Sewage Management Tips

Untreated sewage discharged from boats can spread disease, contaminate shellfish beds and lower oxygen levels in harbor, lake and river areas where boats are concentrated. Exposure to water contaminated by sewage discharge can result in gastroenteritis, hepatitis, dysentery and cholera.

The safest and most environmentally friendly way to manage sewage on your boat is to have a Marine Sanitation Device (MSD) with a holding tank that is always emptied at a sewage pump-out, or to keep a port-a-potty on board and empty it at shore-side dump-stations or in your toilet at home. Use Earth 911 to find a dumping station.

Managing sewage in this way means that it will always be treated by the same means as a toilet plumbed to the local sewage treatment facility.

Tips for Minimizing Sewage Impacts

• Always use on-shore restrooms when docked and before casting off.
• Plan ahead for restroom stops.
• Do not discharge untreated sewage in any lake, river or coastal water inside the three mile territorial limit.
• Boats without toilets—use a portable toilet on-board your vessel and empty at a dump station or at home.
• Always use a sewage pump-out facility to empty holding tanks.
• If convenient pump-outs are not available in your marina, ask your marina to install one.
• Choose marine sanitation devices that use a holding tank or portable toilet. When discharged at a pump-out station, they provide the best environmental protection.
• Never discharge any sewage, treated or untreated, in a designated no discharge area.
• If you have a “Y” valve with a through hull fitting that allows untreated sewage discharge directly overboard, it should only be used in the ocean beyond the three mile territorial limit. At all other times, the valve should be locked in closed position (use a padlock or non-releasable wire tie) so nothing can be discharged overboard.
• For sanitation systems that require treatment chemicals, look for chlorine-free and formaldehyde-free products.