Portable waste tank

[VTX Al]

Originally Posted by Hybrid21SS

I want to try what at least one other here does. Leave the sewer cap on the TT on and open both gray and black valves and let the gray transfer to the black giving you more precious gray water room. Even with the kids not showering our 30 gallon gray fills up quick. Sure some, hopefully gray only, will come out when you go to dump. But I wear nitrile gloves so I can live with that. I don't see blue boy in my future. We went to the TT to make camping a little easier than tent camping. Don't need/want any additional chores..

YIKES !!! Sorry, but I just can't see myself ever trying that Eventually you will have to remove that sewer cap to connect the drain hose - and ..............

...VTX-AL

[Hybrid21SS]

The post i read says it worked without transfering. If the gray has 30 gallons in it and black has only 2 or 3 gallons along with my understanding of gravity, its sounds like it should work fine. Im not lugging a blue boy nor am I willing to hitch up to go dump so I say its worth a shot. With 30 gallons of gray rushing into the black I just need to stop maybe after 10 gallons just to get through the last day. I dont plan on leaving them both open. Just a quick transfer to make a little more room. I trust gravity.

[Hybrid21SS]

Its not nuclear waste..lol. I found this post from another member here:

"Flow is just one direction, from the fuller tank to the emptier tank. After they equalize there is no pressure to transfer the black down, and back up to the gray through the plumbing. You close the valves to make sure the dont.

Some people don't like the idea of a possibility of mixing, so they dont do it. To me, both tanks are germ piles, they are both illegal to dump on the ground now, and you dispose of the contents the same way. Some large Prevost bus's have a single large waste tank and don't even bother separating them."
__________________
Ron Hanson
2009 Georgetown 350TS (bunks)
2009 Ford Edge AWD Ltd towed

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by VTX Al

YIKES !!! Sorry, but I just can't see myself ever trying that Eventually you will have to remove that sewer cap to connect the drain hose - and ..............

...VTX-AL

HOLY CRAP!

I missed that part. I was guessing he had a gate valve on the end of his dump line. The CAP? I had a leaker in the rental TT once and I HATED it!

[Hybrid21SS]

Thanks for the feedback. We will try to be as frugal as possible with the water but if the Gray fills before the trip is up will give this a try. I don't believe any black will transfer or stay in the end when I go to dump. If my cap is a leaker, which I doubt, pretty robust looking seal vs no pressure, I will bring a bucket to catch the gray and walk that to gray disposal area. I am not as worried about it as others seem to be. I will let you know how it works. Maybe you can give me a bunch of I told you sos..lol

If it don't work out I guess next step is a pump and plumbing to transfer. That would be probably the best way other than trying to stuff a bigger tank in there.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Hybrid21SS

Thanks for the feedback. We will try to be as frugal as possible with the water but if the Gray fills before the trip is up will give this a try. I don't believe any black will transfer or stay in the end when I go to dump. If my cap is a leaker, which I doubt, pretty robust looking seal vs no pressure, I will bring a bucket to catch the gray and walk that to gray disposal area. I am not as worried about it as others seem to be. I will let you know how it works. Maybe you can give me a bunch of I told you sos..lol

If it don't work out I guess next step is a pump and plumbing to transfer. That would be probably the best way other than trying to stuff a bigger tank in there.

I think you missed the point. The plumbing you are going to use to transfer from gray to black is a common dump mast with a cap on the END. The dump valves are located AT THE TANKS.

That leaves about two gallons of gray/black water under pressure in the lines AFTER you equalize your tanks and close the dump valves.

How did you plan on removing the CAP when you are ready to dump your tanks? It Whooshes out. THAT was what I was saying.

In my case the black valve did not CLOSE all the way when I dumped (I suspect it caught a piece of something - TP maybe). I of course had no way of knowing since there was no more water coming out when I closed it (it was empty). I put my cap back on. A few days later black tank was full and we needed to dump again. I did not pull the handles; just removed the cap to connect my hose. The plumbing had filled with black water leaking past the incompletely closed valve and it was FULL just as your will be. To say "I got my shoes wet" would be the understatement of the decade trying to put that stupid cap back on (just like the monkey and the elephant)!

[Hybrid21SS]

I understand the plumbing of the valves. If I open the gray first (not that I think I even have to) the manifold fills with gray. Now I open the black second. The pressure forces the gray into the black tank. when satisfied I close the black then the gray. Now I only have gray in the manifold. Even If I did have some black, which I don't think I will. So what? Is the dump process sterile and pleasant as is? Every dump station I ever been to has a water hose and as I said earlier I wear gloves anyway. We previously tent camped with a shower tent and used a Sanitation Equipment Visa 268 portable toilet. If you have ever dumped/cleaned one of those, this is much less worrisome. And the portable toilet has 6.3 gallon holding tank and after a weekend of camping its not full with a family of 4 exclusively using only that.

[Herk7769]

Well, you seem to think it is a good idea; so give it a shot.
I have nothing to lose!

I meant "you" ...

[Hybrid21SS]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Well, you seem to think it is a good idea; so give it a shot.
I have nothing to lose!

I meant "you" ...

I never said it was a good idea. Someone else posted here that he does it with no problems. Its seems like a viable, easy solution to the problem of the gray water tank filling to quickly. If my only other solution is to buy a pricey wheeled holding tank then have to modify the noisy, cheap plastic wheels so everyone wont stare at me rolling on by, I feel its at least worth a shot. Filling a blue boy at my camp site sounds no less glamorous than this idea

[Herk7769]

If you decide to go this route, they make a bayonet fitting gate valve for the end of your dump mast. That way the cap gush issue will not be a problem. You just hook up your hose to the gate valve; then open it. Dump in the normal rotation.

Perhaps this mod is on the person's camper who suggested your work around.

Valterra Replacment RV Holding Tank Valve T58=

Clamps on the end of your dump mast and your cap/hose goes on the opposite end.

[Hybrid21SS]

Originally Posted by herk7769

If you decide to go this route, they make a bayonet fitting gate valve for the end of your dump mast. That way the cap gush issue will not be a problem. You just hook up your hose to the gate valve; then open it. Dump in the normal rotation.

Perhaps this mod is on the person's camper who suggested your work around.

Valterra Replacment RV Holding Tank Valve T58=

Clamps on the end of your dump mast and your cap/hose goes on the opposite end.

Thanks !! That looks like good cheap insurance. Its making the idea look better

[jimh]

we stay a week each aug at a campground that doesn't have sewer. i purchased a 28 or 32 tank that i fill each day with grey water and pull a couple blocks by a marina, up a hill to a dump station. after the first pull, i got over any potential i had toward being embarrassed.
in the past, i have opened between the two grey tanks and run water between them. would not consider moving into the black tank. the black tank will make the week without problem.
i don't think i can make more than 2 days on the grey tanks w/o dumping.
my wife didn't understand the concept of a navy shower. she took it to mean like buying a toilet seat for $20000...thus use more water. i had to find another way to explain it to her.

[Fire Instructor]

I see the "equalizing" method done quite often at NASCAR races, as people try to NOT have to pull out to dump, or pay the high fee for the honey wagon. Wife and I both enjoy our showers, so I just plan on dumping grey at least once (or twice) over a long weekend.

At Dover, where we go annually, it's more than a mile to the dumpsite, over some very bumpy gravel roadways, then over some open roadway, so towing a tank isn't really a viable option. I put my tote tank on my tailgate and use a macerator pump to fill it. My black holds 32 gallons, and my tote 40, so I always have room for 8 gallons {minimum) of grey flush water.

When I get to the dumpsite, I connect the discharge hose, just stand the tank up, and let gravity do it's thing. The tank drains well from 3' above the ground!

[MrT]

Originally Posted by herk7769

...

Personally, I would rather drag a full 40 gallon tank once, than a 20 gallon tank 3 times. Why three? There is no way to gauge 1/2 a tank when dumping. If you try for a "full" Blue Boy, I guarantee you will miss (over) once or twice. Well once anyway. I don't know about you, but there would never again be a twice. There is no "nice" way to disconnect without a mess when the dump mast and hose are full of poo.

...That cold beer afterwards can't come soon enough for me.

So if I use just a 10 gallon blue boy and make multiple runs, I could get 4+ cold beers?

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by MrT

So if I use just a 10 gallon blue boy and make multiple runs, I could get 4+ cold beers?

Now you are thinking correctly.

[Hybrid21SS]

Well by Saturday night our gray was full and black nearly empty as usual. With the sewer cap in place I opened the gray then opened the black and you could see the black level slowly rise. When I was satisfied with the level in maybe 1.5 minutes I closed the black then the gray. 2 more showers and dirty dishes later still room in the gray. Then this morning I ran the sewer hose to the dump hole and unscrewed the garden hose cap on the TT sewer cap and the gray in the manifold gently poured into the sewer hose I was holding under it. It appeared to be 100% gray water. They I removed the sewer cap and drained tanks as normal. I say it was a success and would not hesitate to do it again !!

[Herk7769]

Well once again the Forum pays off. I would have never even considered it. While I doubt I would ever actually do it; it is nice to know that I could. Since my camper's sewer cap does not have a hose connection, I think I will be buying that screw on valve just to throw in the spares box. It would allow me to get home with a leaky main dump valve without a real mess.

[Hybrid21SS]

Yes..Without the forums numerous veteran campers to learn from I might be walking around the campsites more stinky than usual from lack of showers

[prof_fate]

Originally Posted by Hybrid21SS

Someone else posted here that he does it with no problems.

I've known many people to skydive without issue. I know one person that had an issue. It's rare, but it'd darned unpleasant when it happens

So just because someone got away with it, does not mean you will.

You say "appeared to be only gray water" - that's because you can't see bacteria with the naked eye. Whether this becomes an issue long term or not I can't say. Some things that go down your sink - soaps, cleaners, etc - may kill the good bacteria or chems you have in your black tank causing issues. Campers have separate tanks for some reason. I can only assume the engineers that to this for a living know more about it than I do.

If you're not sure about this go watch the scene in RV where he first trys to dump his tanks. That could be you!


In case you wanted to know...a friend and experienced skydiver packed his GF's chute, which failed to open. She impacted the landing area as he watched with friends.

[Hybrid21SS]

Like others have posted holding tanks are merely that...holding tanks. If you think it operates the same as a septic tank, they dont. I didn't see a leech field under my TT. Both tanks are germ pools. Most chemicals people add are to mask oder, nothing more. You can add double or triple what they say to use of chemicals and most of what goes in, comes out the same, sans toilet paper, that disolves, two days later. The sewer hose is a log flume ride. lol.
Adding to your skydiving analogy, I admire people who jump out of perfectly good airplanes but I bet somebody told the Wright brothers they shouldn't do it too. That they were crazy. I guess what it comes down to is you do what works for you and I do what works for me..


Oh and RV was a great movie...funny !!