I have to ask; do people really have the nerve to take a dump in such a small cabin when there are other passengers? Also, how does the crew know when to service the lav? Do passengers report to the crew that they used the lav? "Nice flight and by the way I baked a huge log over Aspen."
Haha, all very good questions. Sometimes you really have to go and don't care who is around, sometimes it's only a family traveling together, and sometimes it might be a person traveling by themselves. Plus, even though it's a confined space, it's actually fairly private. A door closes off the lav from the rest of the cabin. The pressurization outflow valves are in the rear of the cabin, so most smells naturally get sucked aft and out. The engines are loud enough cabin occupants can't really hear anything in the lav with the door closed either. Passengers rarely say anything to the crew about using the lav. It's usually determined by checking at the end of the flight by the crew. Sometimes some toilet paper is left behind in the bowl. Or, because it's a recirculating system with a filter, the "blue juice" turns from bright blue to a dark color and has a faint smell after being used, which the crew can sense if we go flush it after a flight. Our philosophy is, "When in doubt, change it out." You definitely don't want to leave a used lav sitting in a hot climate for a few days. You might not notice it when you leave, but you sure will when you come back.
Thank you. You save my life today :)
Great video. The line guys always ask how much of the blue juice they should put in. I usually tell them half a gallon. Is that correct?
Pretty close. I think the AFM calls for two liters. That converts to 0.52 gallons.
Great tips!
Thanks! There are few things worse than a lav disaster of any kind!
The Bravo 550B has the same system, even though the aircraft was based on the Citaion II 550. Service with 2 liters, or @ .5 gallons.
I have to ask; do people really have the nerve to take a dump in such a small cabin when there are other passengers? Also, how does the crew know when to service the lav? Do passengers report to the crew that they used the lav? "Nice flight and by the way I baked a huge log over Aspen."
Haha, all very good questions. Sometimes you really have to go and don't care who is around, sometimes it's only a family traveling together, and sometimes it might be a person traveling by themselves. Plus, even though it's a confined space, it's actually fairly private. A door closes off the lav from the rest of the cabin. The pressurization outflow valves are in the rear of the cabin, so most smells naturally get sucked aft and out. The engines are loud enough cabin occupants can't really hear anything in the lav with the door closed either. Passengers rarely say anything to the crew about using the lav. It's usually determined by checking at the end of the flight by the crew. Sometimes some toilet paper is left behind in the bowl. Or, because it's a recirculating system with a filter, the "blue juice" turns from bright blue to a dark color and has a faint smell after being used, which the crew can sense if we go flush it after a flight. Our philosophy is, "When in doubt, change it out." You definitely don't want to leave a used lav sitting in a hot climate for a few days. You might not notice it when you leave, but you sure will when you come back.