Holding Tank Regulations in Europe

Waste water produced on pleasure yachts falls into 3 areas:

1. Black water is the term which is commonly used to describe toilet waste (which will often contain harmful bacteria and viruses).
2. Grey water is waste water from sinks, showers and washing machines.
3. Bilge water comes from under the floorboards and the engine bay and is often contaminated with oil.

The following information is on holding tanks for black water.

Coastal Waters

As yet there is no international convention which requires private pleasure craft to fit a holding tank. Only vessels which exceed 400GT or carry more than 15 passengers are covered under MARPOL regulations. Pleasure yacht owners should be aware of best practice, particularly regarding sewage and garbage disposal. See Noonsite Environment page for details.

However, a vessel cruising in the territorial waters of another country it is under the jurisdiction of that coastal state.

In the context of holding tanks, this means that the coastal state could require visiting vessels to fit holding tanks in line with their national legislation, but this not very often enforced for visiting yachts.

That said, although a visiting vessel may not have to fit a holding tank, it should respect the Coastal State’s Law and should not discharge black water directly into the sea, where a local boat would be prohibited from discharging its holding tank.

Inland Waters

Internal waters are considered to be an integral part of the Coastal State, therefore a foreign vessel visiting the inland waters of another country should be prepared to comply with any legislation that country may have in place, including regulations relating to holding tanks.

INFORMATION FOR PRIMARY AREAS OF CONCERN AROUND EUROPE:

Each country has its own rules about this and some are far stricter than others.

The Baltic

As with international conventions such as MARPOL, the Helsinki Convention (HELCOM Convention on the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area) must be implemented in each of the participating countries through their national legislation. Therefore although HELCOM extends regulations on the discharge of sewage to all ships including pleasure craft, this is not yet law in all the HELCOM contracting parties: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.

The latest information we have regarding national legislation is as follows:

Denmark

• Boats built before 1 January 1980 do not have to have a holding tank and can discharge sewage when 2 nautical miles from the shore.
• Boats built before 1 January 2000 but after 1 January 1980 which are either less than 10.5m LOA or have a maximum beam of less than 2.8m, do not have to have a holding tank and can discharge sewage when 2 nautical miles from the shore.
• Boats outside of the above exemptions, including all boats built after 1 January 2000, must have a holding tank that can be emptied through a deck fitting.

Finland

• The discharge of untreated sewage is prohibited at a distance of less than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land, i.e. within their territorial waters.

Germany

• Boats under the German flag or that of another HELCOM signatory nation which was built after January 1st, 2003, with a toilet on board, must have a toilet retention system if they have a length of more than 11’50 meters and a width of more than 3.80 meters. If they fall below either this length or this width, they do not have to have a tank. The rules on discharging apply to all pleasure boats that are fitted with a holding tank.
• It is possible for pleasure boats which exceed both measures to get an individual exemption if they prove to the competent authority that the fitting of a holding tank is technical impossible or the costs are economically disproportional.
• The discharge of sewage closer than 12NM to land is strictly prohibited.

Sweden

• From 1 April 2015 all pleasure boats, including foreign-flagged boats, are prohibited from discharging sewage into the lakes, internal waters and territorial waters (12 nautical miles) of Sweden.  Recreational craft listed for preservation is not subject to the ban.
• Pleasure boats can fit a holding tank, stop using the toilet and go ashore, or use a portable toilet, earth closet, incineration toilet or similar.  It is not prohibited for a pleasure boat to have a directly discharging toilet as long as nothing is being discharged.  If a boat does not have a toilet, sewage should not be discharged into the water but dealt with on land. Anyone caught not complying with the ban may face an on-the-spot fine.
• Marinas are responsible for ensuring that there are adequate facilities for boat owners to dispose of this waste on land.
• A map showing the location of pump out stations can be found on the Swedish Transport Agency website.

The Mediterranean

Spain

• Spain has also introduced holding tank requirements, which together with their pollution legislation essentially mean that vessels cannot discharge untreated sewage within Spanish territorial waters (12 nautical miles).
• The Spanish legislation is ORDEN FOM/1144/2003, 28 April, which for anyone who speaks Spanish can be found at https://www.boe.es/.

Greece

• In Greece, the regulations relating to discharges and pollution make a holding tank a practical necessity. They are not a legal requirement as yet.
• Caution should also be exerted with grey water in Greece.

Turkey

• Discharge of any kind may be considered illegal. A black water tank has therefore been a practical necessity in Turkey for many years.
• The new scheme governing the discharge of black and grey water requires all boats to have a Blue Card, which operates digitally.
• All black and grey water must be collected and pumped out ashore; the Blue Card will be used to monitor the amount of wastewater deposited ashore to ensure holding tanks are pumped out rather than emptied into the sea.
• For more details see Turkey Grey and Black Water Requirements.

Elsewhere

Norway

• Discharge from toilets or holding tanks closer than 300 metres from shore is strictly prohibited.

Netherlands

• Since 2009 it has been prohibited to discharge black water (toilet waste) from all pleasure boats on all inland waterways, lakes, the Waddensea, and territorial waters.
• Pleasure boats can be installed with holding tanks, dry or chemical toilets or boaters could choose simply not to use their toilets.

France

• Since 2008, French law states that new vessels, whether French or foreign flagged, are fitted with a treatment system or retention tank for black water if they wish to have access to French maritime or river ports, moorings, and anchorages.
• Users of older vessels which are not equipped with treatment systems or holding tanks for black water are, like all other pleasure yacht users, required to comply with the rules which prohibit discharge in ports and designated anchoring spots. They must, therefore, use shore toilets.
• How these rules are to be applied or enforced is not very clear, but it is anticipated that guidelines or a further law defining the extent and manner of application and any sanctions will be issued in the future.
• In principle, it is forbidden to flush toilets into canals and rivers, but as pump out facilities is few and far between until now, discreet overboard discharging has been tolerated, this may of course change.

Belgium

•  It is prohibited to discharge, or dump, solid or liquid materials that may pollute the water both inland and at sea.

Noonsite wishes to thank the Royal Yachting Association (Great Britain) as a source for this information.