Fun Day in the Sewage Treatment Plant

So I've finally learned the worst part of my job, I think. I mean, I haven't actually sailed or done anything but draw out systems since I got here but I can just guess. Today's system of choice was the black water system AKA the Sewage Treatment Plant. It's down in the bottom of the boat, a most unpleasant space. It has the clean smell of chlorine and the not so clean yellow tinged walls.

Anyways, when you trace out a system you go around and follow the pipes, the valves, the tanks, ect so you know how it works. So today was spent crawling around this space figuring out where the crew's waste goes. How great is that!

I do get to work on a ship though and it's fun learning how stuff works. The best part is that as an engineer there's not many places you can't go. I get to go into all the "employee only" spaces that I never get to go in. And one day I'll get to do stuff like turn on Diesels and check the lube oil pressure.

One drawback is that I think I'm more bruised than when I played paintball. Crawling around pipes and under deck plates and down ladders gives for many opportunities to smash your head or bonk you knee.