Water & Poo

[LondonGuy]

Virgin boater here:

Do I really have to get water everyday and have the boat pumped out halfway through a week? (It said this about a particular boat on a web site)

How much Poo can two peopele make? (Small Poo tank?)

Can a boat only hold one day of water?

Where do I get water?

[grendel]

lots of places to get water, every two days is normal, depends how long you shower for really, some boats also store waste water from sinks  and showers, so same answer really for waste tank, though if used sparingly you could probably last out a week with just 2, it depends if you have a fill gauge and can take the chance, or if you arent worried if it gets full. best practice is to use shore based facilities at every opportunity, which can save a mid week pump out.

[Mouldy]

Water is available at all hire yards and multiple locations across the Broads.  There is also a list of  water points on the Broads Authority website and the Aweigh app. We fill our tank daily, but know that there is enough to go two or three days.  Our boat uses river water to flush the loo into a holding tank, which will easily last us a week on board.

As far as the holding (poo) tank is concerned, to a degree it depends on the boat you hire and the amount you use it.  Newer boats use fresh (tank) water to flush, so the use of water is increased.  Also, they have electronic flushing with measured flushes, rather like a domestic toilet at home.  This will impact how quickly the tank fills.  Not only that, but water from your sinks and shower also drains into the holding tank on some newer craft too, instead of flowing into the rivers.
If you want to economise on the use of the water in your tank, one of our esteemed members uses ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow, but if it’s brown, flush it down’ as a measure of the necessity to flush every time.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

34 minutes ago, LondonGuy said:

Virgin boater here:

Do I really have to get water everyday and have the boat pumped out halfway through a week? (It said this about a particular boat on a web site)

How much Poo can two peopele make? (Small Poo tank?)

How many showers, toilets and berths are there on this boat? Let`s say it is a four berth then perhaps the particulars are correct for four people. will there be four of you on board?

My boat is an ex hire from the 80`s originally for up to six people therfore it has two massive water tanks and one large waste tank but all sink, basin and shower water is pumped overboard so my pump outs are measured in months not days.

[Cal]

It would have to be a very small water tank to need refilling every day!

 

Ours is small and we can do three days without needing a refill.

 

We tend to hire 4-6 berth boats when we do hire on the Broads rather than take our own boat and the toilet holding tank always lasts for the full weeks hire.

[Mouldy]

31 minutes ago, Cal said:

 . . . . . . . . . . We tend to hire 4-6 berth boats when we do hire on the Broads rather than take our own boat and the toilet holding tank always lasts for the full weeks hire.

The capacity of the holding tank on the new generation of craft that drain grey water from the shower and sinks/basins may be insufficient to last a week now, depending on how many showers you take and for how long and how often you wash up.  I’d be inclined to take guidance from the yard, rather than risk not being able to flush the loo where pump out facilities aren’t available.

35 minutes ago, Cal said:

It would have to be a very small water tank to need refilling every day! . . . . . . 

To be fair, ours will probably last more than two or three days, but we tend to fill up daily, or every other day anyway.  Unless you’re at Womack Water, it only takes a few minutes.

[RS2021]

Water can usually last a couple of days as long as you are sensible (Do you leave the tap running when you brush your teeth?!). I would always suggest if you are at a mooring with water then fill up. That means if on one day you are not, you needn't worry. As for the loo as has already been said 'if it's yellow...'. I've never had a midweek pump out yet.

[Bytheriver]

Only had a midweek pump out once & that was because we had "new to boating" family on board & suspected they had overdone the hand pump as they did not realise river water was cloudy & had bits in!

I always went for the top up when available route then the next day or even two could be missed (I started hiring when there were twice as many hire craft on the river than there are now so taps were at a premium & like now with electric posts there were always those who overstayed by the tap like near the electric point which they then don't use. Though to be fair with a uncontrolled mooring sometimes there is nowhere else.

Despite all the pros & cons  the use of electricity at moorings is not going to go away so an enhanced investment is needed with more posts and added locations where not too far from an electricity source ASAP just to keep up with the new-builds.

[floydraser]

Me and Mrs Raser use about 15litres of water a day in our caravan without using the shower.

We used the showers on site but post Covid we use one in the van and that involves another 15litres ish per shower. As they say in the Dacia ad, you do the maths.

I only know this since I started to use a couple of plastic watering cans to top up the Aquaroll.

I reckon we use more on the boat simply because I don't have to top up every day.

Another point: we always use a filter jug for drinking water on the boat.

[MauriceMynah]

I always use water from the fresh water tank to wash Nyx. Never run out of water yet.

[Regulo]

I've seen Nyx. Not surprised you haven't run out! 

[Mouldy]

2 minutes ago, Regulo said:

I've seen Nyx. Not surprised you haven't run out! 

The same principle as a business, it takes a long time to build a reputation, but it can be ruined soooo quickly!!😉😉😁

[MauriceMynah]

2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

The same principle as a business, it takes a long time to build a reputation, but it can be ruined soooo quickly!!😉😉😁

Yeah, If I cleaned Nyx I'd loose all my hard won street cred.

[Mouldy]

7 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Yeah, If I cleaned Nyx I'd loose all my hard won street cred.

Cred or crud??

[MauriceMynah]

44 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Cred or crud??

Oh, I really wish I'd thought of that one !!!