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4.11. SEWAGE FACILITY MANAGEMENT

Management Measure for Sewage Facilities:

Install pumpout, dump station, and adequate restroom facilities at marinas to

educe the release of sewage to surface waters. Design these facilities to

allow ease of access, and post signage to promote use by the boating public.

Management Measure Description

Boat sewage can be a problem when discharged

into surface waters without pretreatment. It is

similar to situations in which discharges of

municipal sewage close beaches when heavy

rainstorms overburden sewer systems and

rainwater mixed with raw sewage is discharged

directly to surface waters through combined

sewer overflows. Sewage from boats is more

concentrated than that from either combined

sewer overflows or sewage treatment plants

because marine heads use little water for

flushing and the sewage in marine heads is not

diluted by water from bathing, dishwashing, or

rain. Boat sewage contains nutrients that can

stimulate growth of aquatic plants (algae and

large aquatic plants) and pathogens (fecal

coliform bacteria and viruses), which can cause

human health problems directly through contact

in the water or indirectly through the consumption of contaminated seafood.

Progress has been made toward eliminating

discharges of sanitary waste from boats with the

designation of no discharge zones, installation of

pumpouts nationwide, and growing number of

boater education programs. Efforts to reduce

sewage discharges and to educate boaters about

the damage they cause need to continue, and

marinas can play a direct and important role in

these matters.

Pumpout facilities and restrooms should be

installed at new marinas and, where feasible, at

existing marinas. Most states encourage the

installation and use of pumpouts through the

federal Clean Vessel Act (CVA) Grant Program

and boater education.

Boaters and marinas are usually not considered

primary sources of pathogen contamination in

surface waters. Measurements of fecal coliform

(Escherichia coli) bacteria are used as an

indicator of sewage contamination in surface

waters. It is often hard to attribute high coliform

bacteria levels directly to any particular source,

and within an area many potential sources are

often present. Background coliform levels from

runoff polluted with pet waste and droppings of

waterfowl can be high, septic systems in an area

might be poorly maintained or operating improperly, municipal sewage systems might have

leaks, and boaters in marinas might be discharging untreated or insufficiently treated waste into

surface waters. This management measure

addresses all potential sources of sewage

pollution to surface waters. Boaters and marinas, in particular, have a vested interest in clean

waters, because the livelihood of marinas and

the recreational benefits boaters derive from use

of the waters are clearly linked to clean water.

Type I and II marine sanitation devices (MSDs)

are used to pretreat boat sewage before discharging it overboard (except in a no discharge

zone) if not prohibited by local ordinances. In an

area designated as a no discharge zone, MSDs

of all types must be configured to prevent

discharge to surface waters and all sewage must

be pumped out. Type III MSDs are holding

tanks. They must be emptied into sewage

treatment systems and cannot be discharged

overboard. It is strongly recommended that

holding tanks equipped with Y-valves have the

valves in the closed position to prevent accidental

discharge into boating waters. Pumpout use and

no discharge zone designations have improved
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water quality in many areas, so that shellfishing

and aquaculture, once prohibited because of high

bacterial concentrations, are allowed again. A

description of the types of MSDs is provided in

Section 3.

Chemicals are used in holding tanks to retard the

normal aerobic digestion of sewage and release of

noxious odors. Some concern has been expressed

about the effect that these chemicals might have

on municipal sewage treatment systems (that is,

the possibility of interfering with bacterial digestion in the first stages of sewage treatment) when

boater sewage is transferred to a municipal

sewage system. Studies of this effect have found

that neither the chemicals nor the concentration of

marine wastes is a problem for any properly

operating public sewage treatment plant.

Two of the most important factors in successfully

preventing sewage discharge from boats are

providing adequate and reasonably available

pumpout facilities and conducting a comprehensive

boater education program. Congress passed the

Clean Vessel Act (CVA) in 1992 to help reduce

pollution from vessel sewage discharges by

providing funding to states for the installation of

adequate pumpout facilities (Figure 4-18). The act

established a 5-year (1992–1997) federal grant

program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service that authorized funding from the Sport Fish

Restoration Account of the Aquatic Resources

Trust Fund for use by states. The act was renewed

for a second 5-year period in 1998. Grants are

available from the CVA grant program to both

private and public marinas for the construction,

renovation, operation, and maintenance of pumpout

stations and waste reception facilities. Further

information about CVA grants and the grant

program is available at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

web site at <http://fa.r9.fws.gov/cva/cva.html>.

Applicability

This management measure is applicable to

marinas where adequate pumpout, dump station,

and restroom facilities do not exist.

Best Management Practices

♦ Install pumpout facilities and dump stations.

Use a system compatible with the marina’s

needs.

Three types of onshore sewage collection systems to handle sewage from boat holding tanks

and portable toilets are available—fixed point

systems, portable/mobile systems, and dedicated

slipside systems (Figure 4-19).

• Fixed-point systems.

Fixed-point collection systems include one or

more centrally located sewage pumpout stations.

The stations are usually located at the end of a

pier, often on a fueling dock, so that fueling and

pumpout operations can be done at the same time.

A boat that needs pumpout service moves to the

pumpout station; a flexible hose is connected to

the wastewater fitting in the hull of the boat; and

pumps or a vacuum system move the wastewater

to an onshore holding tank, a public sewer

system,a private treatment facility, or another

approved disposal facility.

• Dump stations for portable toilets.

Where boats in a marina use only small portable

(removable) toilets, a satisfactory disposal facility

is a dump station, which is fundable with a CVA

grant.

• Portable systems.

Portable/mobile systems are similar to fixed-point

systems and in some situations can be used in

Figure 4-18. Pumpout station logo (Clean Vessel

Act).
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their place at a fueling dock. A portable unit

includes a pump and a small storage tank. The

unit is moved to a boat where the boat is docked.

The unit is connected to the deck fitting on the

vessel, and wastewater is pumped from the

vessel’s holding tank to the pumping unit’s storage

tank. When the storage tank is full, the portable

unit is taken to a location where its contents can

be discharged into a municipal sewage system or

a holding tank for removal by a septic tank

pumpout service.

Some marinas use a smaller mobile pumpout unit

that does not have a holding tank attached but

instead pumps directly from the boat, through a

pump hose, and into a hose fitting in each slip that

is connected to a below-dock, gravity-drained

sewer pipe system.

Because boaters do not have to move their boats

to a special location to use the systems and

marinas do not have to install extensive dockside

piping and pumping systems to provide pumpout

service, portable pumpout facilities might be the

most feasible, convenient, accessible, regularly

used, and affordable way to ensure

proper disposal of boat sewage.

Mobile systems have to be moved

about a marina, and this factor

should be considered when determining the correct type of system

for a marina. One type of portable/

mobile type of pumpout unit that is

popular in the Great Salt Pond in

Block Island, Rhode Island, is the

radio-dispatched pumpout boat. The

pumpout boat goes to a vessel in

response to a radio-transmitted

request, pumps the holding tank,

and then moves on to the next

vessel requesting a pumpout. This

approach eliminates the inconvenience of lines, docking, and

maneuvering vessels in high-traffic

areas. Pumpout boats and mobile

systems are also fundable with a

CVA grant.

• Dedicated slipside systems.

Dedicated slipside systems provide continuous

wastewater collection at select slips in a marina.

Slipside pumpouts are particularly suited to

liveaboard vessels, and dedicated slipside pumpout

points can be provided to slips designated for

liveaboards while the remainder of the marina is

served by a fixed-point or mobile pumpout

system.

In a dedicated system, direct connections are

made between the boat and a below-dock gravitydrained sewer pipe system (Figure 4-20). This

requires use of a vacuum-type pumpout system,

which evacuates the entire line and the boat

holding tank. The landside vacuum pumpout,

which has its own holding tank, can discharge

directly into a large inground holding tank or to a

municipal sewer system.

♦ Provide pumpout service at convenient

times and at a reasonable cost.

Use of pumpout stations increases if they are

made available at times of day when customers

want to use them. Pumpout availability during

Figure 4-19. Examples of Pumpout systems
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regular marina hours or when the fuel dock is

also open (if the pumpout station is located next

to the fuel station) has been found to work well.

Pumpout stations should be available to all boats

that are able to access them and cannot be

restricted to marina members. Fees of up to $5

are federally allowed under the CVA grant

program, and high fees often decrease pumpout

use.

♦ Keep pumpout stations clean and easily

accessible, and consider having marina

staff do pumpouts.

Free pumpouts are certainly an attraction for

customers, but cleanliness and ease of use are

popular features as well. Customers are more

likely to use pumpouts if they are kept clean and

neat and directions for their use are clearly

posted. Having a marina employee do pumpouts

for patrons is a real service that patrons appreciate, especially if the staff person is skilled in use

of the pumpout and is knowledgeable of the

rules pertaining to marine sanitation devices

(Figure 4-21). The ability of a pumpout station to

attract new customers is magnified when

pumpouts are free and done by marina staff.

♦ Provide portable toilet dump stations near

small slips and launch ramps.

The vast majority of boats used in the United

States are less than 26 feet in length, and more

than half are less than 18 feet in length. Of those

boats that have toilets onboard, most use portable

units designed to be carried ashore for dumping

into toilets. Boaters on these boats can be

encouraged to dispose of their waste properly by

providing portable toilet dump stations. The

stations can be placed on docks or land where

they are convenient to use and can be kept clean.

Marinas should consider making at least one

dump station available, even if the marina caters

primarily to large boats. Public launch ramps

should offer dump stations where feasible.

Figure 4-21. Management at Battery Park Marina

(Ohio) found that most customers are willing to

pump fuel but not their sewage. Dock staff at the

marina, therefore, pump out the boats. Customers

also often prefer to make a single stop for both

fuel and a pumpout, and marinas that have made

it convenient for boaters to do this (such as Battery

Park Marina and Kean’s Detroit Yacht Harbor in

Michigan) have found that the arrange-ment leads

to an increase in the volume of fuel sales as well

as customer satisfaction (USEPA, 1996: Clean

Marinas—Clear Value).

Figure 4-20. Pumpout system at Hall of Fame

Marina (Florida). Accommodating dozens of yachts

more than 100 feet LOA, the marina’s pumpout

system includes below-dock sewer pipes and

connectors of each slip (USEPA, 1996: Clean

Marinas—Clear Value).
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♦ Provide restrooms at all marinas and boat

ramps.

Clean, dry, brightly lit restrooms in marinas are

generally used in preference to boat toilets,

especially if easy to access. Restrooms are the

best way to reduce boat toilet use and thus

decrease the potential for overboard discharge of

untreated sewage. Where feasible, restrooms

should be provided for those who use boat launch

ramps. Restrooms are also an amenity that can

increase user satisfaction.

♦ Consider declaring marina waters to be a

“no discharge” area.

Federal law prohibits discharge of any untreated

sewage into all territorial waters, including coastal

waters to the 3-mile territorial limit, and inland

waters of the Nation, but does allow use of Coast

Guard-approved MSDs (Types I and II). A

private marina that is not in a federal or statedesignated no discharge zone may prohibit

sewage discharges within the marina basin, if

desired, with the addition of a clause to the slip

rental contract stating that sewage discharge is

not permitted (Figure 4-22). An attorney can add

the appropriate language. Marina-specific no

discharge policies will work if conditions are

similar to those necessary to make federal or

state-designated NDZs effective:

• Provision of adequate restroom facilities for

marina patrons.

• Convenient and low-cost or free pumpout

service at the marina.

• Adequate boater education.

• Signs that declare the marina’s policy of no

discharge.

• Contract language that is legally sufficient

and easy to understand.

• Visible enforcement.

♦ Establish practices and post signs to control

pet waste problems.

Many boats have dogs aboard, and the animals

need an area to relieve themselves. The best way

to control pet sewage is to provide a special area

away from the shore for dogs to be taken and ask

owners to clean up after their pets (Figure 4-23).

A grassy area that is away from where people

walk or children play is ideal.

♦ Avoid feeding wild birds in the marina.

The popular practice of feeding wild ducks, geese,

swans, and seagulls around the docks attracts

more birds and encourages all of them to become

long-term residents at the marina. Such residential

flocks can contaminate water, foul docks, and

create a mess on boats. The best way to reduce

this water pollution source is to prohibit people

from feeding the birds.

The largest marina in the world, Marina Del Rey

(California), is owned and operated by the County

of Los Angeles. The county was forced to close

one of its popular family bathing beaches for more

than a year because of high fecal contamination in

the water. Extensive tests proved that the source

of the pollution problem was seagulls that spent

the night on the beach, not boat sewage. Within

days of stringing monofilament lines over the

beach to discourage bird visits, water quality

improved dramatically and the beach was eventually reopened.

♦ Establish no discharge zones to prevent any

boat sewage from entering boating waters.

Every state has some no discharge boating waters

that prohibit release of any treated or untreated

sewage from all boats and vessels. No discharge

zones (NDZs) are established specifically to

control discharges of sewage from boats. Establishing an NDZ does not imply that other discharges, such as those from municipal sewage

treatment facilities, industrial facilities, combined

sewage outfalls, septic tanks, and nonpoint source

runoff do not enter the waterbody. These sources

This is NO DISCHARGE marina.

Please use our clean restrooms.

Pumpout service is free to customers.

Please do your part to keep our water clean.

Figure 4-22. An example of a sign declaring a “no

discharge” marina.
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are addressed by other permitting and regulatory

programs.

EPA regulations define two types of NDZs—

those that are NDZs by nature of their geography

and those that can be designated by EPA and

states. Waterbodies of the first type include

freshwater lakes and reservoirs, and other

freshwater impoundments whose entrance and

exit points do not support traffic by the regulated

vessels, i.e., by vessels with installed toilets.

Rivers that do not support interstate vessel traffic

are also NDZs by this rule. Waterbodies of the

second type (that can be designated as NDZs by

EPA or states) include coastal waters and

estuaries, the Great Lakes and their interconnected waterways, and other flowing interstate

waters that are navigable by vessels with installed

toilets. Since 1975, when EPA approved the first

state application for a no discharge zone, many

states have established NDZs. Some states,

including Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, and

Rhode Island, have designated all their waters as

no discharge zones (Table 4-4). Most of Lake

Michigan and Lake Superior have been declared

to be NDZs.

A no discharge designation is particularly applicable to inland lakes and reservoirs where

flushing may be limited, primary contact recreational activities (e.g., swimming, windsurfing) are

popular, and surrounding homes might use on-site

septic systems for sewage treatment. The CVA

provides grants to coastal and inland states for

pumpout stations and waste reception facilities to

dispose of recreational boater sewage. A listing of

existing no discharge zones is presented at the

end of this management measure discussion.

For a no discharge designation to be successful,

three key elements are necessary:

• Pumpout services in the area declared to be

an NDZ should be reasonably available

when customers need them and adequate for

the number of boaters in the area.

• Boaters should be educated about the

purpose and importance of the NDZ designation, how to properly comply with the

designation, and the locations of pumpout

services.

• The NDZ designation should be strictly

enforced to ensure compliance. Enforcement

can include boat inspection to make sure that

through-hull valves from boat toilets or

holding tanks are sealed shut and that Yvalves direct toilet waste into holding tanks.

♦ Establish practices and post signs to control

pet waste problems.Establish equipment

requirement policies that prohibit the use of

Y-valves on boats on inland waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard has established equipment

requirements for vessels with onboard toilets.

Federal law prohibits the discharge of any untreated sewage from boats within the continental

waters of the nation, including all rivers and lakes

as well as coastal waters out to 3 nautical miles

into the ocean. These requirements typically state

that vessels must be configured so that the direct

discharge of sewage, treated or untreated, to a

waterbody is not possible. Only those relatively

Figure 4-23. Elliott Bay Marina (Washington)

solved the problem of dog droppings on its docks

by providing free disposable plastic bags for

owners to use to clean up after their pets. This

inexpensive solution freed staff from having to

clean the grounds of dog droppings periodically

and virtually eliminated complaints from other

boaters (USEPA, 1996: Clean Marinas—Clear

Value).
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few boats that do travel out beyond the 3-mile

limit may use a Y-valve to discharge overboard.

The reality, however, is that many boats that

never enter the ocean have Y-valves, seacocks,

and thru-hulls installed. Most of these are boats

built before there were sufficient numbers of

pumpouts available. Y-valves (also called

“cheater valves”) have no purpose other than to

bypass the holding tank to avoid using a pumpout.

Doing this is clearly illegal and bad for water

quality.

As with no-discharge policies, for laws that

require specific equipment or configurations on

boats to work, sufficient and suitable facilities for

disposing of any waste (pumpout services or

dump stations) should be available.

Another essential factor that promotes boater

compliance is enforcement of regulations. On

Lake Winnepeasaukee (New Hampshire), every

boat is inspected for having a holding tank and no

Y-valve or thru-hull discharge fitting. When a

thru-hull fitting is discovered, it must be plugged

solid before the boat may be used on the lake.

This enforcement has been done successfully for

over 30 years by state inspectors at all public

launch ramps and by staff in private marinas

around the lake.

BMP Summary Table 11 summarizes the BMPs

for Sewage Facility Management mentioned in

this guidance.

Dramatic improvement in water quality

have been recorded where pumpouts

have been installed and their use

enforced. Water testing in Avalon

Harbor (California) and Block Island

(Rhode Island) following implementation

of no discharge designations revealed

significant decreases in fecal coliform

bacteria concentrations during the

boating season. In Rhode Island, the

decrease permitted the opening of a

major shellfish bed on Block Island

after 13 years of summer closure.

States with all (or nearly all) waters designated as NDZs:

Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin

States with segments of their waters designated as NDZs:

California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, South

Carolina, Texas, and Vermont

Source: http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/vessel_sewage/vsdnozone.html

Table 4-4. EPA-designated no-discharge zones in the United States (as of 2001).
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