Cruise ships are a fun and luxurious way to explore the world, but many people wonder where the poop on a cruise ship goes. After all, these floating cities of thousands of passengers create an enormous amount of waste.
The first step in disposing of human waste on a cruise ship is to collect it in a sewage tank. This tank is located below the guest cabins and holds both grey water (water from sinks, showers, etc.)
and black water (water from toilets). The sewage tank is then pumped out and stored in a holding tank until it can be disposed of properly.
Once the holding tank is full, the cruise ship will dock at port and discharge the waste into the port’s municipal sewage system. In some ports this is illegal, so cruise ships must use specialized offloading systems that treat the waste before releasing it into the water. Cruise ships also have onboard wastewater treatment systems which filter out solids and chemicals before releasing it back into the ocean.
Cruise ships also generate large amounts of solid waste that must be disposed of properly. This includes food scraps, paper products, plastics, metals and other materials.
Most large ships have on-board incinerators which burn this trash to reduce its volume and make it easier to dispose of once they reach port. They also have garbage chutes that allow them to dump solid waste directly into the ocean once they leave port.
Conclusion:
Where does the poop on a cruise ship go? Most cruise ships use onboard wastewater treatment systems that filter out solids and chemicals before releasing them back into the ocean.
They also have on-board incinerators which burn solid waste to reduce its volume for disposal once they reach port. In some ports they are required to use specialized offloading systems that treat the waste before releasing it into municipal sewage systems.