Where does it go?

T

Thompson gunr

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exMember
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I have a 1988 Thompson Carrera 245 that has a small 6 gallon fresh water holding tank. It also has a small gravity fed, or maybe pump type sink. I can not see the bottom of the sink so I don't know where the water from the sink is supposed to go. I do not have any "thru hull" fittings along the side of the boat except for the bilge pump fitting. I was told before that the sinks are usually drained directly overboard. I don't want to do this if I am violating any law and do not know if sinks fall into this catagory like a head. I am guessing that the sink drains into the bilge now. I have not added water to my system yet because I don't want to risk doing something that is dangerous, illegal, or harmful to the vessel. I can't see how purposefully running sink water into the bilge could be a good thing. I do see that there is a waste fitting on the starboard bow but looking through the anchor locker I see nothing is connected to the fitting. Ideas please.
 
Ultimately, you will need to trace the drain hose. Sorry.

Used water from a sink ( or shower ) is classified as "gray water". Many boats do, in fact, drain it directly overboard via a through-hull fitting. There are also many boats that drain it to a "sump", either dedicated to each fixture or shared amongst all gray water drains ( ie: shower + sink ). The sump is emptied ( directly overboard ) by activating a pump ( auto or manual ). And, finally, some boats, esp those on reservoirs and inland areas, drain to a gray water holding tank, which is emptied by a deck fitting and a dockside pump-out, or ( again ) via pump, directly overboard.

Ya gotta trace it...

( BTW: the fresh water tank is just that, a fresh water tank. A holding tank is what you call the container for used fluids. No sober boater would ever drink water from a "fresh water holding tank" ... ;) )
 
LOL! Good to get the terms right... Never claimed to be a sober boater... Oh no! Won't that draw a lot of criticism... Just kidding guys! Anyway. So if this IS drained into the bilge then this is a bad thing as I expected? Since I can see no way to get to the bottom of the sink how would you suggest I trace it? I have pulled out every compartment that comes out. My first mate thought I had lost my mind when I had all of the cuddy laying out in the driveway! My arms and eyeballs are just not flexible enough to get into that area. Would you suggest dumping food coloring into the sink to see where it turns up?
 
OOPS. Also, is that a good practice to drain directly overboard? I don't want to end up on the opposite side of the law. Legal or not? Thanks. BTW, I plan on doing all of my water system checks in the driveway so the food coloring will definitely make the neighbors ask "WTH is he up to now??!" So, I should assume that draining it into the bilge is a bad thing as I had originally expected?
 
normally, sinks drain directly overboard. If you only have one thruhull on that side of the boat, are you sure that's for the bilge pump ? anything on the other side ?

OR... someone connected the sink drain to the bilge pump thruhull. it's not a good idea but woudl work if they used a rising loop. As bill said... you need to trace your plumbing.

run some water in the sink and see where it goes... you dont' want it going in the bilge, it gets messy with soap, food debris, etc... yuck.

discharging gray water overboard is legal except in a handful of lakes.
 
I just got done polishing the entire boay hull. I am VERY sure there is only one through hull fitting. I am also sure that nothing connects to the bilge pump line because I installed it along with the new pump. The previous owner had an under rated pump along with a hose that had more holes in it than the fence between the US and Mexico! The old hose had no "T" fittings or any other way for the gray water to get overboard. I can't believe that they just dumped these into the bilge! How nasty and stupid is that?!!! Yuck indeed!
 
I guess I need to figure out how these sinks mount to the cuddy bulkhead. I can't find a way to get the sinks out. There is no way to see under them and there are no discharge lines that I can see or get my hands on. I guess I will go without a sink for a while longer.
 
I was able to pull the sinks out this weekend and found that the sinks tie into a hose that runs aft under the cockpit floor. The cockpit floor is non-removeable and there is no visible hose coming out into the bilge area in the engine compartment. This thing HAS to drain into the bilge! DOUBLE YUCK! Without completely disassembling the boat I don't see any easy way to replace this line. Since this boat only has a 6 gallon fresh water tank and a hand pump sink, does anyone feel it is worth the expense to install a "shower sump" type pump for this and install a thru hull fitting for it. The only other thing that these sinks get used for are as a temporary small cooler to catch melting ice water run off.
 
just drill a hole 12" above waterline, install a thruhull and connect your sink drain. no need for sump since the sink is above waterline.
 
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