Use of portable holding tank

[DonandJudy_12]

We have a Thetford wheeled holding tank that we have used to transport gray water to a dump station- My question is- Does anyone transport black water? Are there any special cleanout duties? We are 2 blocks from the dump station- We are in a tight site & I would rather not take the fiver out of the campsite if using the tote is an acceptable practice- Thanx in advance for all input- Don

[H. John Kohl]

Remember to shut the black valve off when TOTE tank is half full. Your black holding tank holds more than the Tote buddy. Voice of experience. Got lucky but the tote buddy was full.
Good luck.

[bigmurf]

We have a float on our blue boy and use it for black water.

[OntMont]

We use one of the newer style thetford tanks with 4 wheels and a float to show when it is almost full. We use it for both black and grey water with some precautions. We also have a FloJet mecerator pump. With this arrangement, I can fill the portable tank from a garden hose and monitor the level carefully. I also often put the tank in the back of the truck and haul it to more distant dump stations or privies, and pump it out again using the macerator pump. I always do the black first, then you get to rinse the portable tank with the grey and galley water. It is also useful to have a shut off valve at the outlet of your trailer sewer pipe.

In short, yes, we use it for black water, but with some care. If you make a mistake, it could be a big one!

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by DonandJudy_12

We have a Thetford wheeled holding tank that we have used to transport gray water to a dump station- My question is- Does anyone transport black water? Are there any special cleanout duties? We are 2 blocks from the dump station- We are in a tight site & I would rather not take the fiver out of the campsite if using the tote is an acceptable practice- Thanx in advance for all input- Don

Don,
We did that all the time a few years back when we parked in the county parks around Cedar Rapids. Now we don't because we have begun parking in a full hookup park in Amana, IA. Those Thetford tanks (and others) are designed to tote both the black and/or grey water. In our case we didn't have any float or other device to tell us when the tank was full so we had to dump into it carefully.

Orv

[clutch]

I use mine for black water all winter long. Just make sure you don't over fill it. I usually dump about every 3 to 4 days and then over flow is not likely to happen. I really don't like shutting off the valve when it is flowing.

[bob n pam]

We use ours for both black and grey water. As others have said, we dump black water first, then come back and dump the grey water to clean it out. We also have and use the Flojet macerator when possible to pump up into the truck bed rather than creeping along with the blue boy hooked up and rolling.

[DonandJudy_12]

Thanx to all who responded- I successfully emptied all 3 tanks without incident- One new question? Do you add any chemicals to the tote tank afterwards? Don

[Imp]

We also have used it for black and grey dumping. This summer we didn't have it along and one of the state parks had a septic failure.. not to be fixed until 2010 (budget issues). We sure could have used it as we counted on full hook up. Anyway to answer your question about chemicals, we don't use any in there. The black water isn't in there long enough and the grey water rinses it well. As well you can use the hose at the dump station to finish rinsing.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by DonandJudy_12

Thanx to all who responded- I successfully emptied all 3 tanks without incident- One new question? Do you add any chemicals to the tote tank afterwards? Don

Just rinse it out when you're done.

Orv

[bob n pam]

We just rinse.

[Tom S.]

I don't add chemicals other than a quick shot of bleach.