gray water ethics

[18CrewDually]

Originally Posted by stevensmith2859

I cant hate on anyone who slowly lets out their gray water at night. For what its worth, its not my cup of tea, ONLY because I make sure that I have W/E/S hookups at any site that I book. My wife and I dont boon dock, she likes amenities. I also just want to be able to dump my black water at my site and not have to worry about holding capacities.

Same for us 95% of the time. But there has been 3x's we had no sewer hookup for an extensive stay. Once the campground owner told us while checking in to crack the grey tank valve at night if we'd like so we did. It was no issue with us or any other camper around us. For most of the people there it was the normal thing to do and they all had the "sewer cap & hose into the woods" setup.

[Sierra360PDEK]

I stay at a COE campground several times a year. The ranger told me to run a long garden hose to the woods and let the grey tank empty there as the septic systems are having a hard time with handling so much liquid. He even gave me an adapter to hook up my hose when I forgot mine last year.

[itat]

If we use the campground's showers, our grey tank is good for about 4 or 5 days when there's just the 2 of us. I have a Barker tote that I use when needed. The grey water stinks when it's been in the tank for 4 days even though we do use a strainer in the kitchen sink.

Back in the early 2000s when we had our 1999 Coleman Santa Fe popup, we had no grey tank. We only camped in forested Provincial Parks and would wash the dishes at the picnic table and throw the dirty water into the bush. I've only noticed a dripping grey water tank once in all the years I've been going to Provincial Parks, but I really don't pay much attention to it.

It would be preferable to run a hose into the bush if you're going to let the grey tank drip, just so you don't generate any smells that would attract wildlife onto your site.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by 05CrewDually

Two adults and 2 kids tend to fill the grey tank (shower water) in 2 days. Black tank we can go a week.

Similar here. We are 2 adults and 4 kids and we fill 2 40 gallon grey tanks in 2 days if showering. 40 gallon black tank will last us ~5 days. If showering at the campground bath house we can easily make 5 days with the grey.

[Spanko]

Originally Posted by KyleStout

That's a little different...

Dilution is the Solution to Pollution

Are you a saltwatrer fish tank enthusiast? That is the mantra in keeping a marine aquarium.

Originally Posted by marinerjoe

Reminds me of pumping bilges. Aka "lowering the water level."

Never done during the day, or at night with a bright moon.

Always done on an outgoing tide.

Bilges were flushed with a healthy dose of AFFF to move anything away from own ship's hull.

[KyleStout]

nah, a buddy of mine was a manager at a steel mill on the Ohio River.. He was in charge of waste water that got dumped in the river... That was his slogan
it always stuck with me

Originally Posted by Spanko

Are you a saltwatrer fish tank enthusiast? That is the mantra in keeping a marine aquarium.

[Steve_Elliott]

Originally Posted by marinerjoe

Reminds me of pumping bilges. Aka "lowering the water level."

Never done during the day, or at night with a bright moon.

Always done on an outgoing tide.

Bilges were flushed with a healthy dose of AFFF to move anything away from own ship's hull.

.
Times have changed. In the early 70's I was stationed in Groton Connecticut aboard a nuclear submarine. Standard practice was to "blow sanitary" tanks every morning just before dawn. Every boat on the river (sometimes a dozen or so) at about the same time. Fortunately there is a pretty stiff current in the Thames River most of the time and hopefully flushed out most of the debris.

Hopefully things are better now.

[AmandaN]

Originally Posted by Steve_Elliott

.
Times have changed. In the early 70's I was stationed in Groton Connecticut aboard a nuclear submarine. Standard practice was to "blow sanitary" tanks every morning just before dawn. Every boat on the river (sometimes a dozen or so) at about the same time. Fortunately there is a pretty stiff current in the Thames River most of the time and hopefully flushed out most of the debris.

Hopefully things are better now.

I work in New London and from what I see and hear the river's still pretty nasty. Everyone is discouraged from eating any fish they catch in the River due to it.

[Gumpster808]

Originally Posted by Steve_Elliott

.

Times have changed. In the early 70's I was stationed in Groton Connecticut aboard a nuclear submarine. Standard practice was to "blow sanitary" tanks every morning just before dawn. Every boat on the river (sometimes a dozen or so) at about the same time. Fortunately there is a pretty stiff current in the Thames River most of the time and hopefully flushed out most of the debris.



Hopefully things are better now.

Which boat? Was on the Billfish in late 70s and the Providence later.

[otrtrucker]

I was at a campground in PA a few years back. No sewer at any of the sites due to the terrain. They did gave a "honey wagon" that went around every day to pump your tanks. But, I was told that if I have a hose to get the grey water away from the site, I could dump grey water out into the woods. And put the hose away when I was done each time.
In some states, like Virginia, dumping any grey water on to the ground is illegal.

[otrtrucker]

I've heard some boondockers say to run a garden hose to a pit nearby, and drain the grey water into the pit. Being careful to not overflow. Same concept as the CG s that have the grey water barrels sunk into gravel along the road.