It's interesting that there's so much focus on the toilet problem, and not the other $139 billion in unexpected maintenance costs
Perhaps the toilet is a microcosm of the other $139 billion in unexpected costs?
The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
21–30 of 98 posts
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#22“system must regularly be cleaned with ... acid solution that costs $400,000 per use.” I realise the government/military procurement process can result in higher costs than the private sector would pay, but that is beyond ridiculous.
Guess how much shipping is to the middle of the ocean. Go on, guess.
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#23What problem is solved by using aircraft-style toilets on Navy ships?
Well, the old way to do it is to use sea water flushing which leads to its own problems over the life of the ship with pipes corroding. New(ish) environmental regulations dictate that you can't just flush everything overboard anymore, it needs to be processed through a sewage plant. Despite probably being able to ignore most environmental laws, the Navy normally at least tries to abide by the current laws to be a good citizen and not pollute the oceans as well as having an easier time when visiting foreign ports.
The process plants run better on fresh water but fresh water is expensive and heavy on a ship so a vacuum system allows for less water per flush and really works pretty well if people don't flush stupid things.
Stupid things that my co-workers have fished from sewage plant besides the things mentioned in the article: Towels Screwdrivers Glasses Rags baby wipes/ flushable wipes Pens
As long as only body waste and a small amount of toilet paper are used, the systems are actually fairly reliable. Teaching people that that is ALL that can be flushed is an on going problem. The chemicals seem to be another issue, possibly a design issue but there are ways around that too. Urine crystals build up on the walls of the pipes and reduce the diameter for the waste water to flow. The vaccum systems typically have smaller diameter pipes then the old style "gravity" flush systems. There are companies that make continuous dosing systems that go in the end of the branch lines to help keep them clear.
A lot of issues with maintenance can be solved by design of branches in the piping system with isolation valves so the whole system doesn't have to be shut down to fix something. Even replacing a toilet means shutting off the branch or system since it opens a hole in the vacuum system and leads to loss of vacuum.
Some more information: https://www.boatus.org/clean-boating/sewage/msd-types/
Manufacturers: https://jetsgroup.com/jets-group/the-highest-standards/the-h... https://evac.com/
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#24“system must regularly be cleaned with ... acid solution that costs $400,000 per use.” I realise the government/military procurement process can result in higher costs than the private sector would pay, but that is beyond ridiculous.
Guess how much shipping is to the middle of the ocean. Go on, guess.
Surely you can stock on the thing.
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#25That would be mighty unpleasant in case real war broke.
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aircraft toilets always sound pretty damn loud to me. And their main reason to exist on planes is the lack of available water. Pretty sure that is not an aircraft carrier’s constraint.
Actually ships are very water constrained. Especially Nuclear as they can't risk sea water contamination to the reactor cooling.
Modern aircraft carriers have reverse-osmosis desalination systems on board. These can supply hundreds (thousands?) of tons of potable water per day.
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#27“system must regularly be cleaned with ... acid solution that costs $400,000 per use.” I realise the government/military procurement process can result in higher costs than the private sector would pay, but that is beyond ridiculous.
Guess how much shipping is to the middle of the ocean. Go on, guess.
Surely no one sends a warship "just" with their shipment of toilet acid, an aircraft carrier will be getting resupplies regularly anyway. So either the resupply run is insanely expensive and $400k is just a part of it, or someone is being dishonest and uses a cost of a single run as the cost of the clean.
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#28What problem is solved by using aircraft-style toilets on Navy ships?
Well, the old way to do it is to use sea water flushing which leads to its own problems over the life of the ship with pipes corroding. New(ish) environmental regulations dictate that you can't just flush everything overboard anymore, it needs to be processed through a sewage plant. Despite probably being able to ignore most environmental laws, the Navy normally at least tries to abide by the current laws to be a goo…
Actually, good design recognizes that people can't be trusted to follow instructions. Seems even Navy doesn't have enough discipline.
One thing of note: seems the whole system is designed for peace. While I can understand armchair designer (it is likely it will never see something like WWII action) this should be designed as a machine of war in case all hell breaks lose. I guess the backup plan is to have buckets and a bucket brigade...
Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#29Re: The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
#30Another toilet problem was in a WWII submarine which had worse consequences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-1206#Fate