all "heads" on USS Bush shut down due to.....

"inappropriate materials such as feminine hygiene products are flushed down the toliets.[9]"


There are some jokes in there somewhere, and 35 hours sounds like a long time for 5500 sailors to go without 'facilities'.


423 commodes for 5500 sounds pretty crowded, considering you wont have too much choice of where you are and you will have big groups in small areas for various reasons.



I'm surprised for all that money things like sewage plumbing wasn't "super duty".







Environmental upgrades have also been designed into the ship, including a vacuum collection/marine sanitation device (VC/MSD), a new marine sewage system that uses fresh water in lieu of sea water for lower maintenance costs. Many older ships in the U.S. Navy utilize a gravity-driven collection holding and transfer (CHT) system to handle sewage waste. Newer US Navy ships, including now CVN-77, collect sewage waste by vacuum, allowing for greater flexibility in piping installation, smaller pipe sizes overall and reducing water consumption. The collection tanks of Bush were modified to accommodate both the VCHT (Vacuum CHT) equipment and the elements of a marine sanitization device to treat the waste prior to discharge. Bush is the first and only aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy to combine the two technologies.
This new VC/MSD driven waste management system has, however, not been without problems. Reports began surfacing immediately after delivery in May 2009 of issues with the ships toilet system. As of November, 2011, the entire system has gone down at least twice, rendering all 423 commodes in the ship's 130 heads inoperable, with many more incidents that have rendered either half of the ship, or sections of the ship, without operating sanitary facilities. In one ship-wide incident, a repair crew spent 35 non-stop hours attempting to return the system to working order. The system is said to suffer breakdowns when inappropriate materials such as feminine hygiene products are flushed down the toliets.[9]

 

Yah...women on ships is bad news. Nothing but trouble. Dont even go there.

 

wasnt there an old sailors superstition about women on ships being bad luck? ...little did they know...

 

I wonder what the spot price on piddle packs was after 35 hours?

 

how thing does bring up possibly most important boating issue.

to paraphrase Bubba Clinton's run for President "It the sewage, stupid".

I don't see any technical problems with boats, or living on them, or traveling in them in protected waterways. Except disposal of sewage.

I believe that is the sole reason authorities are quick to jump on any "live-aboard" anchored out of the way for more than a day.

Getting fresh water not much of a problem, as in even 1/2 civilized areas a dock of any sort will have municipal water and a hose, and the water is close to free, or you can even transport in easily handle-able jugs.

You could have anyone bring a 100 gallon jugs and load them into your boat, and no harbor master gonna concern himself. Finding someone able to take even 5 gallons of sewage is going to be a short list.

I guess that is why the Mafia controls garbage routes. They know where the real power is.

Vessels are sort of like people. Going without food or water for a spell is normally not a problem, but when you got to 'go' you got to 'go'.


Also brings up reason not to have co-ed navy. Having all heads out of action on a ship is a much bigger problem if some crew are supposed to have extra privacy and separate space. On a single sex crew it wouldn't be half as much a 'big deal', and just something your gonna laugh about later.

At least an aircraft carrier is a lot of well vented spaces. Hate to have this on one of those windowless missile cruisers or a sub.

 

Whatever system you use , poop handling is technical buisness. Guys dont dont clog heads because they know how the system works. Not Girls...if they dont like the look of it they flush it away...and leave the technical stuff for guys to deal with.

 

Hullteck Friend of mine in the Canadian Navy says this is one of the biggest problems aboard ship. It's a constant battle and you're right the men are usually the personal in the trade that cleans it up. Maybe they should train more military women in ships sanatation systems repair and communicate to their fellow species what not to flush.

 

Yup I've had more than one roomy that called all in a panic, shouting something about the plumbing. When I got into this place I had Bree help me rebuild the plumbing system. When she asked why I was filing down the edges of all the ABS I clued her in on sending white mice down the head. She's been a champ about it ever since.

You just gotta include the girls in the repairs process, they'll figure it out quick enough.