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Heading Off Unpleasant Odors
by Brad Pierce
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Owning a boat is a pleasure and a privilege -- but owning a marine head isn't always so pleasant. If you are the designated "head engineer" on your boat, you'll be relieved to know you don't have to live with an unpleasant head odor: It is treatable.
The trick is finding the source of that noxious smell. There are three basic sources to investigate: the toilet, the plumbing and the holding tank.
If the source of the problem is the toilet itself, the smell will be sulfurous, like that of rotting eggs. In this case, the cause is standing water in the bowl and the intake line. The raw water holds not only waste, but also decaying bacteria.
The solution is to soak the bowl with diluted muriatic acid and flush out the head. Then, replace the intake line.
If your nose would have you believe that you're living in a sewage plant, the source is probably the plumbing. Hoses can soak up water in their walls and retain waste odors. Hoses with traps are most susceptible to this phenomenon.
Cleaning solutions like Pine Sol, Mr. Clean and chlorine bleach will strip away the odor barrier of the hoses and allow them to absorb odors faster. The safest cleaning agent is detergent.
The ultimate solution involves replacing the smelly hoses and repositioning them higher, if possible. To keep the lines drained, it's best to have them running horizontally and then down to the drain, rather than low and up. If a lower hose can't be raised, replace it with PVC pipe.
If the smell is coming from the holding tank, you will probably find cracks and pinholes that are allowing waste water to leak out.
Another problem could be a plugged vent line. Material trapped in a vent line will cause the tank to become anaerobic -- meaning devoid of air. Air can break down and eliminate the odors; but a lack of air allows odors to grow.
To solve the vent problem, replace the metal screen in the vent assembly and clean out the line -- or replace the vent assembly with a nylon through-hull vent, which has no screen to clog and is impervious to odors.
Sewage is unbelievably corrosive. It is full of acids and all kinds of chemicals you throw into it -- and it all sits there and cooks in your holding tank until you pump it out.
The most corrosion-resistant tank material available is thick-walled polyethylene. If your holding tank has gone bad and is made of a material other than polyethylene, you should replace it with a polyethylene tank.
Bladder-style tanks absorb odors quickly -- usually within six months to a year. Aluminum and fiberglass tanks can be eaten away by sewage. Stainless steel tanks can also be attacked, generally at the seams.
Head odors can certainly rob you of your boating pleasure. But by doing some elementary detective work, you can quickly rid your toilet, tank and plumbing of unpleasant smells.
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This article first appeared in the September 1, 1996 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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