We are having a debate at work. Do airlines dump their waste over the sea, or do they collect it in a tank and empty it at there destination?

thanks

i havent a clue but how did that conversation start ?

I think they have tank that some lucky person empties when the plane is turned around.

I could be talking Poo!! though..............

I thought it was dumped and it's known as blue ice.

Steve

Linky

It shouldn't be dumped but it does fall from aircraft at times!

Steve

so what about trains? surely some point back in time it was dumped on to the sleepers (that is those wooden things holding the rails not those who are not awake).

All modern passenger aircraft have the toilet waste tanked. All liquid waste from sinks and galleys is vented to atmosphere through heated vents to prevent ice build up.

I can confirm that it is stored, after all your faeces is generally ‘torpedo’ shaped and thus preventing the potential of anal prolapse. Flying at 35 thousand feet at –40 degrees, if this was dumped it could lead to the risk of serious injury from a frozen turd in the shape of a torpedo, what a way to go!

[Edited on 10/8/06 by mackei23b]

I thought they used the poo to make the in-flight food. Thats what it tastes like....

The waste is emptied at your destination.
Most ice that falls from aircraft is from the build up of ice on the outside of the plane.

Don't know about the loos but I was once in an Islander over Manchester held up by air traffic control going round in circles when one of the guys in the plane stuck his head out of the door and honked up . We were over a housing estate at the time ! yuk.

Bet the locals just thought it was some monster pidgeon!

It could be an urban myth but this is a story told to me by a mate who's a pilot:-

When you flush the bog on a plane it doesn't wash it down it sucks it down the pan. This saves the amount of water they need to carry and means the drains don't have to lie to a fall like they do in your house. Hence the woosh noise.

When Boeing made the 747 a bit longer, the 400 Series? the distance between the bog and the tank was increased. But they suffered from blockages in the pipes. The initial idea from the engineers was just to turn up the suction a bit. Well a lot really. This cured the blockages but did lead to some funny shaped dents in the side of the tanks! They then had to re-inforce the side of the tank opposite the pipe!

Urban myth or true?

Mike

can confirm that ;poo is collected i've had the pleasure of repairing toilet service units as they are correctly known luckely there were always emptied and cleaned first also know some people who have had to go fishing for fake passports when they've been flushed which does happen quite alot

I was amused, a couple of years ago, by the story of a very fat woman who flushed before she got of the loo (at 35,000ft). Because she'd hermetically sealed the bog, she couldn't get up till the plane reduced altitude

ATB

Simon

ill tell that story to any of my 'more meaty' friends if they go travelling!! im more intreagued about trains- people say they are emptied over the tracks and this would explain all the toilet roll on the tracks in stations (although it says 'do not flush whilst in station'. i know when i went to morocco recently the train toilet was literally a hole that when you look down you can see the ground wizzing past! anyone with train experience here???

Yeah trains dump on tracks

So, if you've had a crap(!) journey, and your destination station is end of line, that's probably the best place to empty the can

ATB

Simon