New Holding Tank Level sensor

[ksanders]

Here is the new KUS holding tank level sensor with gauge and alarm module I just installed yesterday.

On any boat knowing your holding tank level is crucial to planning. I tried a pressure type, ultrasonic, and now this one. All the ones in the past have been somewhat unreliable to say the least.

On my boat we removed the large holding tank outboard the starboard engine back in 2011 to provide engine access. Replacing that is a Raritan Hold N Treat system that combines a small (14 gallon) holding tank along with a sewage treatment system to use where allowed.

The holding tank level sensor sends a 12V signal to the hold N Treat controller which causes the macerator pump to run for 10 seconds followed by a treatment cycle. On my boat there is no way to discharge raw sewage. Anything that goes overboard is treated.

If I am in a location that does not allow even treated waste, I simply turn the key to no discharge and use the pumpout facilities.

[Bobhicks]

Kevin with the Raratin system you are using does it compact the raw waste as well as sanitize it? I am wondering how a 15 Gallon tank holds much sewage. Also do you discharge at the marina while in your slip? Just wondering how you can get away with such a small tank and obviously know nothing about the system.

[ksanders]

What the Raritan system does is sanitize the waste, it does not compact it.

I find that the 14 gallon tank lasts me about three days as a one person show.

The pumpout gets shut down here in the winter due to freezing weather. I am technically not allowed to discharge even treated waste into the harbor so I just go outside the harbor entrance. This is not a law, it is a rule set by the harbor and I respect their rules.

My guess is the other stayaboard do the same thing, but even just leaving the harbor is not enough to make untreated discharge legal, as we are in a bay and you need to go 3nm offshore to be legal.

Once I leave here in the spring depending on how bothersom it is, I might add another tank aft of the engine. We'll have to see how it works out.