Maintaining a Positive Attitude to Narrowboat Life: Dealing with Waste Challenges
Living afloat offers unparalleled freedom and beauty, but it also comes with practical challenges. While some find discussing issues like waste management daunting, maintaining a positive and practical attitude is key to a happy life on the waterways. It is true that living afloat gives you a much more intimate relationship with the processed remains of last night’s dinner, but this doesn't have to be a major problem.
A large part of enjoying life on the cut is anticipating and dealing with small logistical issues, especially concerning waste.
The Toilet Challenge: Planning for Convenience
A key element of continuous cruising is ensuring you can service all your needs, regardless of the weather or location. This is especially true for your toilet system.
Understanding Your Toilet System
If you use a cassette toilet, or Porta Potti, you will need to empty it every two or three days depending on usage. While this seems frequent, it allows for flexibility and independence. Other options, such as pump-out, incinerator, or compost toilets, offer different solutions, all of which require regular maintenance and planning.
Tip: Always watch the weather. If poor weather is forecast, make sure you pick a mooring that is close to an Elsan point (for cassettes) or a pump-out facility before you moor up.
Choosing the right toilet system is one of the most important aspects of your boat design. Read our guide for a full comparison: Dumping, Grinding, or Burning? Choosing Your Narrowboat Toilet.
Keeping the Waterways Tidy: Managing Domestic Rubbish
Handling your general domestic waste responsibly is a simple way to keep the canals beautiful for everyone and avoid unnecessary litter. It’s all part of the common sense of living afloat!
Storage: Always store domestic rubbish securely on the boat in tied bags. This prevents litter from blowing into the water or onto the towpath, which protects wildlife and keeps the canals tidy.
Disposal Points: We all rely on the bins provided at marinas and sanitation stations along the canal network. If you find a bin is full, please be kind to the waterways and take your rubbish to the next available disposal point. It is essential not to leave bags on the floor or next to full bins - this is considered fly-tipping, and we must avoid it!
Recycling: Great news - many CRT sites (a location managed by the Canal & River Trust.) now have separate bins for mixed recycling (paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, food and drink cans) and general waste. As narrowboat owners, we are expected to separate our waste and use the correct bins. Please ensure your mixed recycling is clean (rinsed tins/pots) and placed in the appropriate bin either loose or in clear plastic bags only.
Prohibited Items: To keep these disposal points running smoothly, certain items cannot be placed in the general boater bins. Please remember to find alternative, specialist disposal for:
Hazardous waste (e.g., used engine oil, paint, chemicals)
Large electrical items or batteries
Waste from boat refurbishments (e.g., old kitchen units, mattresses)
Gas canisters or timber/vegetation
The Towpath Challenge: Dealing with Dog Fouling
Unfortunately, you find dog muck everywhere, not just on canal towpaths. However, when your mooring is temporary and right next to a public path, addressing this issue proactively is common sense and good practice for all boaters.
A Simple, Proactive Solution
The solution is to keep your eyes open and have a proactive attitude. Upon arrival at a new mooring, before you settle in, take two minutes to clean the area immediately around your boat.
Scour the Area: Quickly survey the area of the towpath and verge where you are moored for any unwanted piles of poo.
Scoop and Flick: Carry a small coal shovel or scooper on board. Scoop up the waste and flick it under the towpath hedge, away from the immediate mooring area.
Click task, you can relax on a clean and fragrant mooring without worrying about unnecessary shoe or boat floor cleaning.
A proactive approach to these minor inconveniences - from planning toilet emptying to maintaining a clean mooring - ensures a much more enjoyable and stress-free life afloat.
Seeing how others manage life afloat can be inspiring. Explore our collection of successful commissions in Customer stories.
Ready to Tackle the Next Step in Your Narrowboat Journey?
Whether you are designing a full bespoke narrowboat or purchasing a completed vessel, the type and configuration of your boat is very important to mitigate challenges like waste management. Choose the wrong style, layout, or specification, and your waterways experience can be less than pleasant.
Book a consultation with our experts to ensure your narrowboat build is perfectly suited to your chosen lifestyle, avoiding future compromises.