Prior to the new millennium, little thought was given to waste disposal from a vessel. Anything you didn’t want on board invariably went straight over the side, including human waste. Thankfully, these days it’s a different matter altogether. Rubbish is widely recycled worldwide, so keeping it on board until going ashore is commonplace, even when ocean sailing. However, black water (sewage) disposal is not such a simple problem to solve, especially on smaller vessels, and it’s of particular concern when you are coastal cruising, anchoring or mooring close to the shore.
CURRENT REGULATIONS
Given the increasing popularity of many northern European, Mediterranean, Pacific and Caribbean anchorages today, I’m convinced no responsible yacht owner would be against banning the direct discharge of black water within at least three miles of the coast. Nothing spoils an early morning dip in crystal clear water more than coming across an unmentionable floating object!
At the time of writing, there are still no mandatory regulations concerning black water disposal at sea from privately owned leisure craft in UK waters, apart from the legal requirement to provide
