Thanks to the recent lively discussion about heads, I paid close attention to this weekend's pumpout.

We haven't pumped out our head for the past few weekends (we're weekend sailors with about 3 uses each weekend). Every time we went to do this, the pumpout dock was occupied. We weren't too worried as we really didn't have any noticebly stinky problems.

This weekend I decided to pump out and I took a good look at our setup.

The p.o. had installed a 14 gal. bladder type holding tank. I initially had some problems with this as I thought it wouldn't do a very good job of preventing odors. This has not been the case. I think a combination of things have helped.

1.) When pumping out, we refill the holding tank from the deck filler with clean fresh water and a squirt of dish detergent. This past pump out, I refilled and pumped 4 times. The nice thing about the bladder is that it can be completely emptied.

2.) With the bladder empty, access is simple. We spray down and wipe the entire works with some 409.

3.) After it's all pumped out, we pour about 1/2 cup of tank treatment along with about 2 cups of clean fresh water in the head and pump that into the tank.

That's about it. The final piece is an air freshener, the kind that you pull up to expose the stuff. Our head is as fresh as a daisy.

Maybe I'm crazy, but this setup works for us and it is insanely simple. I'm pleased with the bladder as it does a good job of maximizing space and it doesn't seem to emit any nasty odors.

Cheers,

Rick Beddoe
s/v Soñadora, 1978 Baba 30, Hull #22
http://sail2live.com

**please do not reply to the e-mail above. Use beddoes # sail2live.com



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Received on Sun Sep 18 18:55:01 2005