Sewage pump on the cheap?

[Jas]

I have a problem that many of you have probaly encountered and overcome so here goes... I'm on a septic tank at home and the nearesst cleanout is a solid 75' away from the closest place I can get the camper. I really don't want ot dig a hole and stab the house septic line if I can avoid it. the ground is uneven but kind of down hill from the parking spot. I have a feeling that the affluent will not make it on it's own power over that distance and the clean up will be cumbersome. Being a tinkerer who has recently renovated the house, I'm thinking of modifying an old kitchen garbage disposal to pressurize the operation. I'll use a piece of hose off of the discharge port at the camper to the mouth of the unit and then speed the offending discharge along a length of smooth 1" id poly hose.

Has anybody else thought of or tried this stunt? I have the advantage now of having virgin tanks to play with so as to not have any surprises excape shoud there be an incident.

[NWJeeper]

Not here, I have always dug a trench and laid the appropriate sewer pipe to tie into the main pipe leaving the house for the septic tanks. It doesn't take a whole lot of fall to get water to run downhill.

Just be sure to post video of your first test of the system. I wanna see that!

[LadyWindrider]

I'm not sure, but I don't think a kitchen garbage disposal will build any pressure. they are more like a blender, and just grind stuff up.

Since it is downhill, I would get some 3 inch cheap plastic plastic pipe and try to adapt the camper sewer couplings to it. Then open the valves and dump. Follow this by a thorough rinsing, starting in the camper, and working to the line, and leave everything out for a while to dry. You may have to walk the length of hose, holding it higher as you go to promote emptying. Why do you need to dump the tanks at home? Plan on dry camping with nowhere to dump? My dealer offers dump for no charge to customers. Some campgrounds let you dump, maybe for a fee if you haven't stayed there. I have even found a GPS list of places to dump tanks, and may even be a list on a website. Good luck.

[E.S.P.]

X2 on the garbage disposal being more like a blender.

Also, I've seen many garbage disposals plug up rather quickly depending what you run though them. I'm not confident that it would gulp thru +30 gallons of swamp juice without backing up.

One other point to make is that the oulet on a garbage disposal is significantly smaller than the outlet on your black tank. This will cause your system to drain much slower and most likely cause the "solid" matter in the black tank to settle and not get flushed away. The fast moving current of a quick drain is what helps draw everything out. You would have to flush your tank out several times to ensure you cleaned everything out.

IMO...I would dig and lay pipe as the previous poster mentioned, but good luck anyhow.

[milzat]

X3. Garbage Disposal is more like a Blender. Speaking of Garbage Disposals, Click here.

One of my summer projects.

Sorry for the thread High-Jack.

[milzat]

Mr Tinkerer(Jas),

Buy a Sewer Ejector Pump and fashion it in a 5 gal. bucket(with sealed lid). Attach a 3" inlet on the lid and a 2" outlet on the side of the bucket. Attach a 2" water discharge hose to the 2" outlet and run it to your septic tank.

Used 5 gal. buckets, with screw-on lids, can be found at pool supply stores.

[Jas]

I'm entertaining this idea as more of a contingency plan and to help with home winterization. Once we start using the black tank I really don't want to be open dumping in the backyard. The nearest dump staion is 30 miles away and Wally world frowns on people using the storm drains (for good reason). Besides, I'm an engineer with tools andd a pile of things laying around

the pipe & trench are a no-go. The way my yard is setup and the various wires/services between the driveway and the nearest stab are just begging for a bigger problem. I was looking into the ejector pump idea but dropped it as that is a really good way to loose any control I might have. If it jams or stalls I could be in for a real mess. To make the tank sealed tight and low enough to hook into my trailer (outlet is only 7" off the ground) and maintain a high enough water line for the pump to work efficiently is just going to be too cumbersome to actually work with. At that point I might just as well break down and get one of the portable totes and where is the fun in that?

I was figuring that once I get things pulpified, I might be able to add a booster pump in line. Temp hard line above ground gets back into that cumbersome train of thought. a 2hp motor retrofitted onto the disposal should get through the clogs so it's a matter of flow. I saw one of the endcap hose/pressure washer contraptions but it's just going to use too much water for my system limitations. 30 year old septic system......

I could just make the margarita thing Milzat suggested and call it a day

[Jas]

of course that is a pretty pump you recommended....

the spec sheet did confirm what I was afraid of:
www.lgp.com is the oem web site

it has a shut off min level of 5". That a lot of stuff to get rid of and a high level to maintain. but this pump is built solid and " can pass a 2" sphere"

[milzat]

Jas,

From what you're saying, I'm now thinking your easiest solution is a macerator. (click on the photo)



RV Macerator Pump, Flojet $151.67 (This is on the cheap).

Empty your RV holding tank at home.
The Flojet Macerator pump grinds waste into small particles as it pumps. This allows the use of a 1” hose for waste discharge outlet.
The Macerator is available with a 1-1/2” combination barb-threaded inlet or a 3” slip fitting inlet. The outlet is a 1” barb fitting. Fast holding tank pump outs in only 3-4 minutes for a 30 gallon holding tank.

[Jas]

Thanks for the info Milzat! That little critter should fit the bill nicely.

Report from the trenches: the disposal passed the standing water test and emptied the tank (30 gal) in about the same time as if I just let it fly. However, the pulp test was not so good. I wadded up some healthy sized pieces of 3 ply (it's overkill but I wanted a real test). Jammed them into a 5 gal bucket and swished it up to get that realistic effect. The first piece passed nicely but....
Well thankfully it was fresh water and clean wadding as I am now hosing it off the side of the garage! It was kind of a jamming, gurgling type of explosion where the case of the disposal actually parted. On the plus side it would work great in a grey tank.

[flyrotor]

Reminds me of the Seinfield episode where Kramer puts a garbage disposal in the shower! HAHAHA!!

[dirtengineer]

This guy did it, so it does work. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...d/18557785.cfm

[Palomino_G210]

Macerator pumps can be bought for a little as $80.

[Jas]

Ah Ha! so I'm not crazy or alone. I just wish my pump survived the testing phase