Reducing grey water production

[DaveFL]

Looking for ideas on generating less grey water. our black tank even tho about the same capacity will take more than a week to fill while the grey will fill in about 4 days. We like to use the conveniences of the the MH, cook and bath with onboard facilities. Most cg rules don't allow dumping of grey on site. What changes have you implimented to reduce grey?

[perryg114]

Take Navy showers and wash dishes outside. Get one of those Y-connectors for the water spout so you can use the water without disconnecting the hose. Dish washing is a big water user.

Perry

[AnnArborBob]

We wash dishes in a tub in the kitchen sink and then dump the dishwater down the toilet.

[Wingeezer]

Here are a few things I do to extend the capacity of our gray tank when needed.

- of course Navy showers, I imagine we all do that. Better - use the campground showers unless they are really disgusting!

- Use plastic washbasins that fit into the in the galley sink for dish washing and dump gray in the toilet. (Black tank fills much more slowly).

- If your layout makes it practical, run the shower into the toilet while waiting for the cold water to run hot - ours seems to take quite a while, and so represents quite a lot of water into the tanks.

As well, I bought and sewer hose cap with a hose attachment and carry a short length of hose to screw onto it as well as a collapsible 5 gallon water bag that is reserved for this purpose. I haven't had to use it yet, but the idea would be that rather than move to trailer to a dump site, if we got full, we could take 5 gallons of gray water with us every time we were going away from the trailer with the truck and dump it.

Of course, having the sewer cap with an 8 ft length of hose attached could be used to surreptiously dump gray water another way - but we wouldn't do that now would we.

We seldom camp without full hookups so don't often need these techniques, but I like to be prepared.

The few times we have camped without sewer hookup I have been amazed how quickly our gray tank filled, (without using the above tricks) even though we really try to conserve. Just the two of us but it seems we can't expect more that three days or so if we use the shower in the trailer.

I'll be watching for other good tips in the answers you get!

Brian.

[Al and Missy]

Get a an insert for the kitchen sink. It is a plastic bowl with a flange so it sits in your sink. It has a drain just like your sink, with a stopper. Use that to wash dishes and carry to toilet and pull the stopper. One came with my trailer from the PO. I just went looking for one without much success. When i pull the trailer from storage next week I'll se if it has any markings on it.

Al

[SilverEagle6]

We were tent campers for many years before we bought an RV. No one ever thinks twice about tent campers pouring their dishwater out to water nearby plants. Dishwater is not grey water until it gets into the grey tank. Often times there are dishwashing stations at campgrouds and you can take advantage of that amenity. With that philosophy, you can build upon your options. Dumping 40 gallons or some portion of that at campground campsite is not an option in my book.

[SteveH]

It's always acceptable to dump grey water on the ground.
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In the middle of the night.

[A W Warn]

A blue boy portable tank solves the problem when there is access to a dump station.

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

A blue boy portable tank solves the problem when there is access to a dump station.

Good point and probably the best solution if you regularly camp were there are no sewer hookups, but for many people I suspect - certainly for us - it would b e a very rare thing and so carrying around a blue boy "just in case" didn't seem a good use of limited carrying space. (plus the blue boy isn't cheap).

Brian

[xrvr]

Actually I have been to CG thst forbid any dumping if gray water whether sink water or not. There are still food particles in gray water. Draws flies. Some if these CG have a place for tenters, etc to dump there gray and dish washing water. Peace,jim

[andreasduess]

This is what we're doing: replace the toilet with a composting model, combine the old black tank with the grey tank into a huge new grey tank.

Dumping grey water is rarely acceptable.

[perryg114]

You could just pull the trailer to the dump station and then park it at your sight again. It is good parking practice anyway. If you are one of those folks who spend a day nesting and then a day breaking down for a 3 day weekend then this may not work. You really don't need to go to all the trouble to set load bars etc to drive around the camp ground dump and come back. Not much more trouble than the blue boy. Those blue boys don't hold that much and there there are the idiots that pull them behind their trucks. There is nothing so noisy as something with hollow plastic wheels being pulled behind a truck at 20 MPH and then they make 2 or three trips. Why not pull your trailer to the dump station once as opposed to going through all this.

Perry

[AWCHIEF]

If I am at a CG with no sewer hookups I try to use the CG showers. Even with hook ups I still like to use the CG showers, keeps the humidity down in the trailer. Amazing how long it takes to fill the gray tank when not showering on board. All else fails the on board outside shower is hard to beat on a hot summers day. The bucket in the sink is another excellent option where ever you decide to dump it.

[Kevin245]

Originally Posted by SilverEagle6

Dishwater is not grey water until it gets into the grey tank.

Dishwater becomes grey water once foreign matter such as dish washing liquid and food particles enter into the process. The water is no longer clean irrespective of whether the water resides in the sink, a tote, or the grey water tank.

While generally considered acceptable for recycling/re-purposing it is still grey water none the less.

[Silverflames]

When I plumbed in the bathroom, I diverted the bathroom sink to the black tank. Turns out it's good and bad.

The bad: The kids like to run the water when your not looking, and my wife is a avid hand washer. So the black tank fills up as fast as the grey.

The Good: With all the extra water, we have never had a problem with a clogged black tank. It ends up being 80% grey water. Plus we have a "No pooping in the AS" rule when we are at CG with a bath house.

[Nomad518]

When my wife and I camp (no kids), it's mostly dry camping. We can stretch our 39 gallon fresh water supply and holding tanks (39 gal gray and 19 gal black) for a full week without a refill or dump. Others have already provided some great suggestions. Here are a few of ours:

1. Don't use your AS shower. Use campground facilities and shower every other day. On the off days, you can wash your face and hair in the galley sink using 2 or 3 cups of water.
2. Take a tea kettle and water pitcher and fill them from the campground spigots. Use this water for drinking and most of your kitchen needs.
3. Take a small tub for washing dishes. Use warm water from your tea kettle for washing and rinsing, then dump the wash water outside.
4. Use the campground restroom facilities unless making a trip to them is really inconvenient, such as during the night.
5. Leave your water pump off. If you need water from your trailer, flip the pump switch on to let it pressure up your water lines. Then, turn your pump off again. Open your faucet slowly and collect the water in a cup until the water pressure sends no more water out of the open faucet. Drink up, or use that water for whatever you need.

Admittedly, some of these tips may seem a bit extreme. But, we've actually gotten used to them and now it seems wasteful to us whenever we stay in a campground with full hookups.

[Wolf Alaska]

These work for us, but you have to practice to get good at it. Staying in complete hook up CGs can spoil you for conservation. It is just a fact.
1. Use paper plates. We buy inexpensive, thin plain plates. We also use paper bowls.
2. Rinse out your coffee cups/drinking glasses and use a damp cloth to clean. Then wipe dry with a paper towel. Here I'm talking about your personal use cup/drinking glass.
3. CGs have dumpsters or big trash cans. Carry your trash out often to minimize attracting ants. And this takes care of dirty paper plates.
4. You are camping so you don't have to shower every day. You can likely be clean with one bathroom sink of warm water per day. It is less work than a shower, so there's an added benefit right there.
5. You don't have to shave every day or ever for that matter. Another great benefit of camping that also saves gray water !
6. Every time you eat a meal somewhere else, you are saving gray water. So, there's your justification to go to a restaurant. Usually, everyone in the trailer is glad to go with you.
7. I like the outside shower idea. Particularly, if you like to wash your puppy dogs, a shower outside for them on a nice day can save a lot of gray water and mess, too. I would put down a clean blue tarp for ours to stand on. They liked it fine and seemed to enjoy the outdoor shower/bath.
8. Carry a hose dedicated to non drinking water use. You can use this hose (mine is gray !) to wash the trailer and TV. If there is storm drain within range, the gray tank can be dumped down the storm drain while it is raining by using this hose. The tiny amount of gray water (30 to 40 gallons) will be well diluted in thousands of gallons of rain run off. If you are dry camping in a parking lot, keep this in mind when deciding where to park.
9. Remember that a damp cloth or paper towel can do a lot of dish, cup or drinking glass cleaning. Don't leave the water running on the sink faucet. If you want to rinse with water, use the switch operated spray nozzle. Don't have one? Well, that is a good project to add to your list.
10. Brushing teeth? About the same technique as washing dishes. Don't leave the faucet water running while you are polishing the enamel ! I think I can brush teeth with 4 OZ of water. Will check that some time. I usually use only a sip of drinking water to wet the brush and rinse. I use a bit of on board fresh water to rinse the sink bowl as necessary.

I leave all tank valves CLOSED all the time. This keeps me aware of rate of tank filling. I don't have the slinky hose connected to the CG drain except when I dump tanks. Since dumping tanks is work, this helps me to continually stay in a conservation state of mind.

Let's Roll !
Wolf

[Ray Eklund]

Airstream Owners: Spending a bunch of money to live like homeless people.

Geez... Everyone wants to look like they are staying at an expensive hotel while living in a trailer. There is nothing wrong looking a bit "ruffled" while living off or on the grid.

Only a tent camper understands some of the great examples on avoiding Grey and Black water tank topping out. I would not consider taking some relatives with us as we would be needing fresh water every day in the Mohave Desert, as they still think their living style in the City can be practiced anywhere, even in a trailer with limited water and electric power. They cannot survive without a shower a day, and the thought of using a toilet seat at a campground, used by a stranger, must be infected with some virus or fungus. Since when is your buttocks more sanitary than that person standing in line at the gasoline station restroom? So... you use the stool in your virus/fungus infected trailer as a viable option to out live everyone else on the road.

Trying to explain to the individual who has never camped in a tent or back packed into the wilderness for a week at a time, will never understand.

When we are off the grid, we treat our fresh water as if it is precious. We treat our grey water as available to watering our favorite "bush" in the woods. We have minimal black water as we use an advance technique used by hunters and back country campers... the shovel technique. We do not infect the plants or animals in the area. We do not introduce bacteria into creeks, streams or rivers.... as we know better not to... even if they were in our area.

Imagine yourself as an American Indian in the 19th century.
Imagine yourself as a Rancher in the 20th Century west.
Imagine yourself as a Dry Camper 75 miles from water, civilization and food.

For those of you who find this disgusting, you had better learn what some on this Thread have offered to you as alternatives to living in a Manhattan Apartment. You have to change HOW you do your daily routines.

If you only frequent Full Service RV Parks... great. You can never appreciate what some of us are trying to explain, politely, by ignoring smart options. It will not be long that those from Southern California will be drinking water from recycled urine and feces... soon. Why not conserve NOW by practicing in your trailer while on the road? When in Africa a machine can take feces and recover the water from it as clean drinking water... what are their options?

Kids learn from their parents. Do not make them dependent on the easy life at home. Make sacrifices, if that is what you may call it, while camping. Learning to live by conserving your resources is excellent life training experiences. The Boy and Girl Scouts used to be a popular way to learn these alternative life styles.

If you disagree with what I have spent a life time practicing, keep doing what you are doing. You are the problem, not a solution of your own created problems of black water flowing from your stool while traveling, clogged tanks, full grey water tanks that even Golf Courses use to water their lawns.

American Indians practiced these water issues for thousands of years. Their former campsites now are fertile farm land or not even detectable. Your years of back country water handling will be no more or less destructive to the environment or others. Dogs practice Black Water regulating every day in the forests and prairies. What makes you so special? Nothing. The dog has more sense.

Added: There are some outstanding posts on this thread by individuals who know what they are offering as advice. These are the 10% who practice what they are preaching. Think about what they are doing and what you are doing. Maybe even if you compromise... a little bit, will make your life while staying in your trailer a bit smarter than you are currently experiencing. This is an experience lesson taught over time, not something that comes to you naturally by reading a magazine of the Rich and Famous.

[xrvr]

Do not dump gray water down a storm drain. Illegal mist everywhere I camp now. Storm drains flow into sensitive area most of the time. That's why you can't dump oil and gas etc into them. Here in Gainesville a lot of storm drains have signs advising if this. Jim

[DaveFL]

Originally Posted by avionstream

Do not dump gray water down a storm drain. Illegal most everywhere I camp now. Storm drains flow into sensitive area most of the time. That's why you can't dump oil and gas etc into them. Here in Gainesville a lot of storm drains have signs advising if this. Jim

Not everybody in Gville is doing it right, outfall of Gville is Paines Prairie, i smell sewage when traveling north on 301 while crossing the prairie.

Reviewing all the posts so far has been an eye opener, many great ideas but will continue to hope for an easier solution.
Like I said we like to use our onboard facilities, our attempt to reduce has included, Navy showers, dish washing using sponge with predilutied dish soap and waiting to do all rinsing after all silverware and dishes are clean.
No pets to bath, black water not an issue.
Showering outside was ok on the boat but few cg offer the privacy to do it, and it would satisfy rule of not dumping food or grey tank contaminated water on site.
I liked the idea of digging a hole, maybe a dry well using an auger and perforated pipe a few feet underground would be a solution if we were on our own property not private, state or national parks Maybe parks can show the layout of underground utilities We can make coffee using a filter to keep the grounds maybe someone will come up with a filter for the grey water that would be acceptable to parks.