TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL OF VESSEL SANITARY WASTES: A SYNTHESIS OF CURRENT INFORMATION

This report is concerned with the flow of pollution from marine vessels and is limited to those vessels operating on the navigable inland, harbor, and coastal waters of the United States and Canada. The review deals primarily with body wastes from toilets and urinals, however, domestic wastes from laundries, showers, sinks, and galleys that have normally been discharged in the past from vessels sanitary systems have been included to the extent that they bear on the problem. In the broadest sense, two approaches to the problem are available within the scope of present technology. (1) The wastes can be temporarily retained aboard for discharge at a shore facility or in unrestricted waters or (2) can be treated and discharged to the waterway in an acceptable condition. This synthesis provides the necessary background information for vessel operators and port authorities to ascertain which of the two approaches is most compatible with their operational requirements, including the advantages and disadvantages inherent in each. Administrators and legislators should also be able to gain additional perspective with regard to the scope of the problem. Alternate methods and approaches for solving the technical problems are suggested; the economic impact on the various sectors of the marine community is estimated.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Financial support was provided by the Maritime Administration, Department of Commerce.
• Corporate Authors:

  Maritime Research Information Service

  Maritime Information Committee
  Washington, DC  United States  20418
• Publication Date: 1971-6

Media Info

• Pagination: 150 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Container tanks; Sewage disposal; Sewage holding tanks; Sewage treatment; Ships; State of the art; Waste disposal; Water pollution
• Old TRIS Terms: Holding tanks; Human waste; Shipboard sewage treatment
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00033038
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 5 1974 12:00AM