What Do They Do With Human Waste On Cruise Ships

Federal law requires that cruise ships only dump treated wastewater if they are within three nautical miles of shore.

What do they do with human waste on cruise ships. Waste water is the second biggest part of onboard waste. These tanks are then emptied to sewage trucksfacilities when the ship is in port. Do Cruise Ships Dump Human Waste in the Ocean.

They have marine sanitation farms which treat the water part of the waste so it can be released into the ocean Popular Science reports. Cruise ships can transport around 3000 people and these people generate about 30000 gallons of human waste. This waste not only carries bacteria and viruses that are harmful to human health but can also sicken and kill marine life including corals.

Cruise ships are equipped with water treatment systems that clean the human waste black water and grey water water that goes down the sinks and showers before it gets treated and combined and released back into the ocean. Hazardous waste generated onboard cruise ships are stored onboard until the wastes can be offloaded for recycling or disposal in accordance with RCRA. This is a genuine photograph showing two dark brownish clouds in the waters surrounding a cruise ship.

If released near coasts untreated sewage can contaminate seafood kill marine animals and sicken swimmers. Some cruise lines press the food waste in a giant trash compactor dry it and then burn it to produce hot water for your shower. What the cruise liners claim to do is dump all the waste and excess food into a massive hot boiler that churns everything into a paste and that is disposed of in a hygienic and professional manner into the ocean.

Solid waste is held in storage tanks with aerobic. And according to Oceana cruise ships dont need to have permits to dump and dont need to report the amount of sewage they dump. These behemoth vessels are notorious for the mass dumping of waste throughout the oceans.

Its the discharges from the floating cities they call cruise ships. An image supposedly showing a cruise ship dumping human waste into the ocean near a coastal city is frequently shared on social media. Citation needed A range of activities on board cruise ships generate hazardous wastes and toxic substances that would ordinarily be presumed to be subject to RCRA.