Draining grey water with a hose

[JConsroe]

We boondock on our family farm and often just take showers from the FW tank or hooked up to a garden hose. I have a 3" sewer cap with a hose connection. I hook a hose to it and run it out into a field to drain it. usually wait till it's about 3/4 - full before I dump it.

Sometimes it drains no problem. Sometimes it seems to get an air lock and won't flow. I have a clear 45 on it so I can see the water. I then have to twist the 45 till it leaks some air and starts flowing. I'm thinking I need some sort of breather or vacuum unlock on the hose but the ones I see online only seem to be designed to prevent backflow and not add air to the hose line so that it will flow.

I'm hoping one of you know your plumbing. I'll trade for hvac knowledge. And please let's not start a discussion on if dumping grey water is kosher.

thanks

[Airtandem]

I have the Sewer Solution and sometimes drain to the ground (legally) and use the flush to promote flow.
Do you have a belly in your hose or is the end occluded? Have you tried opening and closing the gate valve ?
Just thoughts. I have encountered that and that is what I did.
Mike

[AWCHIEF]

My cap like yours has a built in vent. I have never actually used it so do not know if it works.

[OTRA15]

We used to boondock on a farm and drained the grey tank just the same way.

How much slope do you have on the drain hose? If it is close to flat, that could explain sluggish draining IMO, especially if some food scraps from the kitchen sink got into your grey tank. There should be no vacuum involved, because the grey tank gets air from your plumbing vent through the roof. No need for any other vent IMO.

Any chance that your grey tank has some residue in it, which flakes off in pieces and clogs the drain hose? When you let it fill up, then drain, you are actually moistening old residue which could flake off. Why not just open the grey tank's gate valve before you shower? If you have sufficient slope on the drain hose, it should drain just fine.

More detail may help with a better diagnosis IMO.

Good luck!

Peter

PS -- I would hook up the drain hose to a non-potable water hose bib [cleanliness you know] and run as much high-pressure water through the hose as possible. There may be residue in it, especially if the pitch/slope is fairly flat.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by JConsroe

We boondock on our family farm and often just take showers from the FW tank or hooked up to a garden hose. I have a 3" sewer cap with a hose connection. I hook a hose to it and run it out into a field to drain it. usually wait till it's about 3/4 - full before I dump it.

Sometimes it drains no problem. Sometimes it seems to get an air lock and won't flow. I have a clear 45 on it so I can see the water. I then have to twist the 45 till it leaks some air and starts flowing. I'm thinking I need some sort of breather or vacuum unlock on the hose but the ones I see online only seem to be designed to prevent backflow and not add air to the hose line so that it will flow.

I'm hoping one of you know your plumbing. I'll trade for hvac knowledge. And please let's not start a discussion on if dumping grey water is kosher.

thanks

IMO, the issue is not vent or vacuum related. I guess there is either a kink in the drain hose or debris in the drain hose. I think this because there is a vent directly from the gray tank through the roof and also an air admittance valve in the gray water drain line beneath the kitchen sink that acts as a vent. Either should provide enough vent air to break any vacuum.

Try grabbing the end of the hose and giving it a good shake to get things moving.

If you still think you need a vent for the hose, you can add a hose splitter wye, right onto the end of the hose outlet on the three inch cap. Then connect a short piece of hose to one side of the wye outlet for the vent (hose end pointing upward) and the drain hose to the other side of the wye (pointing downward).

[JConsroe]

Hose is usually close to level as one asked.. and have always checked to make sure it's not kinked. I really like your idea Warn I was thinking about a T with a breather tube but a splitter would make that easy and could valve it off. good man.

[Airtandem]

Has the vent pipe slipped down into the grey tank? Several years ago,there was a post regarding this and the owner had to go on top and pull the vent pipe up.
mj

[daleyocum]

If all else fails a drain pump like this one will definitely solve your problem. Also helps when gravity isn’t on your side.

[xrvr]

Gray pipes are smaller than most think. Hair, loose skin, food particles, and soap can clog or reduce flow. . I would use a plunger in the tub to loosen debris. It has worked for me.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by xrvr

Gray pipes are smaller than most think. Hair, loose skin, food particles, and soap can clog or reduce flow. . I would use a plunger in the tub to loosen debris. It has worked for me.

See OP.

Problem is in hose running on ground outside of AS.

Originally Posted by JConsroe

We boondock on our family farm and often just take showers from the FW tank or hooked up to a garden hose. I have a 3" sewer cap with a hose connection. I hook a hose to it and run it out into a field to drain it. usually wait till it's about 3/4 - full before I dump it.

Sometimes it drains no problem. Sometimes it seems to get an air lock and won't flow. I have a clear 45 on it so I can see the water. I then have to twist the 45 till it leaks some air and starts flowing. I'm thinking I need some sort of breather or vacuum unlock on the hose but the ones I see online only seem to be designed to prevent backflow and not add air to the hose line so that it will flow.

I'm hoping one of you know your plumbing. I'll trade for hvac knowledge. And please let's not start a discussion on if dumping grey water is kosher.

thanks

[mandolindave]

I wouldn't wait until the grey tank is 3/4 full to drain. I'd let it go as you used it. Grey water left sitting in your tank turns VERY nasty very quickly.

A camper next to me had a grey water spill mishap. I thought it was black water.

[nvestysly]

We too have experienced similar drain problems when the tank is full (or nearly so) and we attempt to drain through a small hose.

For the situation the OP described I also suggest letting the gray water run onto the ground continuously. When you arrive at the site, hook up the hose, and pull the gray water valve.

As mentioned above, gray water can become quite a nasty smelling liquid if allowed to accumulate in the tank. Let it drain naturally as soon as you arrive and the liquid never builds to a foul-odor mess.

[tbashin]

I agree to let the gray water drain continuously. I would check for a high spot in the drain line since it’s almost level. I high spot could cause the hose to become a big long P-trap, so to speak, causing the gravity drain to try to push water uphill. You should have a good fall so the house doesn’t become a p-trap at any point. Also if there is a low spot in the house residue will collect and it shrinking the ID size which can catch additional residue.

[Streamracer]

I usually just open the gray valve a little to continuously drain and close it up in time to get a half tank to rinse when the black tank is emptied. Doing the continual drain keeps from making a puddle and someone stepping into it.

[davidz71]

Your grey water hose is probably a 1/2" hose like I have. You can get a 5/8" X 25' grey water drain hose at www.adventurerv.net which should take care of your problem. Don't waste your money on a macerator unit just for grey water.

[xrvr]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

See OP.

Problem is in hose running on ground outside of AS.

If the hose is runnong slowly, by suctioning the shower drain may loosen sonething in the pipes or the hose to allow it to drain out as long as the hose is attached when using the plumbers helper.

[SuzyHomemakr]

In my experience, most marginal draining situations can be solved with more venting. So a tee, with a short section of hose pointing straight up, just downstream of your exterior connection, might help out.

The other consideration is chunky funkiness in the tank that clogs up the hose. I find that I have to occasionally hook up a garden hose to my outlet, and reverse-blast back into the tank to break it up. A washing-machine hose works well for this, as it has two female ends.

Originally Posted by JConsroe

And please let's not start a discussion on if dumping grey water is kosher.

thanks

I spoke to a rabbi, and you can still be observant, and drain gray water on to the ground. But not on the Sabbath.

[AstroBruce]

If you don't care about dumping gray water on the ground, why bother with a garden hose. Remove the cap and let er rip.