ever wonder what happens to your waste on a ship?

[4mickey2 41]

so, i have been writing a report on water pollution and i have found some very interesting information about cruise ships. do you ever wonder what happens to your waste when you are on a ship? that stuff has to go somewhere,right?

well, cruise ship waste states that cruise ships are allowed to dump any untreated waste (including toilet) into the ocean once they are 3 miles from land. all of your sink and shower water can be dumped at anytime. if the toilet waste is treated it may be dumped within the 3 miles from shore.

here are the stats from the web site.

Each day, cruise ships generate an astonishing amount of pollution:

- 25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets

- 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys and showers

- Seven tons of garbage and solid waste

- 15 gallons of toxic chemicals

- 7,000 gallons of oily bilge water

- More than 200 cruise ships carry millions of passengers to ports around the globe each year

- From 2000-2003, cruise embarkations increased by 1.83 million, a 23 percent increase over the three-year period

- In 2003, U.S. ports handled an estimated 7.1 million cruise embarkations, an increase of 9.4 percent from 2002

i just came across this in my research and thought it was pretty interesting.

[4mickey2 41]

i should also say that i saw on here-can't find it again- that cruise ships have waste water treatment facilities on board. they just aren't required to use them. i believe that is how it was stated.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

that's interesting, cause I just watched a show on Royal Carribean that was about "turnaround day". Mostly about how they emptied and reloaded the ship, (6000 passengers) but they also talked about the waste. They said they ran it through a centrifuge, purified the water for irrigation and reintroduction into the toilet system, and then incinerated the "solid waste" and then unloaded the ash bags back at the US Port.

[Discamper 394]

that's interesting, cause I just watched a show on Royal Carribean that was about "turnaround day". Mostly about how they emptied and reloaded the ship, (6000 passengers) but they also talked about the waste. They said they ran it through a centrifuge, purified the water for irrigation and reintroduction into the toilet system, and then incinerated the "solid waste" and then unloaded the ash bags back at the US Port.

Royal Carribean has been busted many times throwing garbage overboard

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

Royal Carribean has been busted many times throwing garbage overboard

The Navy does it all the time! All the food waste goes over the fantail at scheduled times everyday. Also, you should have seen what goes overboard when a ship is on its last cruise

[BouncingTiggers 98]

Well at least they dump in the ocean. You should see what your local treatment plant does when you get a lot of rain. Never swim down stream that's all I can say.