Richard B. Emerson wrote:

> We use a LectraSan on OWTW and cycle it at least twice with fresh
> (non-Bay) water before closing the boat.

Rick, Ya simply GOTTA start reading instructions for the equipment on
your boat...'cuz that is a VERY bad practice! Running the L/S without
sufficient salt damages the electrodes, and electrode packs are expensive.

If you're on the boat every weekend, you don't need to do anything but
run it twice without flushing the toilet. That leaves only treated waste
in it and treated waste no longer has any odor.

The Lectra/San should reduce bacteria count to <10/100 ml...two
cycles--provided it has enough salt--kills all of it. In fact, ANY odor
from a L/S is the first indication that the system isn't treating...that
there's a problem. If you keep running it with fresh water, ALL your
discharges are gonna stink.

If you're gonna be away from the boat for more than a week or two, run
the L/S twice and then put enough fresh water into it through the toilet
WITHOUT running it to completely purge it. Again DO NOT RUN IT while
doing this! When you come back, you'll need to purge all the fresh
water out of it with enough brine solution (made up according to the
directions in the manual) to restore sufficient salinity in it.

> The only problem, albeit a
> brief one, is the first flush the following weekend is rather ...ah...
> ripe, as the water and other stuff in the inlet hose turns anaerobic
> during the week.

That's because the fresh water you're putting into it before it sits
prevents it from treating the waste in it that's left to sit in it. And
  then you run it again with insufficient salt...no wonder it stinks!

Worse yet, if the "Bay" is the Chesapeake, it's brackish. For the L/S to
treat--and the electrode pack to survive--you must either have the
appropriate salt tank installed to supply the salt it needs or add it
manually to each flush. The system has "low salt" light...If yours never
stop blinking, your electrode pack may already be dead. If the first
flush when come back aboard after you haven't put any fresh water into
it stinks, it is...the system is no longer treating.

-- 
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and 
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/boat_odors/
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