Grey water

To each his own. A little back-up into the tub is not a significant problem. I'm a closed-tank guy and don't try to confuse me with facts. :)

If you leave your grey valve open, be sure to leave a loop in the stinky slinky to act as a p-trap. This prevents sewer gasses from coming up through the pipe.

The first time you take a shower and the gray tank is shut and the water starts overflowing, you have to get dressed and go open the gray. You will leave it open, until the day before you dump the black tank. As was mentioned here.

I had the same odor problem with my gray water. I filled it completely and dumped it, twice. Then I added a cup of dishwashing detergent and ran hot water until it started cooling. Then I drove to my next stop and drained it immediately. I added another cup of detergent and added hot water again. The next time I drained, I added a cup of bleach and an estimated three gallons of water, then resumed the usual routine. I do the bleach treatment after every third or fourth dump, but I make sure that the bleach gets diluted a lot within a few hours. I wait until the tank is near full before I dump. I am very careful to minimize the oils , greases and food particles that go down the drain.

Leaving both Gray and Black valves OPEN, will cause buildup in the tanks. Worse in Black tank, but you will still get buildup in the gray tank because the heavier debris cannot flow out that small slope in the tank. Also, IF you want Tank valve problems, leave the valves OPEN. The cavity between the plastic valve slider and between the 2 seals will slowly fill with slime and debris that will not flush out and then you get valves that will NOT close completely. It is better for gray to fill to full then dump, that gets all the oils and such to flow out. Doug

Google GEO method. For black tanks but works as well for grey! Been doing it for about a year and rarely have any kind of smell out of either system.

Ditto Dennis' method. We leave the gray open and always the black closed. When we get ready to dump the black, every week or so, we close the gray, both shower and we run at least one load through the washer. Then dump the black, when empty, we let some gray in the black 2-3 times and dump again leaving some gray to finally run through the hose to "clean" it all out. And yes the gray can stink as much as the black!

Try to keep all the food particles you can out of the sink. Wipe out dishes & pots/pans with a paper towel before washing. Catch anything else in the strainer. NEVER put grease down the sink. That would help.

As do most I leave both closed till time to dump. Black first then gray to rinse hose then shut. Aside from discussed we have been in two South Florida parks the last year and they have these very pesky sewer flies. Keeping the valves shut between dumps helps to keep them out. The gray tank in my experience can smell as bad as the black could be food stuff etc. from galley sink.

I leave the grey open and the black closed. Moving day, I close the grey just before our showers. I then empty the black and flush with the shower water. After three flushes, I allow some shower water to fill the black then close it. I then finish draining the grey tank and I'm ready to travel.

My opinion is as you shower, do dishes etc. that water is hot to warm and anything from the shower and/or kitchen sink is still suspended in that water. By allowing it to drain immediately, you're moving those suspended particles into the sewer with the hot water. Same with soap scum. That's hot water being sent thru the sewer hose. By allowing water to sit in your grey tank for days, those suspended particles settle to the bottom of your tank where they mix with any food particles, grease or whatever from your kitchen sink. The water cools and all that mess now gels. When it's time to empty the tank, any clear water must pass over and/or thru that gooey mess before emptying into the sewer. Also, you're now sending cold water thru your hose. Hot water will keep things a lot cleaner than cold water.....Dennis