Slinky touching the ground

[Jim Foster]

I really didn't mean to start any debate of any kind about how to or not to handle sewage. I was only trying to find out if it is the law in California that a slinky must be elevated.

It's been fun though.

Cheers, Jim


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[pmclemore]

In these Forums, you won't know what's in your box of chocolates until you open one up.

Pat

[Foiled Again]

Hello Protag - here's something to think about - actually a BFO - blinding flash of the obvious. I'm not going to add water to the gray tank after using the SS and washing my hands, because I'll wash at the spigot where the hose used to be.

And here's another BFO. Most campgrounds are dog friendly. Do you spray Clorox over the outside spigot before you hook up your white hose... If not, think about what a great dane might have just done on that spigot. Uh... ug.


But seriously folks, we underestimate the role and benefit of public health programs. Overlander63 got me hooked on the "1631" series of novels and the corresponding "Grantville Gazette". About a town in W.V. that got transported through time into the middle of the 30 years war in Germany, 1631. Some of it is hilarious and other parts tragic. Imagine 3000 souls being dropped into a world where smallpox was endemic, flu was lethal, and then there was the occasional swath of bubonic plague that sent people fleeing and spreading it. Then a 5 year old dies from tetanus because they have no vaccine. In 1631 and far beyond, 3 out of 10 women died of "child bed fever"... because the midwives delivered mother after mother without washing their hands. As a society we may SEEM to be obsessed with small petty rules, but as a very young and curious child I wandered off during a memorial day service at our local graveyard. I noticed a LOT of family plots from the 1800's where there would be 3, 4 or even 7 children's headstones where babies died within days of birth or where 3 or more children died within a week, often with flu, scarlet fever, diphtheria or a dozen other once-common diseases we rarely even think about today.

Wash your hands, put your slinky up on a stand and be grateful we are all healthy enough to even think about this crap.

[AWCHIEF]

I have just completed a search of the three major legal databases in the US. I failed to find even one mention of an ordinance or law relating to the subject at hand. Therefor I can only conclude that no such laws exist.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Hello Protag - here's something to think about - actually a BFO - blinding flash of the obvious. I'm not going to add water to the gray tank after using the SS and washing my hands, because I'll wash at the spigot where the hose used to be.

When I'm at a campsite with full hookups, me too. But at a dump station where the spigot is clearly labeled "non-potable" I will use it to rinse my discharge hose if necessary but not to wash my hands.

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

I have just completed a search of the three major legal databases in the US. I failed to find even one mention of an ordinance or law relating to the subject at hand. Therefor I can only conclude that no such laws exist.

Not surprised. My "BS" alarm Isidro always correct.
I did find some rules issued be housing departments relating to mobile home sewage plumbing.
I did find some regulations requiring "air tight" sewer connections for travel trailers.


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[Secguru]

Just a Note...

In the Marin County, CA RV park where I got the Citation for having a slinky on the ground, my slinky was actually on a sloped slinky rack which was NOT QUITE long enough to reach the ground-side sewer connection, leaving about a foot touching the ground.

I did get a Citation that stated the Ordinance by name and number. It was a County Ordinance. I did not keep a copy of the Citation after it was resolved as I do not like to collect unnecessary paper (weight).

The park had both RVs and Mobile Homes. The Owner said that although the Ordinance technically only applied to Mobile Homes, the officials enforced it broadly against RVs as well. There was no fine in my case, just a warning and a promise to re-visit in 7 days.

I solved the problem by placing a brick under the low part of the slinky and they were happy with that.

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

Not surprised. My "BS" alarm Isidro always correct.

"Isidro" should read "is most"

Sorry 'bout that.

Cj



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[Gnorts]

I use a couple of sections of vinyl gutter, each about 5 feet long, to support the waste hose. One piece fits inside the other for stowage in the bumper locker. I adjust the two pieces to the right length and only need to support my vinyl "bridge" in a few places with plastic lego wheel ramp pieces or bricks. Nice, straight, even slope from trailer to sewer connection.

I'd guess that 3/4 of the sewer hose setups I see in rv parks are done badly.

[nvestysly]

This is an interesting topic and after reading most of the posts I'm going with the idea there is no state law in California and probably not in any other state that requires a slinky to be elevated. There may be park rules and local codes (that have been misinterpreted) that require a slinky to be elevated.

On the other hand, I don't think I ever leave my slinky attached for extended periods. Even when I go to a park/campground that has full hookups I typically only attach the slinky when I'm dumping. We have relatively large waste tanks (39 gallons) so I realize not all trailers/RVs have the same holding capacity. We also don't stay in one place more than two weeks so hooking up the slinky every 4 or 5 days is not a problem.

My main reason for disconnecting the slinky is the pesky lawn care workers. Not all places have grass but the locations that have grass come around with weed wackers every few days and those folks don't seem to mind what they cut into.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by nvestysly

My main reason for disconnecting the slinky is the pesky lawn care workers. Not all places have grass but the locations that have grass come around with weed wackers every few days and those folks don't seem to mind what they cut into.

I wonder if THAT is the real reason for the county ordinance in question, to shift legal liability for any environmental "damage" due to leaks away from campgrounds and grounds maintenance workers and onto the campers who are most likely transients anyway.

[J. Morgan]

The reason for these rules applied to RV people is stupidity and the absurd unamerican notion of "prosecutorial discretion".


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[Gene]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

the absurd unamerican notion of "prosecutorial discretion".

i've prosecuted and defended ordinance and statutory cases and the amount of prosecutorial discretion exercised is common, almost universal and without it the system could break down. Same for cops using discretion. I'm not saying it is good—prosecutors and cops overcharge all the time to get a negotiated deal and that doesn't feel like justice to me. It has been going for for generations and is quite American.

Gene

[J. Morgan]

I will respectfully disagree. In this scheme one man might be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law while another is prosecuted not at all for identical offenses and identical circumstances.

One man might be held to the strict letter of the law, while another may disregard the law entirely. The law should be applied equally to all.

I think this discretion perverts the law.


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[ROBERT CROSS]

Arrest that leaky Slinky.

[rmkrum]

Mine is under arrest, locked away in the storage tube for the rest of its natural life.....

Sewer solution is what I use.


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[Gene]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

I will respectfully disagree. In this scheme one man might be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law while another is prosecuted not at all for identical offenses and identical circumstances.

One man might be held to the strict letter of the law, while another may disregard the law entirely. The law should be applied equally to all.

I think this discretion perverts the law.


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

Actually we do agree, though not entirely. I was saying how the system works, not how it should work. A great many things people do all the time have been criminalized so police can arrest for all sorts of things that seem crazy. Prosecutors start with unsustainable charges to make a deal. Some police are blinded by fear of specific groups and arrest indiscriminately. Almost all criminal cases never go to trial.

To change this enormous amounts of money would have to support a court system with more trials. As it is, courts are regularly starved of money and court fees in Colorado have gone up much more than inflation. This denies justice to people filing civil suits because they can't afford to. All sorts of extra fees have been added to criminal convictions. Reforming the court system is not something anyone tries to do and decriminalizing petty crimes and things that cannot be enforced (marijuana for ex.—the world has not ended in Colorado) scares legislators who are afraid of being called soft on crime. There has been some movement on reducing draconian and unnecessary sentences, but the private prison industry fights that.

But the question was whether a slinky is enough of a health hazard to require elevation, and also whether elevation solves any problem. I'm sure there are people so incompetent they cannot attach one hose to another without it leaking, they are so careless they never notice and are so sloppy they don't care if there is a large puddle (or solids) on the ground. And even among we superior black tank drainers, mistakes can be made without intent.

Is this a real threat to public health? Maybe. Does elevation of the slinky hose help discover a leak? Maybe. I suppose if it is a threat worth legislating against we will soon see ordinances and then state statutes or regulations saving us from the incompetent, uncaring slimeballs. When one of we careful people makes a mistake, or the hose suddenly gushes forth because we didn't run periodic tests on the plastic parts to see if they were at the end of useful life, we should, if there is no discretion, be slapped with a ticket, hauled off to the big house and do our time just like the slimeballs. Maybe then we would favor discretion on the part of the health inspector.

While we are discussing waste products, how many of you have been at a CG where the sewer vents around the park are too low or the wind is blowing the fumes downward? We have been to CG's where a vent doesn't even clear the top of our trailer and the pleasant gasses permeate the area. Should that be regulated? I doubt it causes harm to people but it sure smells bad. It couldn't be coming from our trailer vents because our waste products do not have an odor.

Gene

[Landshark]

pmclemore,

Too funny!!

[J. Morgan]

Again, with all due respect Gene, what if the law said it is illegal to be using a leaking hose instead of issuing a citation to a camper who didn't properly elevate his hose for his ten hour stay at a campground?

Common sense has left our shores, unfortunately the flight of good sense is all too often led by law makers and policy makers who don't know near as much as they think they know, and as a result, the "solutions" they mandate are not solutions at all.


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[polarlyse]

I feel positively criminal. How exciting