No Grey Water Tank?????

[Anna]

There is an airstream that I'm looking at that does not have a grey water holding tank, the current owner says that you'd have to carry a portable. What does that mean exactly? Can I have a grey water holding tank installed? Is it costly? Is this common (for an Airstream not to have a grey water holding tank?)?
Any answers would help.
Thanks!!!!

[thenewkid64]

Welcome to the forum.

Here is a link to a thread that covers this.

Enjoy!. As much as you can enjoy thinking about grey water!!!

[Pick]

I bought a 22 gallon "Blue" tank, available at any RV store. Not having a grey tank really is not a problem for us. If you have a full hookup site, it is not an issue at all. Last trip, I was camped in an apple orchard and just let it run on the ground. Until someone pitched a tent right at the back of the trailer.

[JW84345]

1973 (or perhaps 4) were the first models with a grey tank.
I have a '69 Overlander. Not having the grey tank is a bit of a pain, especially when just stopping overnight, but manageable. We carry a blue tote tank for when we camp w/o hookups and I have a 5 gallon bucket I press into service for the quick overnights en route.

Another option some folks do is to mix black and grey with by putting a cap on the outlet and leaving the black dump valve open. I've never done this for two reasons. I haven't figured out how to deal with the water between the slide valve and outlet cover, and if the tank overflows .. it will back up into the tub. Draining it into the bucket works fine.

A good size grey tank in nice. My AS MH had 45 gallons each of grey and black. We could easily travel 3 full days without having to dump.

Jim

[smily]

Has anyone ever retrofitted a grey water tank?

I have read the cons of the weight issue and I am aware of them but I cant help but think that someone has tried it.

I was thinking of a 4" PVC pipe that was strapped under the trailer and it ran the length of the trailer, (nominaly).

If a pipe of 4 " about 20 feet long were strapped to the under side it would hold quite a bit of water and to evenly distribute weight, one could install two lengths of pipe, one on each side.

I believe that this concept would work, a little jerry riggish but functional.

Of course the tanks would have to be emptied prior to leaving the campground or site or traveling on the highway.

Thoughts from the Gallery?

SMily

[thenewkid64]

I have heard of someone doing this, but I have no idea how to calculate the useful volume of such a setup. I memory serves they used 2 or 3 inch pvc and zig-zaged it from side to side under the rear of the trailer. Not crossing the axel space. If a dumpstation is available where you are camping I would think it would be ok but I would not want to place that kind of additional stress on the frame while towing down the road.

[Silver Bullet]

I'm not sure who designed this (Grandfather or father) but both '62 Overlanders have the same set-up.
A 3.5" x 12" x 5.5' galvanized tank was fabricated at the local sheet metal shop. On the dump side of the TT a 1.25" valve was installed and a 5/8" inlet at the top edge. On the street side and on top was a 1/2" overflow tube. This was mounted underneath and in front of the rear bumper using 1/4" angle iron bolted to the frame, 4 bolts and 2 3/8" strap steel to serve as a u-bolt (so to speak) to hold the tank firmly against the frame. To get the grey water from TT to tank, a hose fitting was installed in the fry pan dump-valve lid. A piece of hose to connect the two and you got it. Tank (dry) weight was about 20lbs. give or take. If you empty it before hitting the road, water weight really isn't an issue. Back in the '60's and '70's alot of parks (State Parks in particular) didn't have sewer hook-ups and grey water on the ground was a big no-no. Oscar

[smily]

I like the idea of the narrow box mounted to the rear bumper but iI think that if one were in a pinch to travel a little bit, the weight distribution would be better with the pipe idea(s).

Smily

[Silver Bullet]

If either type you and I have described were empty while traveling I agree with weight issue. If either type had water in them while traveling (in a pinch) I would opt for the rear mount, the torsion bars on the hitch can adjust for the extra weight. The tank I described holds approx. 12.5 gals. (full), the 4" x 20' PVC tube holds 13.5 gals. x's two = 27 gals. of water and is mounted front to rear (direction of travel). Not a good thing if only half full. Moving liquid during acceleration and braking at a distance of 20' with no baffle system can get things a bit squirrley. Oscar

[smily]

I had not thought of the motion issue. You are absolutely right.

I was thinking that by spreading the weight would prevent a stress point but water moving around certainly has some energy to be reckoned with.

I will reconsider my plan, maybe with a crude baffle in place. The rear box seems to be a viable plan though.

thanks for the pointer,

Smily

[eikel1we]

I too have been thinking about the lack of a gray tank. This may sound stupid (I'm not exactly a stranger to that concept) but here goes ...... Is there not some way to use a "Y" to hook the gray water into the black water disposal line (refered to as the "poop shoot" around here) and into the sewer? Or maybe a "Y" at the sewer and two lines into that ? If you use a bucket or port-a-tank where would you dispose of that?

[NewStreamer]

I am going to scrap the existing toilet seat assembly, seal the opening that goes to the black water tank.
Then I will buy the new Thetford toilet with removable black tank (not a porta-pottie)
in Europe 98% of RV's use this system. It looks just like the fixed unit as it is a fixed unit. You have a small outside access door to
get to the removable black water tank.
The Airstream's black water tank will then become a real grey water tank once you cap the exit and leave the now useless dump valve open.
You can see this toilet at the Thetforfd website. (the price in Europe is around 300$)

Et voila....

Ron

[74Argosy24MH]

NewStreamer

Don't know about your TT, but the black tank in my MH extends well above the floor.

John

[NewStreamer]

Before the grey tank era (73) Airstream documentation indicated this method .
I am only going one step further

Ron

[airstreamcaravel]

Any interesting observation about BLACK and GREY water and keeping it off the ground:


Ever follow a garbage truck on pickup day and seen the foul, ozzzzing, stench ridden, slime, that they are allowed to drip all over our streets?

..... but I guess thats ok? Right?

DMC ..... No grey tank .... on the ground? me? NEVER?!

[overlander64]

Greetings Anna!

Prior to 1973, Airstreams did not have gray water tanks. If the rig that you are looking at has the below floor black water tank, it is possible to back-up the gray water into the black water tank by placing a solid terminator cap on the dump valve and opening the dump valve allowing the gray water to back-up into the black tank. (I know the 1960 model Airstreams that I have seen have the black tank above floor level while my '64 has the tank below floor level - - it is my understanding the 1964 was the first year for the below-floor tank for most Airstream models. The down-side to this method is that when you go to dump the contents of the holding tank (first be sure to close the dump valve), there will be about 1/2 gallon of sewage between the now closed dump valve and the terminator cap which must be caught in a pail to be disposed of before the dumping hose is attached. That is why the owner of the rig you are looking at suggested the portable tank - - it isn't the greatest solution going, but it will keep the rig legal in most parks, I have been using a portable blue tank with my Overlander for the past eight years - - choosing one size that will work best for you might be the most difficult decision - - I have two - - one is 20 gallons and the other is 10 gallons and each is on wheels for easier use.

I have considered having a gray water tank added, but it poses the problem of adding additional weight behind the rear axle which isn't terribly desirable. It is also rather expensive when done by the professionals. My Airstream dealer estimated the cost of installation and adaptation to be around $1,200.

Kevin

[Levon]

Greetings Anna,
I don't know if your tank system is above or below your floor, but if it is below then maybe this will be of some help. My 56 Overlander had a retrofit 20 gal. black water tank with rear drain that was 6" below the bumper....Yes, this was not good because of it scraping the ground often. I replaced the black water tank with a 16 gal. side drain and added a 8 gal. grey water. Both are behind the rear axle. I know the grey water is a bit small, but that was as large as would fit on my unit in the space. I tried to document this project and can be viewed in this forum under gallery photos...Levon. I have used this system and is working fine for me. Hope this helps.

Levon