Drains at the South Pole

[Joey_P]

From Weird Earls, I found this picture of a toilet at the South Pole.

My question is…how/where does it drain? And the same question for any other drains in that area. I assume that once it leaves a heated building it’s wrapped with a heated wire and heavily insulated, but then what? As soon as it leaves the heated pipe it’s going to freeze, right? Or is there a depth below which things arn’t frozen anymore? Or do they just drain everything right into the ocean?

[Horatio_Hellpop]

@Joey P

Or do they just drain everything right into the ocean?

Which ocean might the South Pole be that close to?

[Horatio_Hellpop]

That sounded snarky. Let me try again.

The South Pole is on top of a land mass and is about 500 miles from the Ross Sea inlet of the Southern ocean, the nearest oceanfront. By comparison, Oklahoma City is roughly 500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

[Bryan_Ekers]

I imagine the toilet (the picture is actually of a urinal, but I’m sure they share an outlet) empties into a buried septic tank of some kind which is periodically drained or even if it isn’t, the contents freeze, cutting down odor.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

At the Pole

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE WASTE “STUFF” FROM THE BATHROOMS?
We have a big septic pool where the waste is freeze dried naturally. Right now the stuff is just buried in the snow, but eventually it has to be shipped out to a waste treatment plant.

When it reaches the edges of the continent is treated almost like regular sewage

The plant also deals with fluctuating wastewater flow by using additional storage space in their tanks. Population at the station increases from 150 people in the winter to 1,000 during the short Antarctic summer which greatly increases wastewater flow. Before being discharged the flow is also subject to a UV disinfection process. After secondary treatment the leftover dried solid material is packed up and shipped back to the U.S. for disposal.