sewersolution

[hiker]

We are camping at a kOa that will not allow us to connect either our SewerSolution or internal black tank flush to the fresh water spigot at our campsite. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is there danger of cross contamination?

[HowieE]

While the danger of a back flow may be very low I think they have taken a very good position both from a health and legal standpoint.

Besides in over 40 years of camping with sewer systems I have never seen a need for either of the systems you mention. About as good a spitting into the wind.

[dkottum]

We use both of those systems and like them. I suppose with improper hookup or negative pressure at the water supply there may be some possibility of cross contamination. We only connect the sewer solution and tank flush when draining the tanks, but campground rules are what we must follow.

Personally I think this is more sanitary and less likely to contaminate the campsite than flushing the slinky. I've been camping over 50 years if that makes a difference.

doug k

[hiker]

If internal black tank flush is useless and has potential for cross contamination, why is it factory installed by Airstream?

[hiker]

Originally Posted by dkottum

We use both of those systems and like them. I suppose with improper hookup or negative pressure at the water supply there may be some possibility of cross contamination. We only connect the sewer solution and tank flush when draining the tanks, but campground rules are what we must follow.

Personally I think this is more sanitary and less likely to contaminate the campsite than flushing the slinky. I've been camping over 50 years if that makes a difference.

doug k

I agree! Ironically at the same campground someone on the site next to us had trouble with a slinky and spilled raw sewage on the ground.

[wahoonc]

Pure T CYA syndrome and nothing more. If you use the SS properly it has a back flow valve in the system. AND if their water connections are up to code they should have a back flow preventer on them too.

So go ahead and use the crappy slinky and have it create and environmental disaster, then drive off and leave the slinky on the ground...I have seen that done more than once.

Aaron

[Foiled Again]

I have the Sewer Solution and have had that situation at one campground.

I also carry a small utility pump - which (horrors!) I have used on a couple of low lying campsites to pump surface water uphill to a drain. Here's the "horrors" part - I can hook up the hoses and drop the supply hose into a 5 gallon drywall bucket and flush my black tank via either route.

(a grain of poo through the pump - I don't think so but I don't tell the black flush fairies that I also drain the lawn when it's flooded.

Paula

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by hiker

We are camping at a kOa that will not allow us to connect either our SewerSolution or internal black tank flush to the fresh water spigot at our campsite. Has anyone had a similar experience?

A number of people have encountered this occasionally.

Is there danger of cross contamination?

In theory, yes. Both devices use vacuum breakers to prevent cross contamination. Vacuum breakers do occasionally fail. The current received wisdom is that, in the absence of a mechanism and process for periodic testing, they aren't sufficient by themselves to ensure that a water supply remains pure.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by hiker

If internal black tank flush is useless and has potential for cross contamination, why is it factory installed by Airstream?

Because they're cheap and customers expect them to be there.

In addition, they're prone to being damaged by frost, and if operated after being damaged in such a way, spray water into places they shouldn't, generally, somewhere hidden in the interior of the trailer.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by hiker

I agree! Ironically at the same campground someone on the site next to us had trouble with a slinky and spilled raw sewage on the ground.

The contradictions in public health policy are great enough that even the TSA can't one-up them.

Where I live you can take a shower outside and let the water run into the ground.

You can even take a shower outside on a concrete slab, and let the water run off the slab and into the ground.

In fact most inspectors agree that you can take a shower outside on a concrete slab, with a hole in the center of it towards which the slab slopes, and let the water run through the hole into the ground.

But if you take a shower outside on a concrete slab, with a hole in the center of it, towards which the slab slopes, and there's a pipe going from the hole to the edge of the slab, it's unlawful dumping of wastewater.

[Pahaska]

I connect my flush (and would connect a Sewer Solution if I had one) to the outside faucet on my Classic. I use a short hose to do this. That way, I never have to connect to the pedestal and it is not at all obvious that I am flushing the tanks.

I disagree that the flush is useless. I let it flush all the while I am hooking up the TV. After flushing, the bottom of my black tank is clean white plastic when looking down through the loo. That is after 8 years of heavy use.