TP in the head

[EpicAdventure]

I have heard different thoughts on putting TP in the head/ holding tank. What do most folks here do?

[ereiss]

You might want to Google; Peggy Hall Headmistress. She is the expert on all things marine sanitation. She provides information on a number of sites. No one better.

regards,

Ed Reiss
Being There
Freedom 38 #154
out of Jamestown, RI

[JohnRPollard]

You are going to get a lot of different opinions on this one, but...

We have been putting TP into our toilet and holding tanks for as long as we've owned boats, and never had any problem. They are designed to handle modest amounts of TP.

We do use the "marine/rv" TP, which seems to be a bit thinner and which seems to disintegrate easily.

[US27inKS]

Buy the cheapest TP known to man. If it disintegrates at the slightest hint of water, you got the right stuff. Use in moderation.

[blt2ski]

Take the brand you prefer, put a square in a bottle of water, shake it, if it dissolves into tiny pieces, great, if not find another brand! Try the brand used at office, etc, buy a 4 pack of the RV stuff, if it dissolves the most, use it.

This works for ANY vehicle, land or water yacht that has a holding tank, including septic tanks in the home!

I think you will find most brands dissolve pretty quick and thoroughly!

Marty

[MJBrown]

We use 2 ply marine TP only. It works fine. You can see it begin to break up before you flush. BTW if your toilet can't handle marine TP then it's time for a new toilet

[donradclife]

Try buying marine TP in the third world...we never put anything in the toilet or holding tank that hasn't been eaten first. Used TP belongs in a plastic bag and in the trash while in port or anchored, and overboard while at sea.

[k1vsk]

Originally Posted by blt2ski

Take the brand you prefer, put a square in a bottle of water, shake it, if it dissolves into tiny pieces, great, if not find another brand! Try the brand used at office, etc, buy a 4 pack of the RV stuff, if it dissolves the most, use it.

This works for ANY vehicle, land or water yacht that has a holding tank, including septic tanks in the home!

I think you will find most brands dissolve pretty quick and thoroughly!

Marty

The only reason I quote the above is that it bears repeating.
This is the easiest test of how most heads can handle paper.

The answer to the original q depends on what kind of head - some electric macerating heads have no problem with any type toilet paper; other (cheap) manual heads can clog if you look at them sideways.

[labatt]

We use TP in our head. We've found that Walmart sells a 2-ply TP in their camping/boating section that is nicer than most.

[hellosailor]

There's all kinds of TP, it really is NOT all the same.

Best advice for boats, is to take a sheet of the TP you want to use and place it in a glass of water overnight. If it has turned to loose pulp by the morning, it will do the same thing in your holding tank and there's no problem. If the sheet stays intact (which cheap sheets of stiffer longer fibers can do, single ply or not) then you don't want it in the head.

DSC's "Dirty Jobs" show just did a piece on the "Incendihead" used on some Alaskan fishing boats. You drop a paper liner in the head before using it, and when you "flush" the liner and contents drop into a chamber lined with a heating coil--to get incinerated! No water added or used. Plenty of AC used, but commercial fishing boats have that.

Needless to say, the one they were taking apart wasn't just full of nice white ash the way it was supposed to be.(G)