Boat Head Holding Tank

When our boat was built EPA was not invented yet and the head went right into the water. As times changed we either had to stop using the head or put in a holding tank. I put off installing a holding tank as long as I could because I had no idea where I could put the tank in the boat. There was just no place a tank of any size could go.

             The tank and most of the plumbing went in the cabinet under the sink.No room to work. 

Putting in a valve to redirect the head’s water to the tank was not a hard plumbing job. There just was no room to work and my small, limber, nimble wife helped with that. The only place we could put a tank was in the cabinet under the sink in the bathroom. The largest tank the space would allow was only about 12 gallons. The tank was almost the size of the door it needed to go through. That is almost not worth putting in. It was a legal (“small”) holding tank if anyone asks or needed to see. It just had to be pumped out almost every day. We always used the shore bathrooms when possible. At the one marina we were at, there was a pump out unit right by the boat, so it was not too bad when we were there. 

 

The plumbing to the tank from the head was not much of a problem, but the plumbing from the tank to pump out hole and those connections was a nightmare. The job was nasty with the big clunky hose that needed to be used, with no room to work, with little ventilation in the bathroom, and it was hot, and sort of smelly. I sure was glad my wife was small, limber, nimble and a good plumber. I did as much to help with the job as I could, but she really was the one that did the hard part of the plumbing job.

After it was all done we felt it was quite an accomplishment, but she said that if the system was to be worked on down the road it would be well worth paying someone to do it. I love my small, limber, nimble, good plumber wife and I agree with her about paying some else to work on that tank setup if it needs it.