How do you dispose of your grey water?

[cuyeda]

How do you dispose of your grey water?

In a teardrop there is limited space in the galley. Some like to have a sink installed, some don't. If you have a sink installed, what do you do with the grey water. Do you have a separate installed tank that you empty later, or do you run the waste out the bottom to a portable container, or do your run an extension waste hose secretly to the bushes? Even with a portable tank you need to dump it. Where do you dump it?

If you don't have an installed grey tank do you secretly toss dish water into the bushes, or do you walk all the way to a toilet to dispose.

[caseydog]

I usually just give my plates and stuff a quick rinse, which puts nothing on the ground but food and water -- all bio-degradable. I keep a "tub" with me to take home the dirty dishes to wash. That also saves me from doing "chores" when camping.

When I do wash something, I use CampSuds liquid soap, which is completely bio-degradable. I used it in my backpacking days, because you could wash things (and yourself) in a stream, and not harm the environment.



CD

[starleen2]

If I'm at a park, I usually take my bucket to the restroom and pour it in the toliet and give a flush - it goes where it's supposed to go - to the treatment facility. Many parks have a a small treatment facility due to the volumes encountered. We rarely use more than three gallons to clean dishes within a weekend, we try not to be wasteful of water.

[whitby guy]

Had the same question about the grey water. At the provincial parks in Ontario they recommend that you pour your grey water into the pit toilets. I have a plastic bucket to collect it in, figuring that would be better than encouraging the local wildlife to sniff around the campsite by just dumping. Biodegradable soap is always a good idea.
Sandy

[Steve_Cox]

Grey water tank in the gypsy trailer. Behind a tree when using the teardrop, just like most of the tent campers. If camping where it was a serious concern, we always carry a 5 gallon bucket and could dump it wherever it pleases those that need pleasing.

[BrwBier]

Gray water tank under floor. In Wisconsin its the law. If you pick and choose what laws to obay then don't complain when some one chooses differant than you.

[Micro469]

Don't know what all the fuss is about. When I was a wee lad we lived in the country. When Mom did the wash, the washer drained into the sump pump. Then the sump pumped the water onto the lawn at the side of the house. Greenest lawn you ever did see... had to cut it twice a week. And that was way before biodegradable soap. Even now, when I wash the car I dump the leftover water ( with non biodegradable soap) over my lawn. In a couple of days you can actually see where I dumped it... The grass is a lot greener.
When at a campsite.... I usually just dump the grey water in the firepit......


Edit... Come to think about it , They use charcoal to purify water in a Brita don't they?

[madjack]

...hey, isn't that what bushes were invented for...weren't they...we purposely don't have sink for the grey water storage problems...we use minimal water for washing while camping and just dump it anywhere convenient and unobtrusive................
madjack

[kennyrayandersen]

in TX we got lots of fire ants if you dump the dishwater and the bits of food and whatnot that go with it you are inviting even more of them into the camp. WE used to do lots of stuff in the old days (dump oils etc.)... Hopefully we've learned a thing or two. Run off of man made stuff has caused a lot of problems with the environment. Maybe one person doesn't do so much, but when you multiply it times thousands, it all adds up.

[Larwyn]

I have one of those 22 gallon blue waste water tanks left over from when I had the 5th wheel trailer. We often parked in one place for a month or more, but only actually used the trailer 2 or 3 nights a week, and it was easier to haul the waste water out than hook up the trailer and drag it to the dump station and back. One of the smaller tanks would be ideal for TD camping but this one is paid for so is what we use if we need to haul out our grey water.

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-toilets-tanks/20517.htm

[len19070]

"I Try" to keep it all in a 5 gallon bucket and then periodically dump it down the toilet in the bath house.

But if its raining out, the bucket usually falls over.

The thing I don't get is every body who thinks there an Enviro Cop, and really doesn't know anything.

I ran a water hose from a Campgrounds faucet to fill up my water tank. Some woman started screaming at me about dumping sewage in the water supply.

In my big trailer when I have to fill the potable water using 5 gallon jugs on site,if any spills, as it always does somebody always comes up to me and tells me I have to contain all Grey water.

Oh, and dumping Grey water down a toilet....there's gotta be something wrong with that.

Happy Trails

Len

[48Rob]

I have a 5 gallon tank mounted under the floor to catch and hold greywater where needed, otherwise, i use a short section of hose to divert it a little ways away from the general campsite area to a tree or bush.
If it isn't an issue, it just soaks into the ground.

Water really isn't the problem (unless you make a mud hole for the next guy) food and soap are.

Soap if it isn't biodgradable, because of potential pollution, and food particles because of insects, animals, and smells.

If you carefully wipe the food particles off before washing pans, dishes, etc, there isn't much going on the ground, but when you consider the volume of campers that use a site, and dump things on the ground, it adds up.

However, people will be people...
I personally think empying wash water on the nearest trees or bushes helps, 'cause the last group of campers probably didn't want to walk to the restroom last night, and used them instead...
Then there are the dogs that think they have to go on every one of them...

Wash water dilutes all that concentrated "scent".

Rob

[prohandyman]

I have a friend in the Indiana Dept of natural resources that had stated that some people in our goverment are looking into fines for any kind of wrongful disposal of unwanted liquids, including campers grey water. so I suppose it is a matter of time before the "Camp Police" start handing out tickets for "bush-wacking" our waste water while camping. The whole "Green" thing you know. Anyway, I drain ours into a oil drain pan made for cars, and dump it at the drain station available at most camp grounds.

[green_eyed_diablito]

i'm also a fan of dumping grey water in the bushes (as long as it's food-free and biodegradable soaps were used). i think this is much better than sending the water to a treatment facility where lots of energy is used to treat this harmless water.

i'm a bleeding-heart tree-hugger and one of the things i've done to reduce my carbon footprint is set-up a grey water recovery system for my washing machine. the rinse water is sent to a retired oak wine barrel which serves as a surge tank (which sits just outside my house), then gravity sends the water to the ornamental vegetation in my back yard.

[cuyeda]

Thanks for all the replies. I know that biodegradable soap exists, but haven't gone out of my way to get it yet. I do brush as much food bits off before washing. Whether using the safe soap or not, tossing a bin of water into the bushes look the same to nearby campers. I feel a bit guilty when doing it. Even if no one is looking, I still feel guilty, because I know it is not part of the camping etiquette. Sometimes the toilet is much further than the bushes. ;-)

I have't built a teardrop yet, but thinking about it, a small grey tank is useless. I will install one anyway just for a quick hand wash or two while on the road. Install a gate valve outlet to attached a hose if there is a sewer connection, or portable grey tank while camping. Funny thing when I actually get to the build with all these ideas, I may just port it out the bottom, and use a bucket. ha ha.

Appreciate the comments.