Need to pump poop from your boat this summer? Free service helps you do your duty
If you’re out on the water this summer, there is now a safe way to get rid of sewage from your boat. The bonus? It’s free.
A state grant will pay for two years of free mobile pump-out service from a specially equipped 26-foot boat that will travel the waters around the Narrows Strait from Gig Harbor. All boaters have to do is call, and the pump-out boat will meet them.
The South Puget Sound Mobile Pumpout Program is financed by a $90,000 grant from the State Parks Clean Vessel Act Grant Program.
“Our goal is to reach all boaters, even those who may not know what a pumpout station is,” said Jeff Barney, watershed planner for Pierce County Surface Water Management. “This is the first piece of the puzzle.”
The vessel is operated by Paul Weyn, whose company is called NW Mobile Pump Out and Marine Environmental Services. He told The Gateway he is available by appointment through his website at www.nwmobilepumpout.com/s/appointments.
“This summer, I’ll be out providing free pump outs to recreational boaters in select areas out by the Narrows. Places where people like to go and spend the weekends on their boats but there are very few pump out options for them available,” Weyn said. “People can either hail me over when I’m there, or they can go on my website to schedule a pump out and I’ll be there.”
Weyn also said he responds to hails on marine VHF channel 68.
In addition to the boat, there are currently three free fixed pump-out locations in the South Sound, one at Penrose State Park on the Key Peninsula, another at Marine Pier in Gig Harbor, and a third at the Point Defiance Boathouse, according to the website PumpoutWashington.org. The Narrows Marina also has a pumpout station, but charges a $5 fee.
Weyn is running the waterborne operation solo, but he said he is prepared to meet a potential increase in demand.
“I mean, the boat that I have is very fast and it gets to places pretty quickly,” Weyn said. “I can do like 40 or 50 pump outs a day, that’s not a problem.” The small aluminum boat can do 30 knots, he said. Despite the range of possibilities, the little boat has no name.
Weyn asks boaters to try to schedule ahead.
“If people can schedule, I can organize them,” Weyn said. “I’d prefer it if they schedule online, but they can call me over when I’m there. It’s a very simple organized system I have, so I’m not anticipating there being any issues.”
When he needs to empty the boat’s 350-gallon tank, Weyn goes to the Narrows Marina, Foss Harbor Marina, or the Maritime Dock in Gig Harbor.
The new services are meant to ensure sewage is kept out of the Puget Sound to protect both shellfish beds and the health of the water overall. It also helps boaters keep in compliance with the Puget Sound No Discharge Zone (NDZ) law that in 2018 made it “illegal to dump sewage in certain areas of Puget Sound and adjoining waters for Type I and II vessels.”
Boaters can locate their nearest pumpout and dump station by visiting PumpoutWashington.org or by downloading the free Pumpout Nav app.
This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 3:39 PM.
