• Untreated sewage can contain disease-causing bacteria and viruses. Swimmers, surfers and others can become ill when they swallow or come in contact with polluted water.
• Untreated sewage can contaminate shellfish beds and make you sick if you eat raw or improperly cooked shellfish.
• Untreated sewage can kill fish by taking oxygen from the water when the sewage decays.

• Use public restrooms onshore before departing.
• Equip your boat with a sewage treatment device or holding tank for toilet wastes.
• Use a port-a-potty if you don't have an installed toilet and empty your waste at a shoreside pumpout or dump station.
• If you use additives, use products that do not harm aquatic environments and use only the amount indicated by instructions.
• Within the three-mile territorial limit, make sure your "Y" valve is locked in the closed position to prevent illegal discharges.
• Never discharge raw sewage into the water.

• A list of pumpout and dump station locations from Santa Barbara to Orange County and laminated maps showing these locations;
• Scoop on Poop brochures highlighting the impacts resulting from and laws associated with illegal boat sewage discharges;
• The Changing Tide, a quarterly newsletter for the boating community; and
• ShipShape Sanitationbooklets which discuss marine sanitation devices (MSDs), discharge dos and don'ts, human health impacts of dumping raw sewage into marine waters, adding additives to MSDs, and more.

Keep in mind that it is illegal to discharge untreated sewage anywhere within the three-mile U.S. territorial limit and to discharge waste (treated or untreated) into any federally or locally designated No Discharge Area (33 USC, Section 1322). In our region, this includes all harbors and marinas from Santa Barbara to Orange County, including Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island. If you have an installed marine toilet on your boat, it must be connected to a Coast Guard approved Marine Sanitation Device (MSD). The Coast Guard can impose fines of up to $2000 for vessels that illegally dump sewage within the three-mile limit or in a No Discharge Zone. If you see a vessel illegally discharging sewage to local waterways or the ocean, report it immediately to your local Coast Guard office.

In 1996, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed this National Pumpout symbol to provide boaters with a uniform means of identifying pumpout and dump stations nationwide. Keep in mind that it only takes a few minutes to pump the waste from your holding tank, and in many cases, it's FREE!

The SMBRP and the California Department of Boating and Waterways are working together to promote boater use of pumpout and dump stations throughout Southern California. Below are pumpout locations in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange counties. For further information about boating-related public education programs, boater safety classes or other activities, please visit the