Is it legal to discharge your holding tank into the great lakes when you are a certain distance out fronm shore? It seems that federal law covers "offshore" discharge but doesn't specifically mention the great lakes.

My brother in law just purchased a 1998 Wellcraft 24' boat that has a macerator connected to a thru-hull. It appears, at least from internet searches, that this is a factory option and not customer installed. The boat has a standard head and holding tank with no other MSD's attached that I am aware of.

I will eventually call the DEC and/or USCG on this one but figured that someone would have and answer on the board.

If it matters, Lake Erie is the lake in question.

DO NOT DUMP IN THE GREAT LAKES. I'm sure that they require the valve locked in the closed position.

waste dumping

Yep, the entire Great Lakes are a no-discharge zone.

And as Brian posted, you need to lock the discharge valve closed.

If you go to the Canada side, there may be even more restrictions.

It doesn't appear that there is a vavle or any place to "lock-out" the macerator.

Would Wellcraft offer this from the factory without a lockout if it were illegal? Would a locking switch or fuse removal constitute securing the device?

I will have to take a closer look at the setup.

I don't think I would go by Wellcraft's Motive. Maybe they installed it for a boat shipped to a coastal area of the US, but then the boat somehow ended up on the Great Lakes.

Maybe you can insert a locking valve between the macerator and thru-hull?

ND, just because it has a macerator it doesn't mean its hooked up to a direct dump valve. I would look at the plumbing routing real close. You will most likley find that its plumbed back into the holding tank. They use the macerator to break up the solids so that its easier to pump out when the time comes.

Like AL said. It depends on how the boat was speced out and its intended usage. If it were a coastal craft its possible to use this option in the ocean as long as you comply to the "rules".
I would make sure that it has the proper lockout and plackard displayed since the fine is pretty stiff. If you have a safety inspection this is one of the items that they check.

Thanks for the replies.

The macerator does discharge through the hull. My BIL hit the "Acc 1" switch on the dash and pumped half the tank into his driveway! I guess he will have to find out what legally qualifies as locking it out and fix that problem.

You mentioned a plackard needs to be displayed. Is there a specific location that it needs to be?

The last owner used the boat on Lake Erie and claimed that he never used the macerator. I would belive that except for the fact that the pump out fitting was frozen and needed some serious effort to get it open.

What you have is probably going to depend on the age of your boat. My 1988 sailboat had a "y" valve and the only way I could lock it was to drill a hole in the handle and use a zip tie. On my 2000 Boston Whaler there was a separate key that activated the macerator.

i've got a Y valve as well and the handle has a loop in it that i put a zip tie thru.

It's a '98 model, so it probably was built when different laws were in place?

There are literally THOUSANDS of Bayliner's and Sea Ray's (as well as other brands) in use today with holding tanks, mascerators and Y-valves that came equipped that way from the factory.

Manual flush heads with masc & Y-valves were standard items on most small cruisers. Most of the older Y-valves don't even have a way to lock them in the correct position.

Both my Sea Ray cruisers and all three of my Bayliner cruisers had the std masc & Y-valve. I upgraded to the optional Sealand vacu-flush systems, but they still came with the direct overboard discharge via the masc. It was controlled by a key switch in the head.

As macerators are generally optional equipment, I still think that the intended destination of the boat determines whether or not the manufacturer installs that equipment.

None of my boats, including my current one - 1995 vintage - have ever had anything but a holding tank (but an uninstalled option would have included a macerator). They were all shipped to the Great Lakes from the factory.