Dumping Grey Water

[jwedell]

Our campgrounds on long island have no sewer connections. Since we camp in the Monty all summer I have to use the portable 32 gallon blue tank to dump the shower and washing machine water almost every day. Does someone have an easier way to dump the grey water. I have the extra gate valve to use both tanks and it gives me more time but i have to dump twice the water.

[sreigle]

Some rv parks have a mobile dump service that comes around and, for a fee, will dump your tanks into their truck's tank. Obviously your park does not have this. But I wonder if there is a similar service available at a reasonable cost, outside the park, that would come into the park and do this?

[jwedell]

No they are county owned parks. Don't know of anyone that would do it.

[Art-n-Marge]

Then unless you buy a bigger or additional dump tank, this will be a chore of the day.

Here's a thought... Camp as close to the dump station as you can, then purchase enough hose and hose supports to reach all the way to the dump station. Then the chore of the day becomes connecting the hose, dump the gray then disconnect to free up the dump station.

I am half-kidding about that. Using the same principal I was referring to in the above paragraph, there are dump systems that use pumps and macerators that enable an RV sewer outlet to transport the contents of a tank (in your case, predominantly the grey water) over long distances. They will use a hose about the size or slightly larger than a garden hose and run the hose to a sewage outlet with the proper adapter. These hoses have been known to be 100', 150' or more depending on the terrain and the power of the pump. But you'll still need to worry about your position since you wouldn't want to be traipsing through other campsites or areas you shouldn't be. And you would probably need permission of the campsite to do this.

[Countryfolks]

We've been in a couple of parks. one a COE, that allowed gray water to be used to water the ground. Most really frown on that though.

[Art-n-Marge]

Hey Skip and Mary, I remember those days, but most CGs are finding that the gray water tends to collect at their CG and then becomes a problem because of soaps, shampoos, toothpaste and other not-so-environmental contents.

I see many businesses in So. Cal. using reclaimed water for watering lawns shrubs, etc. as denoted by the lavendar sprinkler heads, but I don't know where they are reclaiming the water from.

Before dumping ANY water check with the authoritative party. I got in trouble for dumping fresh water (to lighten my RV for towing) because the camp dude said, they didn't want the water wasted on the ground like where I was doing. It was running into the campsite, but some of the area was dirt and turned into mud, but they didn't care. It made no sense, but folks can get peeved about the dumbest things. I had to get on the road, drove down the road a bit, then dumped it to run into the roadside. So the roadside will look green and the campsite won't. Whatever.

[NCFischers]

John,
I didn't realize that there are no sewer connections anywhere. When we used to tent camp at Cedar Point many years ago, it wasn't an issue for us. What a bummer.
Jim

[jwedell]

Hi Jim,
There are several campgrounds on the east end with sewer hook up but since we will be going to work from the 5er they are too far away. John

[OntMont]

In that situation, I use the portable tank, but often I leave the tank in the truck and fill it using a small pump. I can then drive at a normal pace to the dump station, or sometimes to an outhouse. Recently I purchased one of the newer Thetford Smarttotes that have 4 wheels and a flexible drain hose built in. This is considerably easier to manage than lifting the older blue tote tanks. Just this weekend I bought a Flojet macerator pump kit. This will allow me to empty the black tank in the same manner.

[VanMan]

Would something like this work? I'm a travel trailer guy, so I don't know about the 5er hitches.

http://www.farriercorral.com/Pickup-...rs%20-0346.htm

[Art-n-Marge]

Hey VanMan, that's a clever product. It's designed to be used with 5ers, but to use it for a grey dump tank requires some investigation, but increases jwedell's dump capacity per tank by almost double. One also has to be able to find the room in the truck bed.

It has two inlets that probably fit a standard hose. A pump will be needed at the 5er sewer outlet to pump the grey into this tank. Then what about the drain? Is there a drain to attach in order to dump? I am sure one can be fastened somehow, then used in reverse to empty. Being that high on the truck, one can probably use gravity to dump instead of a pump.

Looking around the website there are several other tanks that can be put in other locations in the truck bed to increase capacity.

[Snownyet]

A campground we frequent has 4" perforated pipes sticking out of the ground for grey water at many of their sites. Theyve got well drained soil and the ground just sucks it up.