Manual Water Pump for Sealand toilet

[Ryan P R]

I'm considering using manual water pumps in the renovation my of Scamp 16 as a method of reducing water use for dry camping. Additionally the water pump cycling really bothers me when we just open the tap a little bit (which we always do). I also don't want to pay for a fancy variable pressure/volume water pump.

Using one for the sink seems simple enough. The toilet on the other hand seems a little trickier.

I'm not sure if there is a reasonable way to use a manual foot pump for flushing Sealand traveler toilet. I haven't installed or bought the toilet yet so I have zero hands on experience with it. From what I've read it seems the foot flush on the toilet simply opens the supply line to the toilet when lifted up, and opens the flush valve and water supply when pushed down. A two foot flushing operation doesn't seem very ideal, one to open the fresh water valve and another pump the water through it....
Any ideas or should I just stick with simple straight forward electric pump?

[Ron in BC]

After years of boating in dry climates we still have a strong water conservation habit. Even when we're hooked up to city water

Two ways to reduce water consumption with the Sealand. First, don't leave the pump on. We often do things like brush our teeth with water under residual pressure. Not a lot of water comes out but it's a way of conserving water. If a serious flush is required on the Sealand we turn on the pump but if only a minor flush is required then the smaller flow from residual pressure seems to do the trick.

Alternatively, install an accumulator tank. Small plastic ones are quite inexpensive. We did this on our boat primarily because some guests didn't seem to realize that boats aren't hooked up to city water With an accumulator tank a small stream of usable water is available. Need more, turn on the pump and build up pressure again.

Ron

[Ryan P R]

Thanks for the suggestion of the accumulator Ron. I'll look into them as an option for water conservation. We do leave the water pump off in our 24' Sticky, for everything but the urgent needs. I've been known to reuse our dishwater for toilet flushing duty.
Does an accumulator help reduce the "cycling" that common water pumps suffer from when a faucet is turned on just a trickle (as in rinsing dishes or washing hands)?

[Orcus79]

The accumulator tanks do just that, hold a reserve of water under pressure to reduce the time the pump runs. Of course, as soon as the pressure drops below the thresh hold the pump will run.