Sanitation Y valve

[bushwood]

I am re-doing my boat's sanitation system to eliminate odors, etc. I know I need a Y valve off the holding tank to the deck plate/overboard discharge pump. My boat (1973) has the option of dumping contents of toilet through a designated thru hull or plumbing it to the holding tank. Do I need a Y valve off the toilet also? Can I just plumb it straight off the toilet to the holding tank?

I want to be within standards and a believer in 'do it nice or do it twice.'

Thanks!

 

[cwms]

Unless you go 3 miles offshore where you can legally dump, no need to have a Y valve at all. My boat doesn't have one and when I installed my AC unit 2 years ago, I used that thru hull for my AC water pump intake.

 

[PascalG]

Yes you re better off plumbing the head straight to the tank and getting rid of that Y valve

 

[bushwood]

Thank you both! There currently is a Y valve in this equation and I wanted to take it out of the equation to simplify.

 

[nwaring]

When I replaced the hose for our forward head I went straight from the holding tank to the deck. No matter how good you pump and rinse be prepared for some nasty shiz to spill out when you remove the section from the Y to the macerator.

Good luck
Niles

 

[Billylll]

quote:

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Originally posted by nwaring

When I replaced the hose for our forward head I went straight from the holding tank to the deck. No matter how good you pump and rinse be prepared for some nasty shiz to spill out when you remove the section from the Y to the macerator.

Good luck
Niles

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Good point Niles, I just replumbed and finally replaced my Jabsco transfer pump with a SeaLand diaphram transfer pump from my holding tank to my Purasan HNT. I got tired of replacing the pump twice a year when using the type I treatment system. My head dumps directly to the holding tank, from the holding tank there is a Y valve I can treat and discharge the tank when I am not in an NDZ or when I am 3 miles offshore or use the deck fitting for a pumpout. In either case I can not discharge untreated waste. I'm full of small paper like cuts from the stainless clamps and pulling and tugging on the old waste hoses. My hands feel like I have Arthritus. Also Niles is 100% correct no matter how much you try you will have some of the contents of the hoses empty in the bilge if you have a tight fit like I did. I ended up cleaning and wiping the entire bilge area that the waste system's hoses are in.
I would not install a Y valve if I did not have and use a Type I treatment system and only had a Type III or a holding tank.
Bill

 

[rawidman]

quote:

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Originally posted by bushwood

I am re-doing my boat's sanitation system to eliminate odors, etc. I know I need a Y valve off the holding tank to the deck plate/overboard discharge pump. My boat (1973) has the option of dumping contents of toilet through a designated thru hull or plumbing it to the holding tank. Do I need a Y valve off the toilet also? Can I just plumb it straight off the toilet to the holding tank?

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You do not need a Y valve.

Plumb the head directly to the holding tank.

If your holding tank has two outlets, plumb one to the deck fitting and the other to the macerator pump and from there, overboard.

If you have only one outlet on the holding tank, use a "Y" fitting to split the output and plumb as above.

If your overboard discharge is above the waterline (like mine), and there's no valve or seacock, you might want to use a key switch for the macerator and hide the key to be in compliance with the overboard discharge regulations.

If your overboard discharge is below the waterline, you need a seacock and an anti siphon loop and device.

A couple hints for doing the work:

1) A heat gun, used with care, is great for softening the hoses to get them off the fittings. A good auto parts store will have a radiator hose removal tool (it's like an ice pick but bent on the end) that makes the job easier as well.

2) The same auto parts store will have "Radiator Hose Grease" that makes it easier to get the new hoses on and easier to get them off in the future. Put some on the inside of the hose and the outside of the fittings. Gently heating the ends of the hoses makes it easier to get them on as well.