Where does it go?
Discussion
There's no particularly pleasent way to ask this question, but I'll try my best.
On a recent european flight, I found myself unable to hold on till we landed and so duely needed to use the toilet. Having lightened the load, I pushed the flush button and was greeted by the usual ear splitting rush of air. At this point it occured to me that this must be caused by opening a valve of some sort to the outside world, where the pressure difference and motion of the plane creates a vacuum effect inside the bowl.
Is the vacuum used to draw the waste into a recepticle in the belly of the aircraft or has (as it sounded to me) my poop just been flung out to plummet into the french countryside somewhere?
I realise that this could be a very dumn question, but I can't get the image out of my head of a poor French family's picnic being spoiled that day.
On a recent european flight, I found myself unable to hold on till we landed and so duely needed to use the toilet. Having lightened the load, I pushed the flush button and was greeted by the usual ear splitting rush of air. At this point it occured to me that this must be caused by opening a valve of some sort to the outside world, where the pressure difference and motion of the plane creates a vacuum effect inside the bowl.
Is the vacuum used to draw the waste into a recepticle in the belly of the aircraft or has (as it sounded to me) my poop just been flung out to plummet into the french countryside somewhere?
I realise that this could be a very dumn question, but I can't get the image out of my head of a poor French family's picnic being spoiled that day.
The waste matter ends up in tanks underneath. Number of tanks depends on size of aircraft and number of loo's. Don't know about Boeing but on the Airbus there is a device colloquially known as the "s
t splitter" which allows you to pump the goo around between tanks to keep things balanced and trimmed.
t splitter" which allows you to pump the goo around between tanks to keep things balanced and trimmed.Back in the 1950s, a number of houses under the approach to Heathrow started having lumps of ice fall into their gardens. The ice tended to melt before anyone with knowledge arrived on the scene but one individual managed to get the block of ice into a freezer (a rare household item back then) so it was preserved for investigators to look at.
The ice had the leading edge profile of what looked like a tailplane. A detail examination revealed the tailplane to be that of a Vickers Viscount.
The next step was to analyse the ice. Traces of soap were found in the ice so it appeared the ice came from the wash basin. Further examination of the ice revealed that the only operator who used the brand of soap found was Aer Lingus. It appeared that water was venting in a spray onto the tailplane and freezing. As the plane descended into warmer air, the ice started to melt and then fell off - usually on final approach.
At that time, the only other operators of Viscounts were BEA and Air France. They had similar Viscounts but did not seem to experience the same problem. The conclusion was that Aer Lingus passangers were using the wash basins more frequently than BEA's and Air France's.
The ice had the leading edge profile of what looked like a tailplane. A detail examination revealed the tailplane to be that of a Vickers Viscount.
The next step was to analyse the ice. Traces of soap were found in the ice so it appeared the ice came from the wash basin. Further examination of the ice revealed that the only operator who used the brand of soap found was Aer Lingus. It appeared that water was venting in a spray onto the tailplane and freezing. As the plane descended into warmer air, the ice started to melt and then fell off - usually on final approach.
At that time, the only other operators of Viscounts were BEA and Air France. They had similar Viscounts but did not seem to experience the same problem. The conclusion was that Aer Lingus passangers were using the wash basins more frequently than BEA's and Air France's.
This has been much more interesting than i expected actually.
It does actually make sense that the vacuum may come from the engines instead because otherwise, the toilet of a grounded plane would have no flush mechanism if my initial assumption had been correct.
I'm glad I didn't spoil anyones day out anyway, and will certainly remember to look out for any suspicious dribbles if I ever have cause to walk underneath an airliner!
This "$h!t splitter" device is something i hadn't considered either. I assume it must be internally baffled then too to prvent any surging during turbulence. Incredible the things that have to be considered that the general public can remain blissfully unaware of. I bet the apprentice plane engineer know the system bitterly well however! lol
It does actually make sense that the vacuum may come from the engines instead because otherwise, the toilet of a grounded plane would have no flush mechanism if my initial assumption had been correct.
I'm glad I didn't spoil anyones day out anyway, and will certainly remember to look out for any suspicious dribbles if I ever have cause to walk underneath an airliner!
This "$h!t splitter" device is something i hadn't considered either. I assume it must be internally baffled then too to prvent any surging during turbulence. Incredible the things that have to be considered that the general public can remain blissfully unaware of. I bet the apprentice plane engineer know the system bitterly well however! lol
i saw a documentary about the new big airbus showing how it was built and the sheer complexity of all the services was amazing. it had a test rig for the vac toilets made all transparant and was testing it with huge swathes of loo roll. it was crazy seeing these blobs of paper go shooting around the maze of pipes and tanks. far better than the bog on a hercules! 
mattdaniels said:
The waste matter ends up in tanks underneath. Number of tanks depends on size of aircraft and number of loo's. Don't know about Boeing but on the Airbus there is a device colloquially known as the "st splitter" which allows you to pump the goo around between tanks to keep things balanced and trimmed.
The 737 has a single tank in the aft freight bay. Many aircraft from Cessna Citations, to BAe146s (as used by the Queen) still have the Elsan style toilets.t splitter" which allows you to pump the goo around between tanks to keep things balanced and trimmed.1223taff said:
mattdaniels said:
The waste matter ends up in tanks underneath. Number of tanks depends on size of aircraft and number of loo's. Don't know about Boeing but on the Airbus there is a device colloquially known as the "st splitter" which allows you to pump the goo around between tanks to keep things balanced and trimmed.
The 737 has a single tank in the aft freight bay. Many aircraft from Cessna Citations, to BAe146s (as used by the Queen) still have the Elsan style toilets.t splitter" which allows you to pump the goo around between tanks to keep things balanced and trimmed.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff