Unclogging Toilets at $400,000 a Flush Hits Navy's Costs

[left-of-center2012]

Source: Bloomberg

New toilets on the Navy’s two newest aircraft carriers clog so frequently that the ships’ sewage systems must be cleaned periodically with specialized acids costing about $400,000 a flush, according to a new congressional audit outlining $130 billion in underestimated long-term maintenance costs.

The Navy isn’t sure the toilet systems on the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS George H. W. Bush can withstand the demand without failing frequently, according to the watchdog agency’s report on service sustainment costs released Tuesday. The Ford’s estimated lifetime operations and sustainment costs have grown to $123 billion from $77.3 billion, the most of six programs GAO evaluated.

“The Carrier toilet system is indicative of the kinds of issues we highlight in our report that are requiring more money, time, and effort to fix than originally anticipated due to a lack of adequate sustainment planning during the acquisition process,” said Shelby Oakley, a GAO director who manages the agency’s ship acquisition reviews

“The pipes are too narrow and when there are a bunch of sailors flushing the toilet at the same time, like in the morning, the suction doesn’t work,” said Oakley. “The Navy didn’t anticipate this problem.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-03-24/unclogging-toilets-at-400-000-a-flush-among-navy-cost-overruns

[McKim]

1. It's Past Time to Examine the Elephant in America's Livingroom

It is past time to examine the elephant in America’s Livingroom: Our Bloated Military Budget!
We have squandered trillions on wars of choice in the MIddle East. That money could have been spent to build a world class Public Health infrastructure. Now we are paying the price. Our family has worked in the Interfaith Peace Movement for 17 years now. This is an idea whose time has come! The entire yearly budget of NIH the National Institute of Health, that funds medical research, was equal to the price of one aircraft carrier!!!!!!! Mission Accomplished!!!!

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Gee,you think maybe there might be a

design flaw,never.

[underpants]

3. So the elevators don't work and the toilets don't flush

Sounds like a Trump slum

[jalan48]

4. Navy's costs really means taxpayer's costs.

[TygrBright]

5. Do they need hammers for this...?

cynically,
Bright

[The River]

6. LMAO

Don't know why I can't stop laughing.
As an old carrier sailor I gotta say WTF is
the USN doing?

[Brother Buzz]

8. What they are NOT doing is.....

deploying the fire hose. I understand you boys kept it simple by using fire hoses to clear things up.

[The River]

19. The System

on old Essex Class carriers (built during WW2) was saltwater fed.
It flowed constantly; sea water in pee water out. In the dark,
phosphorescent plankton made the facilities sparkle.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. A Plumbing design engineer should have been part of the process

$400k is a nice juicy service contract

[iluvtennis]

9. I know this was meant in jest, but very likely with the greed going on nowadays. nt

[McCamy Taylor]

10. This is black ops spending.

All the stupid expensive spending is black ops spending.

[joanbarnes]

11. Even ships named after Republicans are full of shit!

[captain jack]

12. The wealth that American workers create for the "rich" to spread among themselves is mind boggling.

Equally mind boggling is that any American worker is in debt. We The People apparently have 2 trillion dollars to spare and are able to locate that in just a few days. The People's money. And with that we have to collectively socially rescue Capitalism so we can go back to our struggles to ensure the wealthy (with our money) don't have to struggle.

Seems Socialism has kept Capitalism alive and "breathing" twice in the last two decades? This doesn't include welfare to individual industries in-between those rescues.

This system that so many love so much can't seem to stay alive on its own.

[PuffedMica]

14. I was about to say "We always knew Ford and Bush were full of ..."

Oh, never mind.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. Maybe they'll have to stagger the watch times by duty section.

Everybody who works the bridge, flush now. Fuel and weapons people, hold it in for a minute.

Dunno about the Navy, but in the Army, there was a lotta flushing just before the morning formation for the flag raising. I never gave a thought to the capacity of the sewer lines, all I knew was the supply lines had to gleam: much Brasso was used to shine the copper.

[PuffedMica]

15. They are going to have to use BLUE and GOLD head breaks.

Check the POD. If the last two digits of your social security number are between 00 and 08, you can use the head during the first five minutes of the hour.

[bluedigger]

16. Have they considered adding bidets?

Could just be a tp problem.

[Kaleva]

22. I used to wash my dunagrees in the wake of the ship when fresh water was secured

[PerceptionManagement]

17. So as I understand the article, the US Navy shit is too big for the small pipes aboard ship

[underpants]

18. KICK

[marble falls]

20. Its the swabbies' faults ...

they refuse to squeeze regulation turds.

[Kaleva]

21. Weld a poop deck near the aft end of the super carrier and fill it with port-a-johns

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. This wouldn't have happened if they had equipped the carrier with a steam catapult.

Sailors could merely fill up garbage bags with their sewage and....

[Brainfodder]

24. That cost aint a red flag?

WTF....

$400,000 for whatever to unclog ANYTHING?

Sounds OFF to me.

That feels like some mighty huge gouging, what am I missing?

[area51]

25. Yet our govt. tries to claim we don't have enough money for

comprehensive Medicare for All.

[jpak]

26. Belay that scuttlebutt matie

Arrrr