Toilet question

[Bigbob75]

Are the toilets onboard the ones that utilize the low flow units like the one in hotels I. Florida ?

[SadieN]

It's a marine vacuum system. It's very rare to have to double flush.

Edited August 17, 2014 by SadieN

[CRJ700]

Are the toilets onboard the ones that utilize the low flow units like the one in hotels I. Florida ?

 

They are the vacuum type like on airliners.

[AdGuyMG]

They are the vacuum type like on airliners.

 

That's right. The only major difference is a ship toilet is a bit more wet than a dry aircraft system. Ships can carry plenty of flushing water compared to an airliner and store the sewage until it can be pumped out at a port or discharged using a pipe that releases the sewage deep underwater and well behind the ship. This can only be done in tightly controlled areas off shore.

 

 

Also, because a ship can pitch and roll it's necessary to give the sewage some motivation to go down the pipes. This is done using vacuum accumulators that collect water on one level and when full discharge the waste water under vacuum where it is pulled into the main holding tank.

Edited August 17, 2014 by AdGuyMG

[chengkp75]

Bits of misinformation here.

 

First, no ship since 1975 has been allowed to discharge untreated sewage at sea, anywhere in the world. Cruise ships mostly have what are called "advanced waste water treatment" systems, that take ALL of the water used onboard ("black" water from toilets, "gray" water from sinks, showers, as well as laundry and galley), and treats it to the point where it is nearly drinkable water. For the poster asking about Disney, the centrifuge that is in their system is after one or two stages of biological treatment (bacteria eating the waste, much like a septic tank), and generally consists mostly of the paper fibers from the toilet paper (the system processes too fast to digest the paper). The smell you mention could be from the AWWT plant vents, or the "pulper" system which is a shipwide garbage disposal system. When the solids from the waste water are to be incinerated, they are dried and treated for odor before being incinerated.

 

Second, there sure are ways to clog a vacuum toilet. From many years experience clearing clogs in shipboard toilet systems (both cruise and cargo ships), I will tell you that not only is it possible, but rather common. The reason the ships use vacuum systems is that they don't have to keep increasing the pipe size as the waste flows down to the engine room, like sewers ashore (after so many houses tie into the line, the sewer has to get larger to handle the flow). This reduces the space required to hide the pipes. Further, some cabin toilets flush UP, to take advantage of using one main pipe running the length of the ship in the ceiling and collecting from cabins on that deck and the one above.

 

Having said that, generally, human waste and toilet paper will not clog a vacuum toilet. Clogs are caused by the things that the little pictograms over the toilet tell you not to flush down the toilet. Clothing, swimwear, towels, face cloths, dinner napkins, toothbrushes, crack pipes, coke spoons, and 9mm ammunition are some of the items we have removed from clogged toilet lines.