Sewer Hookup

[rwsjms7]

I'm still in the evaluation stage of buying an AS. I think I've narrowed it down to a 27 FC.

My question is I keep reading about sewer hook up. Does that mean there is a direct hook up to a sewer from the site or does it mean there is a dumping station? If a direct hook up, does the black tank dump right into the sewer hook up? Also, I've seen some videos where they talk about the 'donut' for black water - what are they talking about?

Thank you so much.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Ok first setup:

You are at a campsite with "full hookups". You pull up and attach the fresh water to the trailer. You attach the sewer hose to the trailer and use the elbow to put it into the sewer pipe by the site. You put a couple of rocks on the hose to make sure it does not go anywhere. You open the *gray* water valve and make sure things drain ok. After a week or so, your black tank gets towards full. You close the gray valve. You open the black valve and let it drain into the same hose. Once it drains you close the black valve. You then open the gray and leave it open. When ready to leave, you dump black the same way and probably rinse it.

Second setup:

You have no sewer at the campsite. Your tanks all fill up as you are camping. You drive over to the dump site. You hook up the sewer drain hose and route it to the sewer in the ground. You open the black valve and let it drain. You flush a bit of water through the tank to encourage it to fully flush. You then close the black valve. You open the gray valve and let it drain through the hose. That sort of rinses the hose.

Depending on the exact sort of plumbing fittings involved, your elbow may be all you need. In some cases a giant black rubber washer might be helpful. Another name for that washer is a donut.

Bob

[Hans627]

Great explanation Uncle Bob!

And welcome to the forum resjms7. Hopefully you will soon get your AS and then, like many of us, you will learn as you go! Also, there are many willing to help, like the post from Uncle Bob!

[Protagonist]

At some commercial campgrounds where they pack the RVs in cheek by jowl, your street-side sewer hookup may be very close to your neighbor's curb-side entertainment area. I even stayed at one KOA campground (Lafayette, LA) where if I had spread out my 9' wide patio mat, my neighbor's sewer hookup would have been underneath the mat! This much togetherness is one reason why I generally dislike commercial campgrounds (and rallies held at fairgrounds). But that's beside the point…

At campgrounds like that, sewer odors are a problem, and the campground owners insist that you use an odor-proof sewer hookup— which you should do anyway as a courtesy, though many don't unless it's required. That usually means an elbow on your drain hose that screws into the sewer fitting, or if the sewer hookup isn't threaded for a screw-in fitting, a black rubber "donut" to seal the hole to prevent odors escaping.

At a dump station, which is usually closer to the exit and away from other campers, a loose fit between your hose and the sewer connection is usually adequate, because the only person you offend with the stink is you.