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10:38 am
Tuesday,18 September, 2012
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I am hoping to go looking at boat for sale in the next 2-3 weeks. As I had decided on a pump out, I had ruled out some nice looking boats with cassettes. However, I have just read that Paul is hoping to (or has) converted to a pump out. How easy is this to do and at what cost (I assume it is not a DIY job).
Retired; Somerset/Dorset border when not out and about on Lucy Lowther
Days without name and hours without number
http://thelovelylisanarrowboat.blogspot.co.uk
1:29 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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Hi Allan.
Yes, I have been considering putting a pump out toilet in, but there are a number of factors to consider. Pumpout tanks are quite large rectangular boxes. A typical tank might be 6′ long, 12-15″ wide and just as deep. You need to make space for it to go. In my case I would have to remove a raised platform that the cassette currently sits on and also the bottom part of a chest of drawers in the bedroom area next to the bathroom. I would then need two holes cut in the gunnell for the waste outlet and the rinse water. I would also need to have water plumbed in to the toilet. This wouldn’t be a problem as there is already water in the bathroom.
I would also have to consider the boat’s trim. A stainless steel waste tank is very heavy and very much more so when it’s full of liquid. Unless the other side of the boat was weighted to balance the tank and its contents, I’d have a very odd looking boat.
Make sure that whoever fits the tank for you can address these issues.
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9:55 pm
Wednesday,28 March, 2012
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Hello Alan,
Another factor you may want to consider is the price of a pump out, which I gather is around £15 to £18 per tankful. My 70ft boat originally had two sets. The tanks and plumbing are still in place but the toilets have been removed by the previous owner and a porta potti now does the job. This is fine for one or two persons and I can empty it for free. However, I am thinking of reinstating at least one of the pump outs as I plan to take larger groups of people on holiday trips with me and the porta potti wont then be large enough. Interestingly, on my boat everything is on one side,- bunks, galley, stove, toilet and holding tanks, even the skin tank for engine cooling. All the other side is corridor. And yet she sits quite level in the water. Might be different when the pumpout tanks are in use though! Probably a case of moving some ballast around under the floorboards as Paul suggests.
Good luck with finding your boat.
Regards, Norman.
10:22 pm
Monday,19 December, 2011
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We love our pump-out toilet and would not dream of needing to carry out cassettes and have to fiddle around with them. I watch other people wheeling their tanks around, and I am not envious of them. We also maximise the efficiency of our pump-out by ‘going’ to facilities, pubs, Tescos or whatever institution we patronise. We are small people admittedly, and there are only two of us, but we average about six weeks before we need a pump out. The price that we paid for a pump-out this year was anything from £12 to £15 which we found quite reasonable for us. After all, it is like paying rates. I know that cassette content disposal is free, but the hassle for us is just not worth it. I am on a canal group on Facebook and a guy told an awful story about a spillage in his car!
10:35 am
Tuesday,18 September, 2012
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Thanks for the replies. I am going looking at boats on Thursday and initially will be restricting viewing to pump outs only.
Retired; Somerset/Dorset border when not out and about on Lucy Lowther
Days without name and hours without number
http://thelovelylisanarrowboat.blogspot.co.uk
4:26 pm
Sunday,13 March, 2011
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Don’t bother with pump outs I’ve taken two out of my boat. Itcosts to empty them and that is often, the canal freezes and then you can’t tske your boat to empty them and then sometimes the pump is frozen I know lots of people who have changed to cassette.
Regards Dave
5:14 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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Norton868 said
Don’t bother with pump outs I’ve taken two out of my boat. Itcosts to empty them and that is often, the canal freezes and then you can’t tske your boat to empty them and then sometimes the pump is frozen I know lots of people who have changed to cassette.
I agree with you on those points. If you are going to be moored on the cut then getting to a pump out station can be a problem. There were two weeks last year when the canal was frozen, six weeks the year before. Our pump out equipment at the marina does freeze sometimes, but we always defrost it if someone wants a pump out.
I have a cassette toilet myself. I would rather have a pump out toilet but the cost and the disruption to the boat is putting me off. The cassette needs to be emptied every three or four days and we only use it for having a wee. It’s doesn’t provide enough of a flush for getting rid of our unmentionables so we use the marina facilities for that. I would rather be in the situation where I don’t have to don shoes and coat, then walk 400m to the toilet block when I need to purge my insides.
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5:44 pm
Wednesday,30 March, 2011
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Don’t forget the ‘green’ option as well! I’ve known of two boats who have changed to composting Loo’s this month.
James and Debbie
NB Lois Jane
http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk/
6:16 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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De-Ogz said
Don’t forget the ‘green’ option as well! I’ve known of two boats who have changed to composting Loo’s this month.
You’re right of course. I’m always ignoring the green option. I ignored it in this post that I wrote about narrowboat toilets. Alan on Pengalanty kindly put me right.
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4:29 pm
Sunday,23 January, 2011
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Hi,
If you haven’t already seen it there’s a composting toilet designed for a boat called ‘Natures Head’ which might be the answer. However you still need to empty the composting container when it’s full and would probably want to do that where you would normally empty your cassette. There wouldn’t really be anywhere on board to finish the composting process which would make it safe to dispose of. Can only see it as a practical option if they become very popular and marinas’ have facilities for them. Google ‘composting toilets’ and a whole world of alternative sanitary arrangements opens up!
6:25 pm
Sunday,27 February, 2011
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Has anyone changed to or have a composting toilet. It seems that the only set back would be the storage issues whilst waiting for the composting to complete and then disposal.
7:06 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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andyandval said
Has anyone changed to or have a composting toilet. It seems that the only set back would be the storage issues whilst waiting for the composting to complete and then disposal.
I know that Alan on NB Pengalanty uses a composting toilet.
Click here to get a FREE copy of “Living On A Narrowboat:101 Essential Narrowboat Articles”
11:27 am
Sunday,3 April, 2011
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Hello Paul (and others)
Sticking with cassette toilets for this one. I know you live on the marina near where I moor Beatrice at Napton marina. We mostly use the marina toilet for ‘big jobs’ when we are just up for a weekend but our loo is a cassette too. It’s a Thetford with a spare cassette you ‘plug in’ at the side. I think we all have had the solids and cassette experience at some point. The flush is basic to say the least! But, I was told this great tip by a good friend of long caravan experience. It works every time, I promise you. Sorry if it all sounds a bit crude but, hey ho, we all do the same!
1- Flush a little water in the bowl – say 2-3 cm
2- Place 2 sheets of loo paper diagonally across the bowl and another 2 sheets the other way. You form a cross of loo paper.
3- Well, do you business as usual.
4- As soon as possible after (normally while still sitting there), move the empty lever across. Everything just disappears down the hole with the bowl perfectly perfectly clean
My partner was particularly fussy about toilets and dreaded the cassette loo but now has no problems since applying this method when we travel. Give it a try people. It works for us.
Rob – NB Beatrice
1:39 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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What a great tip. It’s only when you try to use a loo with very little flowing water that you realise what a mess you can make when you go to the loo. Using a cassette toilet for anything other than a wee is quite offputting for that very reason. That’s why I use dry land facilities as much as possible for the serious stuff.
What you suggest makes absolute sense. I can’t wait to try it. I’m going to have an extra helping of stew for my dinner tonight, purely for research pusposes!
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6:55 pm
Wednesday,29 August, 2012
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This one again…
I saw Alan’s post about converting his toilet to a pump-out. Did it go any further? Paul, did you get it done?
What might the costs/disruption be?
I am getting narrower in my thinking and I am sure I want a pump-out, but there are a lot of nice craft out there with Porta-Potty types I am ignoring.
There must be a way!
Thanks
Kelvin
7:21 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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The cost and the disruption will depend on the layout of your boat and where you can/want to fit your waste tank. On James, for example, the space for the cassette toilet is currently on the starboard side. The waste tank is often under the bed. My bed is on the port side and not close enough to where the toilet would go to make under the bed a practical spot for the tank. The tank would need to run up the starboard side through the cupboard under the bathroon sink, through the ply panel to the “office” area and through the bottom of a chest of drawers.
I like the way James is fitted out at the moment more than I like the idea of fitting a pump out toilet. Casette toilets are more messy and more time consuming to empty that pump out toilets but, as far as I’m concerned in my case, retro fitting one just isn’t worth the hassle.
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9:41 am
Tuesday,18 September, 2012
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Hi Kelvin,
The other topic is locked for some reason so started a new one. Maybe Paul thinks there has been enough s***ty talk
I ended up buying a boat with pump out so did not need to convert. I would not rule out conversion – the boatyard reckoned it would not be too difficult on one boat I looked at – did not get as far as a quote, though.
Thanks for the tip Rob. I will definitely be adopting!
Alan
Retired; Somerset/Dorset border when not out and about on Lucy Lowther
Days without name and hours without number
http://thelovelylisanarrowboat.blogspot.co.uk
10:23 am
Friday,19 February, 2010
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Alan said
Hi Kelvin,The other topic is locked for some reason so started a new one. Maybe Paul thinks there has been enough s***ty talk
I ended up buying a boat with pump out so did not need to convert. I would not rule out conversion – the boatyard reckoned it would not be too difficult on one boat I looked at – did not get as far as a quote, though.
Thanks for the tip Rob. I will definitely be adopting!
Alan
I don’t know what happened there Alan. I’ve unlocked this topic and added your post to it.
Click here to get a FREE copy of “Living On A Narrowboat:101 Essential Narrowboat Articles”
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