Yachts can spend weeks on the ocean at a time, but where do they dump their waste after so long at sea?
Most commonly, yachts will follow the same tactic as other ocean-faring vessels, in that they discharge waste directly into the oceans. Many of the modern vessels have holding tanks for human waste (black water), but wastewater (gray water) is usually evacuated into the ocean itself.
Read on to learn more about the ways yachts operate when they’re on the open sea.
Black, Gray, and Bilge
When it comes to the wastewater from a boat or ship, there are three different types. They produce black, gray, and bilge water.
The first, black, is human waste, and often considered the most harmful to the environment. It’s the most strictly regulated of the three, as you might imagine.
Next, there’s the gray water, which is the wastewater obtained from utilities like sinks and showers. It’s not as harmful, but it still isn’t clean.
Then, the bilge water – this can be found on every ship. It’s the water that accumulates in the literal bilges of the ship.
It’s harder to clean out, but when you manage to do it you’ll need to dispose of it properly. There are facilities in place that will take – and dispose of – oily bilge water.
Owing to the nature of it, it can often be tainted with machine fluids, so it can’t be dispelled into the ocean.
Surprisingly, the most common way to eject wastewater from a yacht is to simply discharge it into the ocean. Although, there are regulations surrounding this practice.
You must be a set distance away from any coastlines – usually three miles. Then, you’re free to discharge the fluids into the ocean as you see fit.
This is the same for both black and gray water.
The toilets aboard boats, particularly yachts, don’t function the same as a standard household toilet. They use pump mechanisms and it’s recommended that you flush around twenty times after each use.
The general advice also suggests you should use as little paper as possible. On modern yachts, the water from your flush will be transported into a holding tank.
This tank should remain clog-free, and paper will obviously make matters worse.
If you’re a more eco-friendly yachtsman, you’ll wait until you make port to empty your holding tank. There are specialized services that will take and dispose of the wastewater for you.
Although, some manufacturers have created the technology to essentially purify wastewater while on the ocean. There are functions that will allow for the recycling of gray water.
A Wasteful Matter
Ocean pollution is a huge issue and has been so for many years. It’s a hard fact, but the majority of the ships, boats, and yachts at sea will not dispose of waste efficiently.
Coastalcare.org discusses this fact and breaks down the figures of the biggest perpetrator: cruise ships. These behemoth vessels are notorious for the mass dumping of waste throughout the oceans.
Reportedly, they dump around thirty-thousand gallons of human waste into the ocean every day. Not only that but also more than two-hundred-thousand gallons of gray water.
They also allegedly dump enormous amounts of solid waste and garbage into the oceans. According to their figures, a dumped soda can will take up to two-hundred years to degrade fully.
Across the United States, there are a number of “no-discharge” zones that prohibit the dumping of wastewater. They even disallow the dumping of treated wastewater, which aims to reduce impactful toxicity.
Mooring areas and marinas have tried to take steps to stop people from discharging wastewater, but it isn’t always effective.
One article in a sailing magazine explains how the staff at one harbor would fill toilets with green dye. If the sailors dumped their wastewater, they’d leave a green trail, be spotted, and be banned for a year.
Although, with modern times comes modern solutions. It’s now a federal law that every boat in U.S. waters with a permanently-fitted toilet must have a water treatment device.
These are known as “Marine Sanitation Devices”, and can come in two forms. This is either a holding tank or a water treatment feature, that aims to reduce the bacteria in the water.
When you’re already paying millions of dollars for a yacht, it makes no difference to throw in a handy water treatment unit.