Fresh water plumbed to head

[David Arnold]

I hate the odor of the salt water in the head after the boat has been sitting idle in the hot sun for a week so this weekend I plumbed a cold water line (with an in line back flow preventer) directly into the head.  It seems that the pressure is too much for the pump system and water excess water flows both into the bowl and some escapes the pump in a slow trickle to the floor.  If anyone has some ideas on eliminating the excess flow I would appreciate it or else I will just use the fresh to flush the system when leaving the boat idle during the work week and will go back to the regular pump action (salt water) during weekend use.

[David Sanner]

Couple options...  use your starboard tank for your head, and only your head.
No need for pressure, just run a hose between the tank and the head and separate
it from the rest of the water system.

Or rinse the bowl with fresh water from the head sink... just pull the shower head
over and fill the bowl part way then pump dry.  You can do this everytime or
just when you leave the boat.

Hopefully salt water is the only thing you are smelling.

[DEMERY]

David,

Unless your head was designed to use fresh water and has the appropriate solenoid, you should immediately disconnect it from your fresh water supply. A check valve will not stop cross contamination. The other suggestion of using a dedicated water tank / supply would work as well. For additional information regarding converting raw water flush to a fresh water flush follow the link below and use the search engine.

http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/yesterday.tpl?fno=34&shsite=CO&startat=1&start=1&xbrand=Catalina&stop=0000001000000

[David Arnold]

Dave,
Thanks for the feed back.  My head is not built for fresh water and right now I have the fresh water bypassed (using a selector valve) so I should be OK but unsure why there might be cross contamination with the back flow preventer in line? 

[Ron Hill]

David A : The simplest thing to do is just before you shut up the boat take fresh water and put it in the head and then on "Dry Bowl" empty the head.  I always add some "toilet bowl cleaner" and let it set till next time - nice fresh smell!!
You can get the fresh water from your melted ice in your cooler or the head faucet.  A Thought.  

[Stu Jackson]

FOR YOUR SAFETY, please immediately disconnect and disinfect the connection you made between your fresh water system and your head.

The check valve WILL NOT stop contamination from bacteria from traveling from the head TO the fresh water, regardless of which direction you may think the water is traveling.

I urge you to buy and read Peggie Hall's book on marine sanitation.  See the chandlery at www.catalinaowners.com.

I understand this is a new boat, and there has been little discussion recently of this issue on this forum, but mixing fresh and head water systems is simply a NO-NO from a sanitary perspective.

To avoid the "dreaded" smell, you could use either a fresh water flush from a separate bottle, use the head "wand" for your last flush, or T into the sink drain.  Or just pump a few times once onboard, because all you're moving is the few gallons (or less) in the hose between the head and the head pump.  Never mix fresh and head water unless you have a dedicated tank for the head, and I have absolutely NO idea why anyone would waste that kinda fresh water to get rid of a small stink that goes away quickly (my personal perspective).

Sorry for the imperative part of this message, but we'd like to keep you healthy.  You have a great deal of cleaning up to do, and please assure yourself that you do that properly.

Sometimes it's easier to ask the questions first.

(This assumes that you have a manual head or an electric head that uses, normally, sea water, rather than a Lectra-San.  The Lectra-San need salt water to work, and if changed to a fresh water tank for supply would need the additional salt crystals added.)

[Ken Juul]

Instead of using the fresh water side of the system as your source, use the bathroom sink drain.  Been several years since I changed mine, if I remember correctly everything is there, you just need to swap the sink drain and shower drain lines at their thru hulls.  Attach the sink drain to the tee.  When it is time to do the fresh water flush, close the thru hull fill the bathroom sink up with fresh water, put in wet bowl and pump away.  Usually takes a couple sink fulls to flush the line.  You could also pour your melted ice down the sink but it is a little harder to hit than the head.  When outside water is your flushing source it is helpful to plug the sink drain so you are not sucking air.

[Stu Jackson]

A "search" on the word "smell" turned up this further reference:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=850.0

[Jeff Kaplan]

the smell of stagnant salt water is terrible. to eliminate this, i did what has been posted here and switched the shower drain with the sink drain,so  now coupled with head intake seacock. i followed peggy hall's advice and cut the sink hose and installed a shutoff valve. keep it closed when using the head or else the head won't prime as you are just sucking in air thru the sink. this way is more secure than just using the sink stopper. when you are leaving the boat, close the head intake, fill the sink with fresh water, i premix a gal. of fresh water with some "clean potty" solution, open the new shut off valve and pump the head. nice clean water is drawn thru the head, and no more smell. works like a champ. if you just add fresh water to the head, you are not really cleaning the inlets into the head where the little critters die and cause the stink. this is a minor project with great results...jeff

[David Arnold]

Thanks to all who responded.  I will disconnect the water line to the head as soon as we get down to the boat for the weekend.  I will then proceed to sterilize the entire system just incase there was cross contamination.  I will either hook up a feed to the sink drain or just keep a bucket in the cabinet to suck fresh water from when we are leaving the boat for the week.

[Roc]

Ken's method is the way it should be done.  Connect a Tee to the head sink drain.  Take off the toilet inlet hose from the seacock and connect it to the Tee in the drain.  Then to flush, close the sink drain seacock, fill the sink with water, and flush.  By doing it this way (as opposed to using the shower wand to fill up the bowl), you are flushing the whole 'inside' of the bowl.  Water will pass through the bowl, then into it, and down to the holding tank.  By filling it with the shower wand, you still have stagnant water inside the bowl.  Now you'll have a spare seacock!

[Mike Vaccaro]

An additional advantage of t-ing off the sink drain is that you have option of either a freshwater or salt water flush (if you are in the conservation mode).

Cheers,

Mike

[Ken Juul]

I guess I should have been a little clearer.  All the flushes except the final flush before closing up the boat are with salt water.  The well water at our marina isn't that good, end up bringing 5 gals from home each trip to the boat.  Unless we stop at a marina with good city water we are always in the conserve water mode.