What Happens to All the Sewage on a Cruise Ship?

By Anna Duncan

Most people don’t think about it, but cruise ships generate a lot of sewage, and getting rid of it isn’t as straightforward as flushing it down the toilet. In fact, cruise ship sewage management is a complex process that involves an intricate network of pipes, pumps, and tanks. So what happens to all the wastewater on a cruise ship?

The first step in the process is to separate the wastewater into two categories: greywater and blackwater. Greywater is any waste generated from bathing, washing dishes, doing laundry, or any other activities that don’t involve human waste. Blackwater is wastewater that contains human waste and must be treated before being discharged into the ocean.

Once they are separated, both types of wastewater are pumped into onboard holding tanks where they are treated with either biological or chemical processes depending on how the ship is configured. In some cases, the holding tanks can be emptied directly into the ocean when the ship is at least three miles away from shore or in international waters. However, this type of discharge must adhere to strict regulations set by both national and international laws.

For ships that do not meet these requirements for direct discharge, their wastewater will need to be pumped ashore for local treatment facilities to handle it. This process can be expensive and time consuming so many cruise ships opt for closed-loop systems where greywater is recycled back into onboard systems while blackwater is treated onboard with advanced filtration systems until it meets standards set by international regulations before being discharged into the ocean.

Cruise ships are also exploring new ways to treat their sewage such as advanced biological treatment systems that use bacteria to break down organic pollutants in wastewater before it’s discharged into the ocean. Cruise lines are also looking at ways to capture energy from sewage treatment processes as well as utilizing technologies such as reverse osmosis filters to reduce water consumption onboard ships which can help reduce sewage production in the long run.

Conclusion: Cruise ships have complex systems in place for managing their wastewater which includes separating greywater from blackwater, treating both types of water with different processes depending on how close they are to shore or international waters, pumping ashore for treatment if needed, using advanced filtration systems or biological treatments if direct discharge isn’t an option and exploring new technologies such as reverse osmosis filters for reducing water consumption onboard in order to reduce sewage production overall.