Waste installations for EC Recreationnal Crafts

The European Directive 2013/53/EU, in application since January 2016 imposes requirement regarding the discharge prevention for small crafts under 24meters.


Harmonized standard : For boats put on the market before Septembre 2022, the EN ISO 8099:2018 may be applied. For boats put on the market after September 2022, EN ISO 8099:2021 shall be applied.

According to the Annex 1 ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS 5.8. Discharge prevention and installations facilitating the delivery ashore of waste

(i) Watercraft shall be constructed so as to prevent the accidental discharge of pollutants (oil, fuel, etc.) overboard.
comment : Gates in engine compartments shall retain any accidental fluid discharge. These gates may be retention container, or simply consists in an enclosed stringer configuration, high enough to contain expected volume of discharged fluid.

(ii) Any toilet fitted in a recreational craft shall be connected solely to a holding tank system or water treatment system.
comment : As a consequence, direct discharge @sea is no more authorized. See the harmonized standard for any additionnal requirements.

(iii) Recreational craft with installed holding tanks shall be fitted with a standard discharge connection to enable pipes of reception facilities to be connected with the recreational craft discharge pipeline.
comment : see the harmonized standard for nominal diameters according to tank volume.

(iv) In addition, any through-the-hull pipes for human waste shall be fitted with valves which are capable of being secured in the closed position.
comment : If, for market compatibility, the waste system of the craft connects directly to the sea through a pipe, this pipe shall be equipped with a sealed valve

 

Are the comments yours, or are the part of the cited document?

What does "no more authorized" mean? I don't need authorization, I only need to avoid things proscribed in the regs.

What is a sealed valve? One that is closed - One that can be locked or otherwise be made temporarily tamperproof - One that is permanently closed and would require serious work to be made functional?

 

Yes, the comments are mine, based on requirements that are applied by the notified bodies (control authorities for EC certification) I work with. Interpretations of the standard are to be made when taking into account the great variety of means for handling fluid discharge. With the comment (i), I tried to highlight that, in the absence of specific containers, notified bodies do accept some other installation as gates preventing accidental fluid discharge.

My wording in the comment (ii) is not correct. "direct discharge @sea is no more authorized" shall be read as : "direct discharge @sea is forbidden" (for boats complying with EC regulation). This is again an interpretation of the requirements written in the standard :

EN ISO 8099:2018
4.1 Any toilet in a retention system is connected solely to a holding tank.
4.2 There shall be no Y-valve placed between the toilet and the holding tank

EN ISO 8099:2021
4.1 Toilets are connected solely to a sewage holding tank system or a waste treatement system.

By "sealed valve", i mean "One that can be locked or otherwise be made temporarily tamperproof", ie equipped with a lock or equivalent. This comment makes sense in the case where the standard is used to assess boats that are not fully EC compliant. In the case where direct discharge at sea of the toilets (or grey waters) is made possible via a valve, this valve shall be "tamperproofed" if the boat is intended to be sold under EC regulations. This solution is generally accepted by control authorities.