Civil airliners' restrooms waste tanks has an overflow outlet into the atmosphere, Is this true!?

Question

I remember reading an article about the so-called "blue ice" falling from aircrafts especially when descending and the explanation was it's from the lavatory' overflow outlet, Could this be true? Does modern jetliners dump polluted water into the atmosphere when the waste tank is full?!!

I know they do drain the waste water of the galley, etc... into the atmosphere. but not the lavatory!

An interesting link to "Darkrider" answerer #5, Check out these photos and remarks made by AIRLINE PILOTS!!

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=&airlinesearch=&countrysearch=&specialsearch=air_to_air&daterange=&keywords=drain&range=&sort_order=&page_limit=15&thumbnails=&calccount=1146262&truecount=false&engine_version=6.0

Hope you like them :)

Answer 1

No. The water is only drained out on the ground. The only time something like this could happen is with a faulty lav door. You are correct though that the water from the sink is vented overboard, at least on my airplane it is.

Answer 2

Well you already know what they are doing. I don't know what they are spraying but I can tell you how they are doing it. I figure they are using the "honey trucks". These are the trucks that empty the waste from the lavatory waste tanks. The airports usually contract out this job and nobody goes near these trucks. Who wants to stand next a truck full of sh--. While these guys are emptying the waste tanks they are filling the tanks of the spray system. They know the planes flight path so they probably program the control unit to start spraying some amount of time after the plane reaches a certain altitude. The spray nozzles in the fake static wicks are so small that no one in the plane would see a thing.


its is not in ice form it in a mist form. a fine mist that is like the long trails in the sky behind the jets

read the whole link and you decide

Answer 3

This is a myth. Under FAA regulations, aircraft are not allowed to dump waste water (of any sort) or toilet wastes, and in fact, have no mechanism by which to do so. Blue Ice, occurs when a leak is present, the waste and blue disinfectant in the water freezes onto the aircraft and when the aircraft descends to lower and warmer altitudes can detach and fall to earth. There are a number of reported cases of cars and homes damaged by blue ice from landing aircraft. One such case occured on October 20, 2006 in Chino, California, where a house roof was damaged.

Modern airliners are built with enough storage space that full waste tanks are not an issue. Indeed the only dumping a civil aircraft may perform is the dumping of fuel during an emergency, and not all aircraft are capable of dumping fuel. If you recall the JetBlue Arways Flight 292 which executed and emergency landing at LAX in September 2005 (the nose wheels had jammed perpendicular to their normal alignment), the aircraft had to fly along the coast for 3 hours to burn off excess fuel as the Airbus A320 is incapable of dumping fuel.

Answer 4

No, they can't dump overboard, but they will occasionally leak, which causes blue ice to build up on the fuselage of the aircraft.

Blue ice becomes a problem when the aircraft descends into air above freezing temperatures. There being more skin in the area warmed than the ice, which can build up to a surprising weight, will break off the fuselage and become ballistic.

So, to borrow a pun from Spider Robinson;
Even if you don't live near a major millitary installation, it's still possible to get hit by an icy bm.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Answer 5

I wouldn't be surprised if some older aircraft have over flow valves like this. Many of these regulations have changed, and were not made retroactive unless a safety concern was present.

Either way, if such an over flow device is in place it would not be something they can just turn on when they want, it would be for unusual circumstances. It's preferable to vent this waste into the atmosphere rather than into the plane's structure.

Answer 6

No, the bathroom(lavatory), has a little tank under the toilet seat, on this little fiberglass tank there is a little motor, which is your flush motor, and when these airplanes go into an overnight facility, they have a lav cart and they hook a hose up to the airplane and they drain the lav tank. After that they put fresh blue water back into the tank

Answer 7

Well, assuming the holding tank is FINITE, and eventually fills in flight: Would you prefer the overflow trickle down the aisles?
By the way, "blue ice" is not a myth; years ago a heavy chunk fell off and crashed through the roof of a house.

Answer 8

No, its not true, because according to Civil Aeronautics Law - Rules of the Air, no aircraft can drop anything while in flight except when they have got permission to the Director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration and also if the aircraft is in emergency situation.

Answer 9

No. Blue ice problems do occur, but they are from valve problems, not lavs venting into the atmosphere...

Answer 10

According to JetBlue, they overflow into the center aisle.