Why is it important?
Our pump out objective, POO for short, is about precisely that. Many leisure boats are responsible for blackwater pollution in our marine environment. Shockingly, two blackwater pollution spikes occur annually in the Solent coinciding with Cowes Week and Round the Island race each year.
Not only do we not want untreated sewage washing up on beaches, one untreated flush has 250,000 times more bacteria than one which has gone through the treatment process. What’s more, sewage contributes to low oxygen (hypoxic) areas referred to as dead zones, where marine life can’t survive and ecosystems collapse.
What are we doing about it?
We know that our efforts to reduce blackwater pollution need to be doubled. A number of our marinas have pump out facilities, and at Haslar Marina our crew have gone the extra mile with their new work boat ‘Pumpy McPumpface’. The boat provides a hassle-free mobile pump out service, allowing berth holders to get on with their day whilst Pumpy goes to work.
What should you be doing?
The easiest step is to make use of our on-site facilities wherever possible. If you do need to empty your tank please do not do this in the marina. Use your holding tank and pump out at a dedicated pump station (or mobile pump out boat — like ‘Pumpy McPumpface’ at Haslar Marina). As a last resort you should aim to be well over three miles offshore before emptying your holding tanks. But we’d much rather you didn’t dump your untreated sewage in the sea.
