Where can we legally dump grey water?

[jimmini]

Last month the BLM Ranger in Quartzsite AZ told us that if we washed the dishes in a dish pan we could dump that pan on the ground.BUT once the water was in your gray tank you had to use a dump station.Go figure.

[Diesel1]

Originally Posted by jimmini

Last month the BLM Ranger in Quartzsite AZ told us that if we washed the dishes in a dish pan we could dump that pan on the ground.BUT once the water was in your gray tank you had to use a dump station.Go figure.

Ahah, another good reason my 67 does'nt have a grey tank. Adios, John

[bryanl]

How did we ever make it this far down the human evolution chain with.. no laws regarding the same

The problems arose with too many people trying to use too little space -- No need for laws if you don't have other people to worry about.

Some of the larger 60's rallies had the telephone company come out with the auger they used for telephone pole holes - one hole per trailer. There was usually a contest to see who could make the best gopher hole cover decoration. (see pic)

Nowadays the problem is people who don't think and very large tanks. So we all suffer.

You can put 5 or ten gallons in the bushes every now and then and nobody will notice. But then there are those who drain a 40 gallon tank with a 3" hose...

Always check with the local prevailing authorities for what is proper. I know some campgrounds where the NFS was OK, the county said NO, but the host often used gray water contributions to keep sufficient moisture in the vault toilets. Most of the time dumping any waste tank in those is prohibited.

If you do dump gray, don't put too much in one place at one time and make sure that there will be no obvious evidence of your activity after an hour or so.

Follow the local rules and don't abuse the privileges!

[jimmini]

Here is how I haul mine to a LEGAL dump site.For photos go the FORUMS.
click on "BOONDOCKING."
Click on "BOONDOCKING AND WASTE"
Go to PAGE 4,POSTING # 48.

[Fyrzowt]

Once while hiking I saw the aftereffects where somebody stopped in the middle of the road and let the black tank go...

I had the "privilege" of cleaning one of these up a couple of years ago. A fellow pulled into a dip in the road where he thought he was out of sight, pulled the handle and let it all go in the road.
Only problem was, a car came along, saw him and reported him; he was not only ticketed but also charged a cost recovery fee for our cleanup.
A dump station would have been MUCH cheaper.

[wahoonc]

Depends on the situation...I have a 20 gallon black tank and a 10 gallon grey tank....we have a lot of thirsty raccoons around here If it is prohibited we will break out an auxiliary tank, but they are a PITA if it has to be hauled to the dump station. If you happen to be courtesy parking at our house we encourage the grey water be directed toward the garden Black tanks we have a proper dump line into the septic system.

Aaron

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by jimmini

Last month the BLM Ranger in Quartzsite AZ told us that if we washed the dishes in a dish pan we could dump that pan on the ground.BUT once the water was in your gray tank you had to use a dump station.Go figure.

Interesting, Arizona law allows gray water to be dumped on the ground but not used for gardens. Our house is plumbed so that all gray water empties down hill about 15 yards away as are most new houses in the area. When boon docking here, we use a 5 gallon pail at the outlet and empty it away from the site as necessary.

[eubank]

Originally Posted by Ahab

Interesting, Arizona law allows gray water to be dumped on the ground but not used for gardens. Our house is plumbed so that all gray water empties down hill about 15 yards away as are most new houses in the area. When boon docking here, we use a 5 gallon pail at the outlet and empty it away from the site as necessary.

Arizona law and NM law are very similar, but it's important to understand the scope of both: They apply to state-controlled areas. Federal lands (like BLM, national forest, national park, etc.) can have their own rules, as can municipalities, reservations, and so forth. Here in NM, even state parks have rules that supersede the overarching state rule.

By the way, if I'm not mistaken, the AZ law also excludes water from the kitchen sink as disposable gray water.


Lynn

[henw]

I think dumping your gray water at any highway rest stop, where the semi's park, would be a plus. It would rinse away the foul smelling stuff those guys let fly all over the pavement.

Tom

[eubank]

Hey, here in Angel Fire the village has not enacted anything about gray water (please don't tell!), so we permit folks to water our trees with gray if they want to. However, we do recommend strongly that the gray they let out is not kitchen sink water.

The reason why kitchen sink water is excluded in NM (and AZ, I think) is that studies have shown higher concentrations of fecal coliform in that water than in bathtub and bathroom sink gray. Why these findings came about is not entirely clear but folks surmise that more bits and scraps of food (and the accompanying low, but acceptable level of feces material) wind up in the kitchen trap, where it rots.


Lynn

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by eubank

The reason why kitchen sink water is excluded in NM (and AZ, I think) is that studies have shown higher concentrations of fecal coliform in that water than in bathtub and bathroom sink gray. Why these findings came about is not entirely clear but folks surmise that more bits and scraps of food (and the accompanying low, but acceptable level of feces material) wind up in the kitchen trap, where it rots.


Lynn

Euwwwwwe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[53flyingcloud]

Interesting statement has been made, "there were never many of us"..I should expand.
Long before the "white man" set foot on these pristine shores, the Indians people were living here, as they are still today~
Of course, it's too late for us to "Grandfather" in 10,000 years of nomad living but, live here they did. Some would say the Indians did a better job of husbandry of this pristine land then, after the coming of the "white man". No arguments there, I am sure..
Now, it may occur to you that in the middle of this huge country there was a enormous (not even a proper word to describe) herd of Buffalo roaming for..Gawd, only knows the size of the width and, the length of the then Buffalo herds. This doesn't even include all of the other large creatures of the entire North America Continent that were indigent inhabitants here..Right?
I think you can guess where this is going?? It's fair to say, we had a whole lot of uncontrollable pooping going on in the wild. EVERYWHERE~!
Can you even imagine, for a second, what a herd of a millions Buffalo pooping dropping was like?
Was the land harmed or hurt in any way by all this? I think it's fair to say NO~!
Now I know you're gonna say "I/we meant people~!"..
Let's examine that thought for a second..
As an example:
Rome, Italy was and, still is, a surviving city of very ancient times. We're talking of a city that's well over 2,000 yrs old.~!
There's countless other cities from ancient times which had similar population but, Rome was the granddaddy~!
Just so you know, I am not picking out an unusual case for example.
At it's peak, in ancient times, Rome hosted a population (within it's city) of over a million in population. Now it's true, the Romans had public bath and, a running water/sewage systems..Was this available for every man, woman and, child? I am sure it was possible but, did every single person use it? I doubt it..lol People haven't change that much~
It's true when you get a lot of people together in a tight living space/area, then it can quickly becomes a serious health problem and, you need a plan for waste disposal..As far as I know it, the Romans were very good at keeping their cities clean and healthy.
Did they have problems? Yes..All the ancient cities are recorded to have had problems with certain outbreaks..
Jump up to the 21st century and, traveling in your self-contained Airstream~ You have available campgrounds all over the countryside with proper dumping stations and/or, waste dumping connection at the individual sites.
If you find yourself out in the middle of NM or AZ..who really cares? Just use discretion about when and where you water the local plant.
So, Pardon me if I take time out for a few laughs..
I think it's hilarious we carry on so about "poop" on the road or, by the road side.. even.

[markdoane]

Well, I don't know how the Romans, or the First Nation people took care of waste, but I learned early on that you don't want to stand to close to the tracks when a passenger train goes by.

They don't still do that, do they?

[dogpound]

I guess rules are made for one purpose and that is to protect people. There are several National Parks that have laws (not rules) about dumping grey water on their "grass". Capitol Reef in Utah has rangers that go around checking the campers to be sure they are not dumping grey water. It made it difficult when I had my 71 unit and it didn't have a grey water tank. I had to use the "blue tank" The camp area did have a area you could roll your tank to and dump it. When I was at the International in Salem it was a State Law no grey water could be dumped on the grounds. Even though they were in middle of drought. We had one elderly gentleman that accidently let some grey water go on the grounds and he was ejected from the International because of a violation of state law.
I guess we can bi-ch about it all we want to but as good stewards of the land we need to honor the laws or "rules".

Bob
Member Four Corners Unit/CAC
WBCCI # 10105
AIR # 28748