Gray water dump

RayChez, regardless of what you were 'told' by someone on the phone, I've personally stayed AT Collins Lake and saw with my own EYES the many hoses from permanent, semi permanent and RVers alike draining into the bushes. It was because of this practice that I personally asked the RANGERS why, and they said they allowed and encouraged folks to run their water on the ground. Maybe it's because of the continual water shortage in Ca...don't know. All I know is what I posted.

IMHO, I trust what someone has personally seen over what some unknown tells me on the phone...too many desk clerks that have never been camping in their life......just sayin....Dennis

Cbones wrote:
I hate to say it but my pop up trailer only had a garden hose connected to the drain. It did not have holding tanks. We used to just let it drain under the trailer. In many years no one ever said anything, and I never noticed a smell. Since there was no shower, I am sure that the little volume of grey water was not an issue.I know I was not the only one with a pop-up without tanks. I am sure others started out the same way.

LOL! Things have changed a lot in the last few years. US Environmental Protection Agency has set out to protect the delicate environment that so many of us were abusing at one time or another. Every bid of liquid that drops into the earth eventually ends in water tables. Contamination to our streams and water ways. Keep doing this for years and eventually it all comes back to hunt us. I have done it in the past, but does it make it right? Heck NO! The earth is not as big anymore and we got to take care of our water ways. Bacteria's tend to develop and spreads germs. I think it is time we all take a back step and think. Is this good for the environment.

On those little pop up trailers it probably did not hold much water like these new massive coaches. I am talking about 65 gallon tanks for the gray and 45 gallons for the black. Some even bigger then that. Can you imagine dumping 65 gallons of gray water into a stream that will contaminate the fish that you might catch later on, and might even eat that fish?

Chemicals in the water can cause certain types of cancers.

I hate to say it but my pop up trailer only had a garden hose connected to the drain. It did not have holding tanks. We used to just let it drain under the trailer. In many years no one ever said anything, and I never noticed a smell. Since there was no shower, I am sure that the little volume of grey water was not an issue.I know I was not the only one with a pop-up without tanks. I am sure others started out the same way.

2gypsies wrote:

rvis2005 wrote:
Self contained boats on the lake don't have grey tanks. Tommy

According to this document and the Corps of Engineers Regulations, it is illegal for boaters or campers to dump gray water on the ground or in the water in Texas.

Texas Gray Water Regulations

I'm just telling you a fact. I've owned a cruiser before with sinks and two showers and no grey holding tanks. The drain was simply out the side port or starboard. The showers had a pump which would pump to above the water line then out. It was a Carver and was built that way. My point doesn't allow interpretation; it is just what it is. Tommy

rvis2005 wrote:
Self contained boats on the lake don't have grey tanks. Tommy

According to this document and the Corps of Engineers Regulations, it is illegal for boaters or campers to dump gray water on the ground or in the water in Texas.

Texas Gray Water Regulations

zman-az wrote:

Spleenstomper wrote:
We continually have a grey water tank capacity problem but never a black water tank problem, so now (thanks to suggestions here) we fill a bucket with grey water and dump it in the toilet.

Apparently you did not read my post on top of pg 6. No need for a bucket. Just buy this device and let gravity do the work.

How does a replacement valve solve the capacity issue?

Spleenstomper wrote:
We continually have a grey water tank capacity problem but never a black water tank problem, so now (thanks to suggestions here) we fill a bucket with grey water and dump it in the toilet.

Apparently you did not read my post on top of pg 6. No need for a bucket. Just buy this device and let gravity do the work.

Self contained boats on the lake don't have grey tanks. Tommy

OhhWell wrote:

RayChez wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
No I don't and never said any such thing. My replies in this thread were to the people who insisted it is illegal to dump grey water on the ground any place in California. What I showed them is the opposite it true. There is no state-wide law that says you can't do it, and in fact there are specific laws that say you can. No place did I try and get into every single possible jurisdiction and nobody else did either. The answer given to the OP was basically he'd have to check the laws and rules anyplace he would want to do it. But in California specifically, there are times and places where it can be done.

And then you come in at the end thinking your solving all of our problems by giving the answers the OP has already been given and then pretending you solved the problem.

OK! Give me a name of a RV park that allows gray tank dumping on the ground. I already called one in Northern California and they said NO. They said that is why they have dump stations. So give me some names and I will personally call them and if it is true, it is a good place to stay away from. I have never seen one yet.

Man, I really don't want to read back through all of this black water type thread but I think either Dennis or someone after his post did mention a specific park.

I personally think there is nothing wrong with it and it is good for the plants if done right. Many people probably didn't do it right and that's why it is not allowed as a rule in most places these days.

You can often find the waste totes on craigslist for cheap and that is what I did. You can get a large one with wheels and a handle that will hook on a bike, hitch ball or tow hook and is pretty easy to bring to the dump station.

Just for info, my interest in this thread isn't because I dump my gray water on the ground. I have done it, but only on land that I own and camp on and only into a pit that I dug with an excavator. I just jumped in because people claimed it was illegal and claimed somebody would be "insane" if they did it. I'm not insane and it's not illegal. Is it a good idea? Probably not. However, as I also pointed out, I have seen a sign in a State run campground in the area of Kennedy Meadows on Highway 108, where not only was legal, the sign was actually requesting that people get a bucket and dump their grey water on the small trees throughout the campground. I did not do it, only because at the time I was in a rental RV and did not have a bucket with me.

RayChez wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
No I don't and never said any such thing. My replies in this thread were to the people who insisted it is illegal to dump grey water on the ground any place in California. What I showed them is the opposite it true. There is no state-wide law that says you can't do it, and in fact there are specific laws that say you can. No place did I try and get into every single possible jurisdiction and nobody else did either. The answer given to the OP was basically he'd have to check the laws and rules anyplace he would want to do it. But in California specifically, there are times and places where it can be done.

And then you come in at the end thinking your solving all of our problems by giving the answers the OP has already been given and then pretending you solved the problem.

OK! Give me a name of a RV park that allows gray tank dumping on the ground. I already called one in Northern California and they said NO. They said that is why they have dump stations. So give me some names and I will personally call them and if it is true, it is a good place to stay away from. I have never seen one yet.

I did better that that already if you have read the thread. I gave you information directly off the website of the Dodge Ridge campground which is in the Stanislaus National Forest. There are instructions right there on exactly how and where to dump gray water. Also if you call a campground you are going to get a minimum wage clerk at the front counter who likely isn't going to know the laws or the rules.