflush pump connected to a converter. In the summer both boats on a dock share it, but it's not uncommon for winter boaters to leave the hose hooked up for months at a time. The pumps are on the weak and slow side, but you can't beat them for convenience. Last fall the unit in my dock was dead, so I had to move to the next slip to pump out. I caught myself being irritated at the inconvenience of have to move the boat over 15 feet. :)
Click to expand...

Very cool!
 
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