subject: Finding Affordable High Quality Pump Out Equipment [print this page] If you are confused about all of the different types of pump out systems available for your marina, you are not alone! It is seldom easy to choose equipment that will be affordable, durable and high in quality. You want a system that will last for years, will require a minimum amount of maintenance and will meet federal and local regulations. Where to begin? There are many companies with websites on the Internet that have experience in supplying marina owners with pump out systems and equipment, but be careful, because they are not all the same!
Raw untreated sewage is hazardous when it is dumped into the waters bad for people, bad for plants, and of course bad for the marine life that is trying to live in those waters. Damage to marine life as well as to people occurs when too much waste lands in the water. Pump out facilities at marinas provide an easy, safe way for boaters and vessel owners to properly dispose of their waste; they can pump the contents of their holding tanks of their boats away to a large tank or system that the marina is hooked up to instead of dumping that boat waste somewhere. It is the law that boaters use some type of marine sanitation device for their vessel; since it is required, they also need a place to safely dispose of the waste. This is supposed to make it easy for boaters to obey the law, but unfortunately this is not always the case. It is also the law that pump out facilities be provided at marinas again, this is not always the case.
There are still many marinas around the country that are without properly working pump out systems, and those that do have systems at all are among a large percentage of places where the systems are old, broken, too much out of date or defective. If the units at the marinas do work, some do not work very well. Oftentimes, the most suitable place for a pump out station is at the end of the dock, but this poses a problem for many marinas, in particular many of the smaller ones. Smaller marinas are frustrated with these required specifications. Their largest vessels are often docked at those end ties, making it impossible for others to reach the pump out facilities. If larger vessels are no longer permitted to dock there, they will go and patronize other larger marinas, and the smaller ones that they used to dock at will lose that money.
Smaller marinas face another problem with the requirement of pump out systems. Even though the marinas in most states receive public funding and grant money to cover maintenance costs and installation charges, the money is usually not enough to cover it, only defray it. Marinas are supposed to come up with the rest of the money for pump out facilities on their own, so you can see why smaller marinas with limited revenue have problems meeting this requirement.
