No (effluent) discharge waters

[rbgarr]

The town here has applied for a No Discharge Zone designation. It would cover a relatively small segment of the coast, not as extensive as Casco or Narragansett Bays which are also afaik NDZs. How has that worked out for people in those areas: pumpout issues, equipment requirements aboard boats, etc.?

Steve? Anyone in RI?

http://www.wmtw.com/news/18432905/detail.html

[Vinny&Shawn]

That is interesting Dave, what does it actually mean as effluent and how far out does it specify?

An interesting thing happened last summer while on our Tugboat Inn mooring. We are very careful of what we do as far as discharge of any sort. In fact we spend much of our summer cleaning up nasty stuff from in and around the docks and waters of the harbor!

So a transient takes up a mooring at TBI,and asks where to get pumped out ,TBI's pump station was down. BBH has the service, so he was told to call for a pumpout, the person in charge( ?), told him to pump it over in the harbor. The boater was not pleased, and refused to pump over. He persisted until the pump boat, was finally brought out. He was moored next to us and in between waiting and calling up,he was very upset in his desscriptions and in disbelief. Needless to say so were we.

The harbor can become a cesspool of garbage during the summer and it always amazes me as to the inconsiderate people who accomplish this, going unnoticed by the proper people. On the other hand I myself have never witnessed this act of discharge either.
Vinny

[David W Pratt]

Truth lives in Wickford, on Narragansett Bay. She has a composting head. works fine so far.
good luck.

[Woxbox]

Around the Chesapeake, pumpout facilities are not too hard to find. At the same time, the facilities aren't always open for service, and their equipment is sometime out of order. It can definitely be a hassle.

But your question brings up another pet peeve of mine. The NDZ rules are no discharge, treated or untreated. We have a Purasan treatment unit onboard which, by all accounts, does a better job than the municipal sewer treatment plants. In the Chesapeake, we can use this everywhere except in the one NDZ, which isn't very big. So if we turn off the treatment unit, switch over to the holding tank, and then later get pumped out, the waste goes to the municipal plant, gets treated however that plant is working on that day, and then it runs back into the waterways. What's gained?

[Dave Davis]

Inexpensive Porta-Potti works here. Fully compliant with RI inspection requirements, no inspection needed since it's not permanent installation.

With the caveat that here on Aquidneck Island our peeing over the side is nowhere comparable to the millions of gallons of sewage that Newport pumps into the harbor every time it rains for more than a day.

[Todd D]

Personally I don't see it being much of a change. The only difference between the current situation and a No Discharge Zone is that people with on-board tratment systems will not be able to discharge over the side. If you have been around a boat with a Lectrasan or similar on-board system, you will certainly welcome stopping them from discharging in the harbor. While the discharge from an on-board discharge system may not have many live bacteria, all the nutrients are still there as well as the stink and the other unpleasant aspects of raw sewage. Anyone who really believes that a municipal sewage plant doesn't do as good a job as an on-board system is completely ignoring the fact that the municipal plant oxidizes the waste and precipitates the sludge and other particulates. Sure, there may be more live bacteria per gallon in municipal waste, but killing the bacteria is only a small part of sewage treatment.

Those of us with traditional heads can't dump sewage legally within 3 miles of land now, so I don't see any difference for us. Personally my head is plumbed directly to the holding tank. The Y-valve is on the discharge side of the tank. Given the total absence of readily available pump outs here, I simply go offshore and pump out. I also make sure to pump out on an outgoing tide.

[Willin']

Couldn't happen here in the Burg. There are still many OBDs around that are permanently grandfathered. The locals don't want anything to change because 'that's not the way we do things around heah!' Besides the lobsters like the varied diet.

[StevenBauer]

It might have changed but at one point cruise ships were exempt from the no discharge rule.:eek: I'd bet one cruise ship dumps more waste in a day than all the yachts in the bay in a season. That might be changed now, though. We use a bucket for #1 and those gel filled bags from Cabellas that hunters use for #2. We'll fit a proper porta-potti before our trip north in August.
The City of Portland still has lots of work to do on it's sewage treatment plant. They just don't seem to be able to come up with the money. :(

[ron ll]

Do NDZs allow grey water from sinks and showers?

[Woxbox]

Do NDZs allow grey water from sinks and showers?


The way I read the law, grey water is technically prohibited also. But as a practical matter, I don't think enforcement has even been suggested.

[Torna]

Torna was kept at Falmouth Foreside, and pumpout was at the Town Landing. That part of the issue was easy.
But, the regs also call for the head's "Y valve" to be locked (presumably padlocked) into the "Tank" position while inside the NDZ. Alternatively, I think the the head discharge seacock could also be padlocked closed to comply.
Neither of these is in keeping with the old bronze hardware on Torna so she was a scofflaw. She was never boarded for inspection, but this summer a friend's boat was - and the padlock issue was examined.
So, while managing the no discharge part of the NDZ was easy, some of the other parts of the reg can be a $@#! nuisance (and cost real $$ to comply if you need to modify seacocks to add a padlock or something); the fine print of the regs / inspections / and fines deserves careful scrutiny.

my 2c
-leif

[Todd D]

No Discharge zones only apply to sewage. Recreational boats can still discharge gray water. At least that is what I find on EPA web pages. There are a few locations (marine national parks) where gray water discharge is prohibited. None, to my knowledge, are in Maine. Maine does restrict gray water discharges from large commercial passenger vessels (more than 250 passengers), but not from recreational vessels.

[ahp]

I read that Chesapeake Bay has a higher e-coli count in the winter, than in the summer when all the boaters are out doing their thing. One reason is 50,000 swans, 3,000,000 Canada geese, and 10,000,000 ducks, who spend the winter there.

[Rapelapente]

Does this poultry got informed of the NDZ ?:D

[rbgarr]

I can't wait to hear the lobstermen laugh at the idea of an NDZ here. Or perhaps they don't apply to commercial fishermen?

[Dave Hadfield]

There's a no-discharge law on the north (Canadian) side of Lake Superior (300 miles long). Yet there are no marinas to pump-out in, last time I was there, anywhere between Wawa and Thunder Bay.

I guess I was supposed to hold it!

Interesting fact about the Chesapeake in winter -- I like that!

Dave

[Todd D]

I declared my cockpit, deck and cabin top to be no discharge zones. So far the osprey, cormorants and gulls are not honoring my declaration.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Has anyone had experience with Wag Bags?
I am thinking of trying some but it involves shipping them to Oz, so I would be interested in others opinions.

[Ian McColgin]

Wag bags are a must for camping in many areas where a combination of high use and slow decomp are a problem but I'd not use such on a boat.

Marmalade's composting head is great but a couple of caveats:

The urin tank is not large enough to go a day if you have a couple of women aboard. (Assume most guys exercise the Sea Dog's Perogative at a convenient rail.) So you need to think about what to do with the urin more frequently than if you've an adequately capacious holding tank system.

The composting section is great for a cruising couple but if you take a week's cruise with say two couples, the thing will get a bit ripe as material is added faster than composting can keep up.

On Nantucket Sound we have excellent and readily available pump out services by boat and dock.

G'luck