I'm going to jump in and answer this from personal knowledge, as well
as point you to some more concrete resources. FYI, I am a US Navy
veteran who served most of four years in the late 1980's on an Oliver
Hazard Perry class Frigate (FFG). As a point of order, technically
there are currently no commissioned Battleships (BB classification) in
the United States Navy. The broader term "Naval vessel" is usually
used in referring to the array of ships in the fleet. I'll give you my
personal knowledge on these topics, then list a couple of resources
which you can consult for more details.
Water:
The terminology you want to use when you do any searching on this
subject is "potable water" as well as "distillation" and
"desalinization." When in port, fresh water hoses are run from the
shore to the ship, filling tanks designated to hold "potable water."
At sea, distillation/desalinization is indeed used to replenish the
fresh water tanks. A nightly report is made to the Officer of the Deck
(OOD) when underway as to the percent of potable water in these tanks.
If water use is too high, things like showering are restricted until
the freshwater tanks reach a certain level.
Note that saltwater is used where freshwater isn't strictly required,
such as for sewage purposes (the toilets, or "heads" on board are
normally flushed with saltwater when at sea). When in port, the
freshwater being piped in is often used to purge the saltwater pipes
as they do get rancid (saltwater with sewage is great for breeding
nasty stuff). The enlisted personnel who maintain the water systems
are called BOILER TECHNICIANS. It's a nasty, hard job. Think of them
as the Navy's super plumbers (and I mean that as a BIG compliment).
When in port, Naval vessels are normally required to retain their
sewage. It wouldn't do to be pumping one's nastiness into San Diego
Harbor, would it? THAT'S the regulation, BUT, accidental (and
sometimes not so accidental) discharges do occur. However, I feel
confident in saying that US Navy vessels are probably among the most
rigorous ships on the planet at adhering to environmental
regulations.
There are regulations as to how far at sea (how far from a coastline)
a Naval vessel must be before discharging waste water - i.e., the
untreated wastewater is spewed into the ocean, but only when out far
enough.
Garbage:
There are regulations for this as well. In practice, we regularly
threw our trash overboard when at sea. Regulations, as with waste
water discharge, are affected by WHERE a vessel is. On short cruises
off the coast of California we usually kept our trash, offloading it
whenin port. Sometimes tactical considerations made us hold on to our
trash also. That is, leaving a trail of garbage behind you is a good
way to be found (a twisted version of Hansel and Gretel when you think
about it). But. I have vivid memories of following an Aircraft Carrier
(USS Ranger) looking at a swath of garbage miles long floating behind
it. Carriers carry up to 6,000 people - imaging the garbage produced
by a town that size on a daily basis and you get the idea.
As with all military questions, there is seldom a simple, single,
airtight answer. One normally has to look at a number of regulations
(which may even conflict). Hence I direct you to ...
Resources to Consult:
A good search string to use on something like, say, Google(!) that I
recommend is:
Naval regulations trash disposal at sea
Using that, I found the following which refer to regulations (which,
again, may differ from actual practice):
Navy Environmental Documents
http://web.dandp.com/n45/doc/navydocs/
With a good specific one on garbage and waste disposal at sea:
OPNAVINST 5090.1B
http://web.dandp.com/n45/doc/navydocs/pdf/50901BCH2/chap21.pdf
Also see:
Uniform National Discharge Standards (UNDS) Program
http://unds.bah.com/
If you see PASSWORD REQUIRED (and I don't know why) but you can
apparently get to them anyway (just click around a lot). None of these
appear to be sensitive or classified materials.
Finally, if you go to any Federal Depository Library (check large area
public libraries and most university libraries) they may have
Department of Defense training manuals. If you give me your general
geographic area (City and state?) I can give you a list of area
Depository Libraries. By law they are open to the public. For a
specific manual, I would direct you to:
Boiler Technician 3&2 (NAVEDTRA 10535-H) SuDoc No.: D 207.208/2:
B63/5 983
Use the "SuDoc" number listed when you inquire about availability.
This specific manual briefly discusses "POTABLE WATER SYSTEMS" (p.
3-32) and more extensively covers the distillation process (pp. 8-44
to 8-50) including a really nice photograph of a "Two-stage, 12,000
gpd flash-type evaporator." (p. 8-48).
Hope this helps, and Fun in the Navy!
fugitive-ga |
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