Couldn't get a full hook up , looking for tips on toilet use

[glb6]

2 weeks ago, my wife and I camped for 6 days in a campsite with no sewer. When we were leaving, I used their dump and the black tank was 3/4 full. We used the shower and toilet regularly. We only used the campground bathroom if we happened to be walking by it. We put 1 of those little chemical packets in it and had no smell at all.

[papakilo]

Originally Posted by mrpep

So the only full hook ups have no shade so I booked at a water and electric only site and am planning to just use public shower and toilet. Part of me says just use public shower but use the trailer toilet but if I do , what is the best way to do this so keeping smells down since it is hot summer? Any advice is welcomed and appreciated, thanks.


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There are many chemicals one can use to kill the odor. Go to your local RV store and ask their advice.

[Hutch333id]

Originally Posted by mrpep

I did take it out on Memorial Day and used the toilet with no sewer hook up but while laying down with windows open and feeling the breeze I had a faint smell of sewer a few times.

Apart from what everyone else has said, are you leaving a couple of inches of fresh water in the toilet bowl after flushing? This helps seal the odour in the tank and prevents it from coming back up through the toilet. Whatever else you do, please don't drain the grey tank into the ground at your site.
Just a thought.

[RudysWorld]

FYI, as far as I know most places it is illegal to dump gray water on the ground. Not a good idea.

[mdstudey]

I leave the fan in the bathroom on low and keep door closed. I only had it stink once and it was because I forgot to put the sanitize in after last dump. Since we have to have the fan on when we cook, I just leave it on low if we have shore power all the time. Husband can't seem to remember the fans on the stove and bathroom needs to be on when cooking.

[The_Rhino]

With an Oxygenics shower head, our family of 5 can take 3 (brief) showers each before our 30 gallon gray is full. We routinely camp at electric-only state parks, so we use a Barker Waste Tote to handle gray water & a 40 gallon bladder (which rides on top of our fiberglass cap) to bring fresh water back to the TT.

Our 30 gallon black tank lasts for 2 weeks even with the outdoor sink emptying into it. Therefore I haven't needed to use the waste tote for black tank relief.

When staying at electric-only sites, remember to stop & get your fresh water before you setup camp... I forgot the first time we rolled into a state park & fortunately nice neighbors strung together their FW hoses until we had enough length to reach the closest FW spigot. Now I have the bladder & it packs into a 1 cu. ft. box when not needed...

[djemgoss]

I can't imagine 5 people filling you black tank in a week! 20 gallons is a lot of pee and poop! My gay water tank is 30 gallons and after a couple of days and 2 showers it is getting close to full. I bought a 32 gallon Barker tote that you can pull behind your truck to the dump station. It works GREAT!!!

[OscarsMom2]

Originally Posted by mrpep

What about showers ? I only have 30 gallons I think. Well easily fill that since there's 5 of us. I shouldn't ask this cause I'm sure I know the answer but since I'm new to tt with bathroom I will ask, would it be completely rude to drain gray tank at site since the water is pretty ?


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We just spent 4 nights at a water/electric site. We only have 30 gal for grey water. Only my husband showered in the RV. I washed dishes using dish pans and caught water from handwashing in a pan. There were waste water dump stations very near our site that we used to dump the pans. At the end of our stay, the grey tank monitors said full and the black 2/3.

Based on our experience, I would suggest that you all shower at the public ones in the campground.

[Wolverine 1945]

It would be a cold day,,, you know where,,, before I would let 5 people shower in my RV !!! In only 3 days,,, Either use the Bath House,,, or wait till you get home !!!
Or maybe a whore bath would work ???

[timfromma]

Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945

It would be a cold day,,, you know where,,, before I would let 5 people shower in my RV !!! In only 3 days,,, Either use the Bath House,,, or wait till you get home !!!
Or maybe a whore bath would work ???

Tell everyone they are responsible for emptying their own shower water from the grey tank into a bucket then hauling it to the bathouse for disposal. I bet either they'll pass on showers, take alot fewer of them or use the campground showers.


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[mnoland30]

I've used TST treatment from Walmart for years with great success. Then I heard about the GEO method (google it). We had six people for a week with no issues in our Roo 21 SS. Geo is cheaper, and works very well.

I often camp where there is no dump station, or water. I have a 30 gallon fresh tank in my truck and a 40 gallon grey tank. I have an extra Shurflow pump that I use to pump grey water into my truck. Grey water is fine for watering plants, but not near water. I contains what we call Biological Oxygen Demand BOD, and it will use up the oxygen in the water (bad for fish) and grow algae. Dumping it in a campground could be a probelm, but I run mine through the fine screen on the Shurflo pump, so there are no solids to speak of. For those of you with septic tanks, that is one purpose of the tank (to remove solids). The overflow runs into the leach field to water the plants.

We camped near Yellowstone in Montana last week, and they had hose hookups to a plant watering drip systems at each site. The grease and food particles could attract bears, so we don't dump at our site.

When I worked for the Forest Service, we once got an EPA permit to spray sewage over a wide area. Plants just think it is ferilizer, and a long as it isn't close to a lake or stream, and humans aren't exposed to it, it doesn't cause a problem.

[latner]

Originally Posted by mrpep

Would be nice if there was a way to dump gray into black in cases like this , lol. I think I'll do as stated above by a few , use bathroom with lairs of water and chemicals and use the bath house. Thanks for the tips .


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There is. I use one of these:

Twist On Waste Valve, Boxed - Valterra.com | Valterra.com

Install valve on sewage outlet, open gray valve, open black valve and let tanks equalize, close black valve, close gray valve. Done

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by timfromma

tell everyone they are responsible for emptying their own shower water from the grey tank into a bucket then hauling it to the bathouse for disposal. I bet either they'll pass on showers, take alot fewer of them or use the campground showers.


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right on !!!

[actadh]

We use a five gallon Coleman shower bladder with an attached spray hose, lay it on the picnic table or a portable table to catch the sun. Add a plastic basin, liquid soap dispenser, and a towel, and that is our outside handwashing and dishwashing station.
https://www.vminnovations.com/Produc...FQmqaQod0fEDxA

The preschool grandkids love to use it for some reason - everybody always has clean hands -and the water is nice and warm by supper time. So warm, that it can be the clean up station for the night for the kiddies in place of a bath for face, feet, and teeth cleaning.

Really cuts down on the running in and out of the TT door, too. Seems to help with conserving the tank.

The kitchen sink has a matching plastic basin. The water gets dumped in a waste water bin or the black tank if not offered at the campsite.

That saves about ten -fifteen gallons right there and adds another day.

Not running the bathroom exhaust fan when flushing helps eliminate black tank odor, at least for us.

[Wolverine 1945]

I made a shower much like that,,, a black 5 gallon bucket with a shower head near the bottom,,, hung it in a tree in the North woods,,, filled it with river water and used it for my shower several years !!! Later I did get one of those Coleman bags,,, because it heated the water up much quicker !!!
We had a Flagstaff TT that had a very nice shower for about 8 years,,, never used it !!!

[Dr-G]

We are new to camping in an RV also. We have 2 adults and 4 kids.

All of our outing this year have full hook-ups except this weekend for July 4th.

I went an purchased a tote from RV Parts, RV Accessories RV Supplies Priced Low

A lot cheaper than CW. I was extremely happy - went with the 27 gallon version.

[Timex]

When I was a kid many(50+)years ago, when we went camping, sewer hookups were not even a thought in campgrounds. My parents would place a rubber/plastic type pan outside with water in it for us to wash our hands before eating outside on the picnic table. We had to go to the "bath house" for #2 and took our own paper with us in a shaving kit bag. People would think I was going to the bath house to shave as a 5 year old! We took showers every day(sometimes twice a day) because us kids were always running around and getting dirty and sweaty. Flip flops(I now use Crocs) were always used when standing in the showers to help protect us from whatever fungi was growing in the showers. Of course, bath houses have changed some over the years, some are occasionally air conditioned/heated. Some are cleaned regularly, some are not. Some people respect others that will be coming behind them to take a shower and clean up the area before leaving. Some will not. I've seen signs on the door saying "Please don't bring bicycles into the showers", I can only imagine... I've stood in ankle deep water because the shower drain, didn't.

Something to think about in regards to the toters; if it is a 15-20 gallon model or bigger; keep in mind how much is this thing going to weigh when it gets full. Will you be able to move it/roll it to the truck? Make a clear pathway before you fill it.

Now with just the 2 of us, a 7 night stay, the black tank gets dumped when we leave. The gray tank gets dumped after 2 days of showers. And that is Navy showers too. We might be able to make 3 days but that would be the max.

Another thing to consider if you are not on a FHU site; when turning the shower/sink hot water faucet on, the water isn't hot for a few seconds, catch that water in a bucket/pitcher/etc and use it for flushing the toilet, washing hands, etc.

But I guess the OP also asked about odors, we always use the chemicals in the black and gray tanks.

[laurarice26]

Our sensors have never worked properly, even when new. Are there ways to tell when you are close to full?


2014 Wildwood x-lite 185br
towed by 2013 Ram 1500

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by laurarice26

Our sensors have never worked properly, even when new. Are there ways to tell when you are close to full?


2014 Wildwood x-lite 185br
towed by 2013 Ram 1500

Shine a light down the toilet hole for black and do the same down the shower drain.

[Restcure]

After reading all of the posts, I have a few thoughts. Some echo previous posts.

Smell

If the ball valve and vent on your black tank are working properly there shouldn't be a smell. If you are running the bathroom exhaust fan when flushing the toilet it can draw odors from the tank, but those are soon dissipated if you leave the fan running.


Chemicals

We don't use them. For years we've used The Geo Method with great success. It kept the black and grey tank sensors in our previous travel trailer working during the eight years we owned it and although the sensors were not reliable on our 2012 Rockwood when we bought it this spring, they are now. We keep a pre-mix of Sunlight laundry crystals and Calgon powder and always carry some in the trailer. A dose before leaving, the drive home to slosh around, and a proper flush with lots of water when we get home.


I really like the tip for catching cold shower water in a bucket until it warms up! If you have an Aquatainer or a fresh water jerry can you could even dump it back into the fresh water tank!