Sink, but no grey water holding tank?

[tony.latham]

I'm an Eagle Scout. I've spent hundreds of nights primitive camping in a tent. Grew up near the Boundary Waters...

I'm a Second-Class Scout and spent two weeks in the Boundary Waters a while back. Does that count?

I live next door to two (legally) wilderness rivers. One is 95 roadless miles and the other is about 60 river bends with no roads. They flow through the largest unroaded chunk of change south of Canada.

About 15,000 combined visitors run these two creeks annually --most are six day trips. That makes for a lotta gray water. The USFS says throw the dishwater above the high water line.



Tony

[Squigie]

I appreciate the problem at developed campsites, but, really folks, wash water is not hazardous waste! It's perfectly natural to get rid of it on the ground.

I think everyone here agrees on that.
It's just a matter of how and where, and whether or not there are regulations that need to be considered.

[Homebrewer25]

Tom, I lived in Colorado for 7 years so I know about water issues. We built an old school bus into a camper and moved to E. Tennessee in 1979. That bus is long gone.

We're planning to head your way next May or June for our first long trip in our TTT. From there it will be up to UT, CO, WY, MT, and SD. I don't have an issue with running washing water onto the ground ... I guess I wasn't real clear on my question.

I was wondering how folks catch their shower water to divert it away film the campsite.

I found a foldable dog pool on Amazon that is 8" deep by 32" diameter with a drain spout. Seems like this would catch most of the shower water and a hose could be attached to the drain to divert it away from the campsite.



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[Tom&Shelly]

Tom, I lived in Colorado for 7 years so I know about water issues. We built an old school bus into a camper and moved to E. Tennessee in 1979. That bus is long gone.

We're planning to head your way next May or June for our first long trip in our TTT. From there it will be up to UT, CO, WY, MT, and SD. I don't have an issue with running washing water onto the ground ... I guess I wasn't real clear on my question.

I was wondering how folks catch their shower water to divert it away film the campsite.

I found a foldable dog pool on Amazon that is 8" deep by 32" diameter with a drain spout. Seems like this would catch most of the shower water and a hose could be attached to the drain to divert it away from the campsite.



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My apologies. I thought the thread was taking a tilt toward the ecology of trucking out grey water vs disposing of it in the same watershed!

Far as showers go, when we are around other campers and so a shower tent is required (much like a mask--for their protection!) Shelly likes them; I don't. I found I tracked mud into the shower tent, and the bottom holds the muddy water. I prefer to put on a pair of sandals, shorts or a swim suit if we're near other campers, heat a pot of water on the Coleman stove, and take a sponge bath. Most of the water is collected in the sponge, and anyway, where we've camped, there was usually a thunderstorm rolling around soon before or after, making the idea of a dry campsite mute.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

About 15,000 combined visitors run these two creeks annually --most are six day trips. That makes for a lotta gray water.

Tony

As I say to my best friend from scouting days, who stayed back East, when he asks me to help him shovel snow, "Bring it on down here to New Mexico!"

Tom

[2bits]

Take your grey water to the dump station and then go piss on the nearest tree.

[TimC]

I've learned a lot with this thread that I haven't considered before. I will do some things differently for sure! I'm mostly boondocking so dispersing small amounts of grey water is not a big problem. If at an RV park I use the facilities such as dish washing sinks and bathrooms/washrooms.

I don't have a sink or holding tanks. Just three 3 gallon totes for dishes and a 2 gallon jug for drinking water. My dish water is pretty clean as I wipe all dishes with my used napkin prior to washing. I often only wash dishes once a day as the dishes are wiped clean and can sit until after dinner. I then walk into the woods, often in a direction that looks like no-one has traveled, and spread the wash water around on the ground. Occasionally I'll put small amounts in the fire pit to douse a fire.

I'm guilty of brushing my teeth above the fire pit (if there is one). If I create a white foam streak I disperse it with clean water. I'm guilty of peeing in the pickers, away from the campsite. I poop in my sawdust toilet and dispose of that daily in trash cans. I do have a shower tent and use it occasionally. Especially if I haven't showered or swam in the last three days. A shower typically uses less than 1 1/2 gallons and I use a biodegradable soap. I assume my skin oils and stink are biodegradable.

Some of the campsites I frequent have been campsites for many decades. It is rare I visit a site which has evidence of human waste of the grey water variety. At sites without at least vault toilets TP is evident scattered in the woods. There will always be those folks who can't/won't bury their feces and can't/won't walk thirty yards into the woods to do their job.

I pride myself on always leaving a campsite cleaner than when I arrived. I often carry out bags of trash that someone else has deposited. Many times those items include charred aluminum or tin cans left in the fire pit.

Kinda related to this topic, sorta... When my kids were little I took them to Sylvania to canoe camp. Preparing for my first trip there I neglected to read the rules and brought a couple cans of soda. On day two a NFS officer hiked in and read me the riot act for violating the rules and issued me a citation for the soda can. I apologized and said it was my first trip. I mentioned that I have taken the kids on many campouts and I stress to them that any campsite we stay at is cleaner after our departure than when we arrived. We always did a clean sweep after everything was packed up. The officer defended his stern warnings with a story about a recent party where a group carried cases of beer into the wilderness and proceeded to throw every can and bottle into the surrounding woods when they were finished. I looked at the officer with dismay and then looked toward my boys, aged five and seven at the time. I have always wondered what was going through their young minds.

Tim

[working on it]

* My 4x8 trailer doesn't have the room for many amenities, but I still need to make do with what I have, camping without spoiling the campsite for the next guy, nor for the nearby critters.

* I camp alone, with no sink, nor grey water (or black water) to worry about. The only waste I leave behind are the ashes if I use my small charcoal grill (IKEA "Grilla"). When I wash/clean my cookware/plate, etc., I scrape them into a bag for disposal, along with the "kitchen wipes" used to degrease them. Only prior to re-use do I rinse them with clean water (there is no longer any "grey"-ness to them, no food particles, nor grease).

* As to "blackwater" disposal, I have a self-contained system for a urinal, and a Luggable Loo/Double Doodie unit for solid waste. If either system is used, I seal the proceeds in a 5-gallon former gas-jug (urine), or with a tightly-snapped-lid of a separate 5-gallon bucket (solid waste). Transported home for disposal.

* I've been known to clean up my campsite, if trash from previous users was left: usually food cans and beer cans in the firepit, or cigarette butts littering the concrete/asphalt pad (hate them; I'm a lifelong non-smoker). The worst thing I've had to remove was used diapers, which I'd like to stuff into the disposer's mouth, if possible. There's no excuse for that, since the campsites I go to have dumpsters in easy reach.

[S. Heisley]

Shower stand is 24x24x6.5"
Oil pan underneath catches gray water.

http://tnttt.com/gallery/image_page.php ... _id=164643

Oil pan:

https://www.amazon.com/Custom-Pak-Choic ... 42&sr=8-33

[nevadatear]

Im with Tony. Sink takes up too much space. Dishpan on the picnic table works fine.

[QueticoBill]

Take your grey water to the dump station and then go piss on the nearest tree.

Actually, better to pee on a rock. The sodium in urine attracts animals that will lick and chew the bark, and injure the tree. Stressed at Philmont orientation for the Scouts here.

[bdosborn]

I have a blue tote that is connected to my sink and shower via a garden hose. I set it up under the trailer when I'm camping and empty/pack it up when I leave. I've had a Park Ranger make me put it away because "all trailers must be self contained and dumping grey water is prohibited". He came back regularly to see if there was a puddle under my trailer. So it depends on where you are camping as to what the rules are. FWIW.

Bruce

[dbhosttexas]

For me, the foamie build is not going to do away with my kitchen or shower setups.

Kitchen is a Cableas Deluxe Campers kitchen, and it has a sink / basin that I use for dishwashing, and a on / off valve with a hose that goes straight to ground if I allow it, OR goes to a 5 gallon foldable water carrier.

Shower water CAN be captured with a small folding pet pool that fits in the shower shelter.

My preference is to capture sink water due to the food particles / wildlife attraction problems it can cause.

When packing light for say a state park, I will leave the campers kitchen at home due to the huge picnic tables, and just set up collapsible basins on the table for dishwashing.

At the very least, food particles get filtered out of the gray water, and if no published requirement for gray water capture, I will water a tree a bit away from the campsite, and at least 100' from any waterway even though I am using biodegradeable soaps.

That is of course if there are no proper gray water drains such as sinks nearby.

Been doing that for 40 years now I guess so far no issues. And I am certain my little bit of gray water is way better for the trees than the countless teenage boys that have peed on them over the years...

Fresh and waste water are huge problems for campers. I think a lot of hte stuff people add to water to make it gray water though is part of the problem. And park managers have no way of telling if you are using environmentally safe soaps, or the most toxic stuff on the market. And they don't want to risk a big fish kill at the lake...

Use common sense. Capture where you can and is possible / sensible, and dispose of as appropriately as possible. Use environmentally friendly soaps. Dr. Bronners, and Camp Suds are two popular options... There are plenty more.

IF you must capture, I will tell you for sure, that capturing gray in a park is almost always going to result in hauling a couple of carriers to a drain. It MIGHT be worth using one of those rolling water "tote" carrier things with wheels.

I'd aim specifically for the 22 gallon. That should be WAY more than enough that you won't have to dump daily, even if capturing both sink and shower water.

[QueticoBill]

"unless you are opposed to being eaten by a bear purely on ecological grounds"

Which then usually ends poorly for the bear.

[dbhosttexas]

I have a blue tote that is connected to my sink and shower via a garden hose. I set it up under the trailer when I'm camping and empty/pack it up when I leave. I've had a Park Ranger make me put it away because "all trailers must be self contained and dumping grey water is prohibited". He came back regularly to see if there was a puddle under my trailer. So it depends on where you are camping as to what the rules are. FWIW.

Bruce

Am I reading that correctly? Did the ranger tell you to not use your gray water collection device I.E. the blue tote, and then frequently harass you by checking for puddles to verify non compliance with gray water collection requirements? I guess he couldn't get on an HOA board...