Grey Water

[Seadrive]

My boat has no grey water holding tanks. We are looking into installing 5 gallon tanks under the head and kitchen sinks, disabling the shower water completely. But wont have this done in time prior to launching. How strict are the officials do they do spot inspections, has anyone been fined?

Thanks

[campdavid]

I'm sure if MP sees Grey water being discharged, you will probably end up being ticketed.

You may want to consider routing your sink to your shower sump and route the shower sump to your Grey or Black water tank. Unless you have a 20+ gallon tank, your shower becomes a nice storage area :laugh:

[HellRaZoR004]

Is it worth a hefty fine?

http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/cva/categories/faq.htm

[LIforrelaxin]

How big is your current waste water tank? Rather then route to a gray water tank it maybe more simplistic to use a single tank... The only problem is the shower, but I am guessing on the lake that isn't a concern anyway. 5 Gallon tanks will fill up pretty quickly... just as quick as having them go into the main waste tank. Assuming the waste tank is big enough......

[Ms Molly McKever]

My boat has no grey water holding tanks. We are looking into installing 5 gallon tanks under the head and kitchen sinks, disabling the shower water completely. But wont have this done in time prior to launching. How strict are the officials do they do spot inspections, has anyone been fined?

Thanks

If your boat has been inspected by the DES they put a sticker on your boat. They look for the stickers , If you don't have a sticker they ask to board your boat to check it out. In the spring they walk most marina. Do the work before your boat is launched.

[pjard]

My boat has no grey water holding tanks. We are looking into installing 5 gallon tanks under the head and kitchen sinks, disabling the shower water completely. But wont have this done in time prior to launching. How strict are the officials do they do spot inspections, has anyone been fined?

Thanks

Marine Patrol monitors and contributes to this forum. Not a smart post.

[Outdoorsman]

Marine Patrol monitors and contributes to this forum. Not a smart post.

Asking advise prior to launching a boat is considered "not smart"? I was under the impression that this forum helped answer questions like this .:confused: Also, unless the boat is displaying the same name as the OP is using, all MP knows it that there may be a boat somewhere on the lake, that may or may not be in violation.

OP... you mentioned disabling the shower water completely. Equally important is permanently blocking the shower drain. I believe this can be accomplished by filling the line with RTV or a silicone substance that can not be easily removed.

[Rinkerguy]

A previous post was the answer.
Route all shower and sink drains to the shower sump. Then go from shower sump to a single tank. I did a similar thing on a previous boat. Some cutting and drilling to route everything, but clearly a DIY project.

BTW, inspections are voluntary unless MP visually sees overboard discharge, but the fine is hefty if caught. Not worth the gamble.

[Seadrive]

Well I have no intention on discharging any grey water into the lake. The post was looking for advise on the options I was looking into. And to see if not having everything in place prior to launching would be OK. I will plug all discharge lines at the through hull and get the grey water system in place.

[tummyman]

I just bought a new "used" boat that was previously used exclusively on the ocean. It has a small porta-potty with a through hull fitting and a shut off valve that I have off. We will never use the porta-potty but put it in the boat to get it out of the garage. Was this dumb ??? Should I just remove it from the boat again ? What do I do with the thru hull fitting ? Guess if the porta-potty is out of the boat, there is no need to do anything with the thru hull ? Boat also has a small sink with fresh water, but that will also remain not used, as i do not want to be bothered with winterizing the tanks, etc. These are just some things we never intend to use. I also saw a note about getting a DES inspection.....what is this and where do you go to get it done?

[Descant]

When I bought it, my latest boat it had a black water tank, but not grey water. The marina said it was not legal for them to launch the boat until the grey water went into a holding tank. They connected the sink, etc. to the black water tank, sealed the Y valve closed and launched the boat. It has never been inspected, nor do I have a sticker, but I am happy to have DES inspect whenever it is convenient for them, and get my sticker. They used to keep a boat at Glendale MP HQ, but not be here 24/7. I don't know what they do while construction is ongoing.

[Rich]

I'll confirm that DES does walk marina's and check boats.

They walked down my dock last year and the year before that also.

If you don't have a sticker, they will want to see your boat.

I had a sticker, and it was from a previous owner. Because I already had a sticker, they had no interest in checking my boat. I even asked them to double check it, and they almost refused.

On my previous boat, I didn't have a DES sticker, and they said that my boat (by the previous owner) had been flagged to be inspected, evidentially they keep a database by bow number. So they were happy to finally have the chance to inspect the boat.

They were very complete in that all grey water sources need to go to a tank. Their goal is no grey water goes overboard (of course, no black water also). On my older boat, I had two tanks, one for grey water, one for black.

On my newer boat, there is only one waste tank. The shower sump has all sinks plumbed to it, and then the sump goes to the waste tank. The head also goes to the same waste tank.

The boat's original grey water through hull fitting has been disconnected and sealed.