Holding Tanks 

For the benefit of the females that come out on the H28 Rondo (and the males too I guess) I decided to fit a Holding Tank System. 1 looked at the various options that were available i.e. Lectrasan, large under the front tank, but I eventually opted for the Burnsco version of the 15 litre Bulkhead Tank with a pump out system. THE TOTAL COST WAS $610.00 and it took approximately 2-3 hours to fit the whole system.

First I removed all the old piping from the head to the outlet cock. I mounted the 15 litre tank on the front Bulkhead wall in the Head Compartment. I drilled a % inch hole in the side of the cabin, beside the window for a vent outlet. I fitted a 3/4 inch hose from the vent outlet on top of the tank to the vent fitting on the side of the cabin wall. I fitted a hose from the head outlet, to the inlet of the tank at the bottom of the tank. The inlet has a tube going up almost to the top of the tank inside, which when you pump the head to flush it pushes the contents up out of the tube to spill down to the bottom of the tank.

If the tank is mounted above the water line, you can opt for gravity feed to the outlet. But I preferred to have the pump to suck out the contents from the tank and force it out of the outlet (still via the usual s-bend). I mounted a manual pump down beside the toilet and connected the hose from the outlet of the tank to the inlet of the pump. I ran another hose from the outlet of the pump via the s-bend to the outlet cock.

To use, we simply flush the head as usual. When in legal water, to empty the tank I make sure the outlet cock is open and pump the same as a bilge pump until no more content is left in the tank. So far I am very happy with the new system. A 15 litre tank might not seem very big, but we are usually only in a bay overnight, and moving on the next day so it should be big enough and easy enough to empty every day. I have included a photo of our new holding tank system , but please feel free to come and inspect it for yourself when we’re all next out on the water.

Clive Cameron RONDO