Safe Way to Dump Black Water While Boondocked

[chaseav]

I have a piece of property we plan to "boondock" at this summer for a couple months. It will have water and electric (so not really boondocking) but we don't have sewer. Does anyone know of any eco-conscience and safe way to dump the black tank on site? There is a small stream nearby and I wouldn't want to dump directly there but if would help dilute things down...

[chaseav]

I should add that the location is out in the country and the next closet neighbor is a good 1/2 mile away.

[aftermath]

I would run a garden hose to the nearest shrub or bush that needs water. I would avoid the stream. if that isn't possible, you could dig a deep hole, fill it with rock and top it off with dirt. This would loosely be classified as a dry well. Not unlike a drain field in a septic system.

[xrvr]

Probably illegal but dig a hole and bury a fifty gallon barrel with holes cut in the bottom and bottom sides. Fill the bottom of the hole with gravel and place the barrel on top. Make sure the barrel is not noticeable from a distance. Cut a three inch hole in the top of the barrel and dump your black tank there. Must be far away from the creek and the well, so you may need to use a blue boy. Run a hose far out into a field and discard gray water that way as to not fill the barrel. This works, don't ask me how I know. Oh yes, fill the barrel with dirt when you leave, u less you want to use it again at a later date. Be sure this is okay with the landowner. Jim

[carver 1]

Think about a composting head.

>>ron<<

[Mrjkq]

When I was a kid we had a mobile home we used during the summer at the beach. It was permanently installed & my dad used the above mentioned 55 gallon barrel trick to create a septic system. I'm pretty sure it was installed as described by avionstream and it worked for over 10 years for us. He was always putting something down the drain to treat the waste, most likely today a product like Ridex thats used in septic systems would work. Our toilet was the normal flush type but I don's see why dumping a holding tank would make any difference as long as the barrel has time to drain between dumps.

[Ted S.]

I built a system, which is near complete that consists of a macerator pump which pumps up into a blue tote that is mounted on a cargo carrier on the front of my truck. I plan to offload black and grey then drive to the dump station. Obviously you would need a dump station nearby, there is an app called RV Dumps or something like that which shows the dump locations. Some of them are free municipal plants.

I would not dump raw blackwater on the ground or even in a hole. I would dump grey, but I would limit soaps and toxins. Even that however, is illegal around here.

[Zil]

I don't know of any state where it would be legal to dump black water tank on the ground or bushes. It will stink. Dig a small cess-pool with block liner and a lid.

[Plasma800]

My wifes grandmother describes her early life bathroom at such:

It was a building, made of wood, the bottom of the walls didn't meet the ground, it had a seat inside and you just poo'd through it. Chickens on site and other animals would move it around.

This is interesting: How to Construct a Small Septic System (with Pictures) - wikiHow

I personally would see no problem running the waste on your land, people did this for centuries and it was never a problem, course with todays population, if everyone did it, it would be a problem, for one or two people to do it - I wouldn't have an issue with it.

[AWCHIEF]

Please take some of the advice here with a grain of salt. Do it properly. Check with other locals even the county officials and see what is exceptable in the area.

[Aerowood]

My family have a small cabin on 18 acres up in the mountains. The cabin currently has no services but electricity is now getting close. Black waste became a problem soon after we built it in the late 70's. We used a standard cement holding tank and put in one leach line about 50 feet long. We also put in a cistern above the cabin with a water collection cistern below the cabin where we catch rainwater. We then use a little Honda pump that we transfer rainwater to the upper cistern. We have a RV type China Bowl toilet in the bathroom that dumps into a 3" drain pipe to the holding tank. We have been using this system since the late 70's and have not yet had to pump the tank out. We did the whole install with shovels and pick axes

[Silver Hawk]

I bought a hand auger many years ago at a farm hardware store - it makes a hole much easier and deeper than a clam shell hole digger.
Now that I have a AS - I throw the auger in the back of the truck when I think I'm going to be in a place without sewer (most of the time).
I dig (drill) a hole when I arrive, place a round plywood cover (bought at Home Depot) with a 3" hole I drilled in the center over it, place my tank drain hose in it and cover it with dirt.
This works great when the soil is porous - not so good when the soil is hard clay and rocks.
When I leave I just refill it with dirt -
Easy and cheap.

[rucos]

As said above I would create a"septic tank" with a drum/barrel and have a short perforated drain line running out of it for 10-30 ft depending how porous your soil around there is.
I had a country property with a proper septic tank and 100ft of 3" perforated drain pipe out of it (full time house with grey and black water going into it).... when we developed the property after several years, and dug up the system for sewers we found that in our soil conditions only the first 10-15ft of pipe had ever seen liquid!....the rest of the pipe was still like new! Use biodegradable products and you'll be fine.

[eggman]

Buy one if those blue portable waste tanks for your black water and take it to nearest dump station. Direct your gray water to trees that need a drink and ONLY use plant-based soaps and cleaners like Seventh Generation, etc.

[tintent74]

I applaud you for wanting to do the right thing, not just the expedient thing. We need more folks like you in this world!

We had our Airstream parked on a remote piece of property for nearly a decade. Hubby did some research online and then dug us a kind of "septic tank". He dug a deep hole in the ground, right next to the trailer, where the hoses could drop into it without having to go very far horizontally (to avoid build-up inside them).

I remember the hole seemed fairly wide, as well as deep. I would guess it was about six feet deep and 4' x 5' wide, but I'm not sure. He put "gravel" in the bottom -- mostly just a bunch of odd-sized rocks we had around the area.

Then he set up the dump hoses for both gray and black water to empty into it. He covered the top of our "septic tank" with boards and then topped it off with a bunch of dirt. That way, it never smelled. I seem to remember he added rocks or little stakes around the edge, to remind us to not walk on top.

This is how we used it: We would let our holding tanks fill, especially the gray water. When it was time to dump them, he'd dump the blackwater tank first, and then the gray water, so the gray water could "wash" any residues from the blackwater tank through the hose down into the hole.

I don't think our system was any more "polluting" than having an outhouse, really. Of course, you'd want to be sure you're well away from any water source, including ground water, so your "septic tank" drains well and that you're not polluting your drinking water, or polluting downstream. Dilution of human waste is not enough to prevent illness in others. (Would any of us want to drink someone else's "diluted" sewage? I know I wouldn't!)

We used our system for nearly a decade. It didn't cost much, didn't smell -- even though the "septic tank" was right next to the trailer -- and we had absolutely no troubles at all. Nor did we cause any problems for others, which was important to us, too.

Good luck to you! I hope whatever system you choose works out great for you. And thanks, again, for wanting to make a responsible choice! We need more people like you in this world!

[Doc Foster]

Originally Posted by chaseav

I have a piece of property we plan to "boondock" at this summer for a couple months. It will have water and electric (so not really boondocking) but we don't have sewer. Does anyone know of any eco-conscience and safe way to dump the black tank on site? There is a small stream nearby and I wouldn't want to dump directly there but if would help dilute things down...

PLEASE don't dump it in or near the stream. Not only would you be adding human waste to the riparian ecosystem, it is also most likely illegal in all states.
Please consider a dry well or the 55 gal. drum system that others suggested.

[LucasS]

I second checking with your local authorities on dumping policies. But when it comes to black it's sorta universal. I wasn't sure which AS you have so I don't know if you have a macerator installed or not but I had one put on my AS and I LOVE IT. Camping world sells rolling portable grey/black tanks. You could always get two/three of those (all depending on how often you'd like to go and how far away the dump site is) you hook your black line from the AS into them and they have their own for when you need to dump.
They work fine without a macerator too....but if you do go that route you can use much smaller containers from then on (and the 1.5" hose is so much better than the standard 3)

[SouthForkAS]

Who needs black water? have you consider a combustible toilet?
I had one in a mountain cabin - just dump the ashes!
(i was a guest so I don't recall the brand or model. sorry)

[BigButtUgly]

I have no black tank in my 1958 22' Caravanner. I removed the corner toilet too. I saved toilet weight, tank weight, piping weight and flushing water weigh too. Speaking of water weight , I carry lots of 1 gallon milk bottles ( white for drinkable and translucent for "other") I would never never do what I strongly suggest for fear of fellow Airstreamers' condemnation.
Perhaps a 5 gallon bucket with 3 short legs might be fashioned making the upper rim of the bucket 19" above the floor. A "poor citizen" might put an oblong lightweight padded tan toilet seat atop. A clever person might even store empty/full 1 pound propane bottles in the bottom of the bucket ( because that person refills them from a 37 pound bottle) Of course empties would have black "Sharpie" mark on the caps. What a clever storage solution that would be. I'll wager this dirty person could use the bucket lid trimmed to rest = fit above the bottles as in a false bottom. I'm certain, upon lifting the seat cover, you would see a toddler baby diaper held in place by the sticky tabs. A sealed diaper pail with padded seat would be seen close by. Oh, my goodness, that person would have two nice stools for inside or outside use. I saw such a person sometimes sitting on a bucket stool outside but he had a shoulder to ground poncho on and it was not raining. Poncho had a not too strong but familiar smell. He rose and was folding something and putting it in the shinny second stool nearby. Had a large sticker on it which read "mom's diaper pail." It was sure odd when he pulled 3 each 4 "D" cell LED lanterns out of it. I guess the lanterns were padded by a full package of toddler diapers. A bumper sticker on the window to the right of the door said "Baby On Board" I never saw the kid and it never cried. Gramp and Nanna were 71 and 84. When they were moving out I told Gramp " I think you have a water leak just center over the axle which left a wet spot on the grass/dirt. I thought to myself "I bet that old geezer has a large red funnel mounted on curbside. And I bet he urinates in it and dumps small quantities of dish water in to keep it from smelling" His trailer had large red numbers on it 9389

[DougHart352]

Use a composting toilet. Regardless of where you are and who owns the land, do it properly or don't do it.