Newbie Question

[Troutbum1971]

What is graywater and black water? What tanks are better? One of each?

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Troutbum1971

What is graywater and black water? What tanks are better? One of each?

Gray water is the waste water from the sinks and shower. Black water is the waste water from the toilet bowl. Most RV have one of each. There are some that have a single waste water tank.

Brian

[Sbb]

Which tank does the bathroom sink usually empty into?

[Caffeinated]

Originally Posted by Sbb

Which tank does the bathroom sink usually empty into?

All the sinks, and the shower, empty into the grey h20. Only the toilet empties into the black.

Mike

[malinois38]

Originally Posted by Caffeinated

All the sinks, and the shower, empty into the grey h20. Only the toilet empties into the black.

Mike

Not all sinks empty into the grey tank. I was told that also and found that my bathroom sink empties into my black tank. My AS is a 28' 2008 International.

[Troutbum1971]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Gray water is the waste water from the sinks and shower. Black water is the waste water from the toilet bowl. Most RV have one of each. There are some that have a single waste water tank.

Brian

So a black and a gray tank is better? New requirement to add to my research!

[mimiandrews]

Yes, it's better to have both tanks.

No one wants black water dumped onto the ground, and almost all campsites these days prohibit the release of gray water also.

However, it wasn't always that way, so Airstreams before about 1973 models came with black tanks only. Owners of the older trailers either modify their system to add a gray tank, or they carry a portable tank (blue boy or tote tank in RV slang).

[Lumatic]

Prior to 1975 or so travel trailers that had a sewage system only had a black water tank. Grey water was drained on the ground. I still do this when boondocking in the middle of nowhere, but in most localities it is illegal. There are external portable tanks commonly called "blue boys", They can be used for any sewage but can be used to catch only the grey water where direct discharge of grey water in not politically correct or illegal (especially in national parks). Today just about all newer trailers that have a toilet and a sink have separate black water and grey water tanks.