Dear friends and followers welcome back to my channel in today's video
We'll talk about the water and waste system on airplanes and what's that got to do with a vacuum cleaner?
Or to say how does an airplane deal with your sh*t?
So let's get started!
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This is all you get to see as a passenger from the waste system
But there's more to it than just the toilet. The system consists of the following components: the sometimes not so clean toilets,
meters of piping,
a 170 litre waste tank, a couple of valves, a vacuum generator, a drain hose connection, and
servicing panels. So let's imagine we're in cruise and you've been to the toilet
and you press the flush button. An electrical signal is sent to the flush control unit and it checks the airplane's current altitude.
I am not kidding it -- really does that, but I'll come back to that in a minute. Now the control unit
opens up the water valve to rinse the toilet and a second later, you can hear the flush valve opening and
and sucking out your disposal.
But the question is, how? The waste system, the pipes, and waste tank are constantly subject to suction pressure as
there is a pipe leading to the outer skin of the airplane. So as soon as the flush valve
opens up at the bottom of the toilet bowl, the differential pressure between the cabin pressure and the outer
atmospheric pressure
sucks and pushes the waste
through the pipes to the waste tank. And that's one of the reasons why the toilet door has no door seals and a vent grid.
Otherwise, the suction would be strong enough to suck out the air within the small toilet.
So to get rid of a smelly odor, you might as well press the flush button a couple of times, and to clarify one ongoing
rumor: No, your waste DOES NOT go overboard.
Now let's say we're on ground and you're in the plane
but the flight is being delayed. However, you desperately have to go to the toilet, so
after using the toilet, you press the flush button and the flush control unit registers via a pressure gauge
that the plane is still on ground. That's what I meant earlier before, that it measures the altitude. So, there is no differential pressure
creating the necessary suction, and that's where the vacuum generator comes into action. The generator is electrically driven
similar to your household vacuum cleaner, and
creates the suction pressure in the waste tank and pipes so the toilet works
no differently as if the plane were in cruise. So the next time you use the toilet on ground in the aft galley of an
Airbus, check if you can hear the electrical motor of the vacuum generator once you press the flush button.
But be aware if you use the toilet whilst your colleague is shutting down the aircraft at a remote position,
keep in mind that you need at least enough electrical power to flush the toilet,
so in case there's no electrical ground power available, you would have to restart the APU for the flush sequence. And
that will be your most expensive toilet visit ever, I promise you that.
Also, the flush control unit shuts down the system once the waste
tank is full or in case of a system failure.
The waste and water level can be checked on the FAP (the Forward Attendant Panel) and in case the waste tank is full,
the flight attendant will notify the cockpit crew, as they have no indication of the system in the cockpit.
They then would request water waste service on a
special service frequency via radio.
Once the service truck arrives, a large hose is attached onto the servicing panel at the rear of the aircraft, and
the drain valve is opened and the waste tank is sucked out empty within seconds.
The drain valve is open and the waste tank is sucked out empty within seconds
Another truck arrives and connects to the potable water hose point and refills the water tank.
And the potable water system is entirely
independent from the waste system apart from the water
which is used to rinse the toilet before the flush sequence. It consists of the following components:
a 200 liter water tank, pipes leading to sinks and coffee makers, water heaters below the lavatory sink,
200 liter water tank pipes leading to sinks and coffee makers water heaters below the lavatory sink a
a filling and draining port, and drain masts. During flight, part of the engine bleed air system is
directed to the water tank to pressurize the entire system
creating the necessary power to push the water through the pipes, so you can wash your hands in the lavatory sink. Below the sinks
is an electrical water heater, so you can choose from warm and cold water. Now if you paid close attention, I mentioned beforehand
a 200 liter water tank, independent from the waste system.
So where does all the used water go? Now here comes a fact you might not have known: It all goes overboard.
So once you wash your hands, the soapy water runs through the drain pipes to either the front or the rear part of the airplane
(and depending on in which lavatory you've washed your hands), and
exits the plane via the heated drain mast.
Heated, obviously, to prevent the mast from freezing up. During winter operation both systems need to be drained prior to long
grounding of the airplane to prevent the tanks from freezing up and damaging the pipes and other sensitive equipment within the plane.
I hope you enjoyed this basic introduction video of the water and waste system of a passenger airplane.
I have to say this is obviously the knowledge of an A320 model,
but the
principle of the water waste system is fairly the same on most airplanes. So make sure to form a touch-and-go at my Instagram account and don't
forget to hit the Subscribe button plus the notification bell, so you won't miss out upcoming videos.
Thank you very much for your time. All the best, your Captain Joe.
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