# Mold in our poo



## SanDiegoChip (Jun 12, 2007)

We have just added a bellows type macerator to our holding tank (HT). In doing this we opted to have a separate hose and through hull for this. We also added a pipe into the HT for this purpose through the top.
We are live aboards on a 36’ sail boat. 
When I cut the whole into the holding tank I decide to take pictures of the inside of the tank in case we ever for some reason wanted to see inside. So of course I just had to see inside. What I saw was what looks like mold in the poo. It had just been pumped out
My question is what do people do to prevent this. This is not something we want (the HT is under our bed) in the HT.
We can I suppose buy some chemicals to kill it and add them each pump out.
At the current time we have a pump out service as we are outfitting the boat for cruising south in a year. 
But what later, like in Mexico, Costa Rica etc. We cannot carry a 55 gal drum of chemicals for this. 
What do other use to keep the poo clean 
I spared you the pic but if you want to see it….
Thanks,
Chip


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Chip, you don't keep the poo clean. It is SEWAGE and by definition that is dirty and has nasty things growing in it. If you try to kill some of them, you'll kill all the critters including the ones you NEED to break down the sewage normally.

Either the tank leaks or it doesn't. If it leaks, you have a sanitary problem regardless of what you can see growing in the sewage or not. If it doesn't leak, you don't have a problem, regardless of what is in the sewage.

Don't like sleeping next to sewage? OK, move something. But unless you age it for six months and then fertilize a rose garden with the compost, it is still going to be sewage no matter what you do to it.


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## dhays (Jul 9, 2010)

My guess is that your pump out service pumps the HT but probably doesn't do a great job of rinsing it. It is good to have the tank reasonably clean inside simply so that you don't get stuff clogging your lines or vent line etc...

I would suggest that you take the boat to a pump out station and pump it out yourself. Then fill the tank with fresh water and pump it out again. Keep doing this until you don't see anything but clear water come out as you pump it. The last time I pumped out of my tanks I flushed it 5 times.

Dave


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## remetau (Jan 27, 2009)

I think you need to go more often.


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## SlowButSteady (Feb 17, 2010)

dhays said:


> ...
> 
> I would suggest that you take the boat to a pump out station and pump it out yourself. Then fill the tank with fresh water and pump it out again. Keep doing this until you don't see anything but clear water come out as you pump it. The last time I pumped out of my tanks I flushed it 5 times.


Another thing that helps to clean things out is to pump out the tank, fill it about 1/3 or so with freshwater, and then go sailing in some chop for an hour or so to get the water in the tank really sloshing around. After that, go right back to the pump-out station (i.e., don't give the contents much time to settle) and pump it out and rinse it a couple of times. In general, try not to leave waste in the tank any longer than necessary to keep the crud at the bottom to a minimum.


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## Allanbc (Apr 19, 2007)

SlowButSteady said:


> Another thing that helps to clean things out is to pump out the tank, fill it about 1/3 or so with freshwater, and then go sailing in some chop for an hour or so to get the water in the tank really sloshing around. After that, go right back to the pump-out station (i.e., don't give the contents much time to settle) and pump it out and rinse it a couple of times. In general, try not to leave waste in the tank any longer than necessary to keep the crud at the bottom to a minimum.


It also helps to add dish washing soap when you do this.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I'm not sure I would care much about this, unless I had an odor or leaking problem. If you just pumped out, that must be bacteria growing in the tank, which isn't necessarily bad.

You could always contain your use of the holding tank to "liquids only" and use shore facilities for solids for a while. That would eventually break it all down and you would pump it out over your next few cycles. If you want to get more aggressive, flush laundry detergent, add about a half tank of clean water and go sail. Pump it out when you return and then fill and pump fresh water once again. You should be close to where you started.


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## PorFin (Sep 10, 2007)

Like others have said, I think you can rest easy at this point. Given the choice of mold or raw sewage, I'd suffer the mold any day and be happy.

The comment about not breaking out the biocide of your choice is spot on -- you NEED those microbes in the tank to break down the sewage. Slash and burn will work against you. 

That said, does anyone else think that the mold growth may be attributable to poor ventilation? Tank ventilation is primarily designed to equalize pressure -- however, they all too frequently only meet this minimum level. Getting a good healthy flow of air in the tank promotes the growth of aerobic bacteria (which breaks sewage down) and retards the growth of anaerobic bacteria (which causes that godawful, makes you want to retch odor.)


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## bubb2 (Nov 9, 2002)

Change your diet!


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

I think you need to post the pic....just to give Faster and Jeff_H higher BP.

In the mean time, stop taking pictures of your freakin' poo! I mean, WHO DOES THAT?


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## Michael K (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm unsure if this would truly help but I'll throw the idea out for your consideration anyway. A product called Odorlos is designed to break down solids and reduce the odor of waste in porta potties. It credits its efficacy to micro organisms that thrive in that environment. If you were to try a dose proportionate to the size of your holding tank, you may get a satisfactory result. I know it works well in my 5 gallon porta potty. I have no financial or other interest in this product - just a satisfied consumer.


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## celenoglu (Dec 13, 2008)

If properly designed a holding tank will not ive any odors inside the boat. All it needs is a vent outside the boat. 

If you want to kill anything in your holding tank use bleach (Sodium hypocholoride) . This is the best and cheapest disinfectant all around the world and easily found.


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## SanDiegoChip (Jun 12, 2007)

*Poo mold OK?*

We installed the holding tank ourselves. It is more than two years old. Any openings are at the top. There are no leaks. 
The vent hose is and all hoses are as new as the tank. 
It is a 34 gal tank. 
We only use fresh water for flushing.
We just recently re-powered the boat and have been doing a complete refit of the boat for cruising next year. We were going to the pump out station and pumping out. We would rinse and all was I guess OK. I also guess all is still OK. At any rate the re-power took four months and we got a pump out service at that time. They do not rinse out the tank. 
We had the original macerator a Jabsco that I re-built and put back in. That was a mistake because it never would get suction again. I finally removed it and put in a separate dedicated line from the holding tank (HT) to the through hull. We also installed a new through hull that was under water and the right size for the new macerator.
The reason(s) I took pictures is because when I drilled the hole in the tank for the new macerator it accrued to me that if ever I wanted to see inside this would be the only shot at taking pictures of inside the tank. Also when I cut the pipe for the pump out\original macerator and installed it into the tank I may have cut it a inch or two short so it does not get all it could out of the tank. Not sure and it bothers me. Not enough to go through the work to replace it now that the tank is in the boat and has been used for over two years. But I was curious. It is still hard to tell as the boat does not sit flat etc measuring what's in the bottom from outside after pump out is not exact and quite frankly it has all been working well for us. So curious me took the pictures. The macerator is what we will be using for most of the time we go cursing as we do not pump over the side by skipping the tank. Flushing out each time would put the water maker to work that's for sure.
So in the San Diego bay no problem as we can go pump out now but as live boards and with all the work we are continually doing it is inconvenient. We have kept the pump out service.
I guess it all makes sense to just let it grow. The tank is sealed up. However when we flush it sends air out the vent (we do have a vent filter) but that air could contain mold spores that could be breathed when sitting in the cockpit? Guess I am looking for a problem where there is none? For now we may get some tank chemicals from the chandlery for this. We stopped doing this because the tank gets pumped out every week but it is not flushed. There is some left at the very bottom. 
When I installed the macerator PVC pipe I made sure it is at the very bottom. A boat neighbor said he put his PVC pipe at the very bottom with some half-moons cut in the PVC pipe. I bought a kit for this as last time I cut it and like I said it may be a bit short so I chickened out this time and went commercial.
The pictures do not tell me if my first pipe is too short because of the growth in the tank obscures the bottom of the pipe. 
If you really want to see the pictures I can post them. It is not a big deal to me.
I did post a couple pictures of the tank and our new macerator. Well not new, we bought it at the Chula Vista Swap meet for a giveaway price and we even got a backup one. That is rare that we find what we are looking for at a swap meet. I usually buy stuff and end up selling it back for a loss!










The through hull is under water.
The through hull we installed while the boat was in the water. I know there has been discussion about this but it was really no problem.









After looking at the pictures we may need to route the breather hose under the macerator hose for a continues upward path.

There is the final work of securing the hoses and wires but I ran out of gas at the end of the day. Get the pun?

The 90 deg angle hose is the pump out.
The other is the macerator one.










The other 3/4 whte hose is the new shower sump hose that goes by the holding tank.

The white small PVC hose goes to the toilet.

The caped off though hull was for the shower sump. It is above the water line which is fine but you need to remove the mattress to get to it so we are using the old macerator through hull as it is easily reachable.










This all leads me to a new question but I think it should be a new post.
Thanks,
Chip


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## SlowButSteady (Feb 17, 2010)

When I installed the holding tank in my boat I also made sure that all the fittings are at the top of the tank. I cut the bottom of the dip-tube (the pipe that goes to the bottom of the tank to pick up the waste during pump-outs) at about a 45˚ angle, but only from about halfway across the cross-section to the edge. I also installed it so the the bottom of the tube is about a half-inch to an inch off the bottom of the tank. That way there is a flat surface on the bottom of the tube (about half the circumference), rather than a sharp edge, should it ever contact the bottom of the tank; but with plenty of open area to pick-up the waste. It seems to leave about 1 or 2 inches of stuff in the tank after a pump-out -- not a big worry.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

A few coments for Chip:

Mold. I wouldn't give it any thought. Wash your hands after pumping out. The outdoors is full of molds; only a very few are harmful and generally it takes substancial exposure.

Air. Won't help. Actually, most molds (not all) require air and don't care for anerobic environments. That is why they grow on the surface. I assume you had had the tank open for some time.

Air coming out of the vent. I sure hope so. But velocity is far to low to stir anything up in the tank.

Vent filter. Where? Do you mean a carbon vent filter or do you mean screen on the through-hull fitting? I don't see it in the photos. A carbon filter will keep odors in and might restrict mold spores to some extent. However, they need proper instalation and can increase solids build-up by reducing aerobic biological activity. They make clearing the vent more complex if it clogs at the tank end, but so does your screen. But maybe....
Sail Delmarva: Holding Tank Odors vs. Carbon Vent Filter

Macerator. Actually, that's a diaphram waste pump. A macerator is centrifugal and shreds the waste. This just moves it.

________________________________

The advise offered by all was good. Go sailing and stir it up. Now you have an excuse to go out. Overall, I suspec the mold is a very trasitory condition and will pass on its own.


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## unomio (Jun 8, 2007)

Our solutions for mold on your poo (and nasty smells from the head)--a) use fresh water to flush the toilet when possible, b) DON'T use biocides, Lysol, etc. as they kill the good bugs and wreck the rubber valves, c) DON'T put toilet paper down the toilet (or anything you haven't eaten first). Do as they do in Central America and keep a small container with a tight-fitting lid (line it with a plastic veggie bag if you want) for the used toilet paper. Flush your soapy used dishwater (as long as it doesn't have a lot of debris in it) down the toilet. Make sure your vent to the outside stays clear--mold (and other nasty odor-causing stuff) doesn't like fresh air. Keep the hoses clean and clear--they can lime up and be clogged with mineral deposits much fast than you'd think. Using freshwater to flush helps this. And remember--in the tropics, EVERYTHING will mold and mildew. Your poo won't be unique--it will look just like your shoes.


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## sea_hunter (Jul 26, 2000)

SanDiegoChip said:


> We have just added a bellows type macerator to our holding tank (HT). In doing this we opted to have a separate hose and through hull for this. We also added a pipe into the HT for this purpose through the top.
> When I cut the whole into the holding tank I decide to take pictures of the inside of the tank in case we ever for some reason wanted to see inside. So of course I just had to see inside. What I saw was what looks like mold in the poo. It had just been pumped out
> My question is what do people do to prevent this. This is not something we want (the HT is under our bed) in the HT.
> We can I suppose buy some chemicals to kill it and add them each pump out.


Leave it alone, all is good. If you want to clean the tank out, add a couple of cups of woolite detergent (won't affect the good bacteria) and top off with fresh water. You can do this when the pump out guys are around or head over to the public pump out. Or fill with fresh water and head out for a day cruise then blow it overboard with the macerator. Flush a couple of times with fresh water, pumping out each time. I like "odorlos" tablets or a similar bacterial booster to keep the tank healthy.


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## AdamLein (Nov 6, 2007)

dhays said:


> Keep doing this until you don't see anything but clear water come out as you pump it. The last time I pumped out of my tanks I flushed it 5 times.


We rarely use the head so I rarely pump out, so maybe I just haven't figured it out yet, but how do you see anything at all as you pump? All the hoses are opaque.


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## SanDiegoChip (Jun 12, 2007)

When we pump (at a pump out facility) there is a clear area on the pump out hose by the nozzle. A window if you will to see your poo.
You can also see after re-filling your holding tank a couple times with fresh water the clearness of the water that comes out then.
Guess it is the life of a boater watching our poo.


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## AdamLein (Nov 6, 2007)

The hose in the pump-outs I have used had no such window. I could not view my poo. Boo hoo.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

AdamLein said:


> The hose in the pump-outs I have used had no such window. I could not view my poo. Boo hoo.


a. The hose will jump a bit just as it runes empty. Pay attention; after a few seconds it is only air and the hose is still again.

b. Often, particularly on a hot day, you can feel the temperature difference on the side of the tank; the liquid will be cooler than the airspace. Of course, there are monitor systems.


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## AdamLein (Nov 6, 2007)

Yeah but we're talking about the quality, not the quantity, of poo in the hose.

It's all about quality.


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## Boatsmith (May 3, 2009)

Reminds me of a TV commercial for a chemical company back with time lapse photography in the 70s. Monsanto I believe. They showed two plates of cottage cheese. After a week one plate was completely enveloped with mold. The other plate w appeared normal. The commentary exclaimed the wonders of modern chemistry.....what I saw was that even the mold was smart enough to know that chemicaly altered food is no good for you.


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## AdamLein (Nov 6, 2007)

Boatsmith said:


> what I saw was that even the mold was smart enough to know that chemicaly altered food is no good for you.


Well, no good for mold, at least.


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