GL: Discharge

[Tommy Terrific]

Kevin said:   "Thank god they don't allow boats to discharge on the Hudson. 
Can you
imagine all that additional boat pollution on top of the 7.5 million
gallons of raw sewage released from Yonkers a month ago.....that would
have really created a problem.

After the discharge the DEC said it would not cause an impact
and would clear up in a couple of days.

"It's anticipated at this time that it will have minimal impact on the
environment," said Maureen Wren, spokeswoman for the state Department of
Environmental Conservation."

..............................................

Well, this got me thinking more seriously about this hoax that has been 
brought upon us.  A few calls to some well-connected sources taught me that 
of all boats registered, only 7% have toilet facilities aboard.  Another 
interesting statistic:  Boats without toilets get used about 8 times as 
often as boats with toilets.  So if my math is correct, boats with toilet 
facilities get used about 0.00134 of all boating hours.  Now an interesting 
question does come to mind....What/where do all those people without toilet 
facilities do/go?  Do they go home?  Hold it?  Stop at public facility? 
Jump overboard?   How about using a bucket?  Where then does that bucket get 
emptied?
While this is being contemplated, we must give thought to how much waste 
might really be put overboard.  When I looped a few years ago, I stopped to 
visit a friend in Little Rock (yes, disrespecting  Skipper Bob's concern, I 
took the Mississippi all the way to New Orleans).  I thought I might need a 
pump out, as I had not had one since Nashville (yes, we went there also), 
but none were available.  He suggested we pump it out by hand.  I was quite 
surprised to find that there was only a small amount of solids material in 
the tank and that most of the contents were liquid, and relatively clear. 
There was little evidence of paper (meaning that it apparently breaks down 
very rapidly).  In total there was for two persons, for 38 days, 90 gallons, 
of which only 8 were solids.  As our loop was just shy of nine months, we 
apparently produced about 35.5 gallons of contained waste per each, per 
month, or about 320 gallons for the entire loop, less of course, time hooked 
up to facilities while in marinas.

So, if 7,500,000 gallons of raw sewage would not have an impact that lasted 
longer than a few days, how much impact would boats with toilet facilities 
have, and how long would that impact last?
TT
Oh, BTW, I also have a 27' sailboat that I use many evenings, year around. 
My holding tank is only 20 gallons and it has not been pumped out since fall 
2005.  I think a lot of people that are not cruising long distances, don't 
use their facilities nearly as often as we have be lead to believe.