we have an 11' camplite trailer with a small grey water tank. Many of the state parks have no sewer connections but do have a grey water disposal that looks like this.Sometimes its higher than that.I have been using a bucket. But its messy and takes 2-3 trips.Is there a more elegant solution to this. Note that dump stations are too to walk.

You should be looking into one of these.Covered Bucket

Here is a Portable Waste Tank on wheels. There are several sizes and manufacturers of this type of portable available.Additionally, if you feel your onboard tank is too small, attaching one of these will give you the benefit of a larger tank. They come MUCH larger than 11 gallons. The above is just an example of what's available.

how far away is it? can you reach it with a garden hose? if so, get an dump adapter with a garden hose threaded end on it and open the valve and the water should flow to the waste dump enough to drain most of it.

When I see these at dry camp areas of campgrounds, I think it was originally designed for tent type campers where they would bring over a once a day wash bucket and dispose of it down the well. I don't believe they were intended for draining a bunch of RV gray tanks. I wouldn't do it.

I use one of the portable tanks, I have one that is approximately the same size as my grey tank, I drain as much as possible and then tow with truck to dump site. I had a smaller one (like the one that blangen shows) and I could manage it a little ways by hand. but I decided to get the bigger one that I could empty once, rather than multiple trips with the smaller one. I have always used my tank just for grey water, so although I try not to splash, I don't get crazy paranoid if I splash a drop or two.Don't be scared of the cost on the link shown. I found my larger one on craigslist for about a third of original cost. Just before I found that one, older couple had one in local newspaper, but I was not the first caller.

Grey water disposal with no sewer connection | Good Sam Community

31 Replies

toedtoes
Explorer III
Apr 17, 2015
2gypsies wrote:
Tent campers use waaaaay less water than RVers. :) Have you ever seen them haul 8 buckets of water to their campsite over a weekend? They use the campground's restrooms for washing and/or showers. They cook minimally and dishes are done is a small pan. A RVer has a fresh water tank onboard and if it's available, it'll be used.

Not every person/family with an RV behaves in the same manner. Many of us behave more as tent campers than as RVers. I have never used all my fresh water nor filled my grey water over a long weekend. After two 4-day camping trips, my grey tank is only 1/4 full. It's a 28 gallon tank. That's a total of 7 gallons over 8 days. That means I would have been dumping less than 4 gallons over a 4 day weekend trip.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Apr 17, 2015
Tent campers use waaaaay less water than RVers. :) Have you ever seen them haul 8 buckets of water to their campsite over a weekend? They use the campground's restrooms for washing and/or showers. They cook minimally and dishes are done is a small pan. A RVer has a fresh water tank onboard and if it's available, it'll be used.
toedtoes
Explorer III
Apr 16, 2015
I'm giving the OP the benefit of the doubt that the 8 buckets in 3 days equates to what a tent camper would be dumping in the same 3 days. IF that is correct, then there isn't a problem with the OP doing that - except that rather than trying to dump it all at once, it's better to dump a little every day so the system has time to process the water (or you start getting swamps, sinkholes, etc. because the water doesn't evaporate.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Apr 16, 2015
most likely intended for tent campers
wbwood
Explorer
Apr 16, 2015
Also depends on how big the buckets are. Are you talking about a 1-2 gallon bucket or a 5 gallon bucket? 16-40 gallons is a big difference.
mowermech
Explorer
Apr 16, 2015
toedtoes wrote:
Uilleann - not getting upset, just trying to keep things clear. While you may only be dumping 8 buckets in 3 days, I think it's important that other readers understand that they can't dump their 30+ gallon grey tank every 3 days.

Not only that, but how many others are dumping 8 buckets in those three days? How many buckets of water per day are actually being dumped in that cesspool?
That IS what the "system" actually is, you know. Just a hole in the ground, filled with gravel. It can handle a limited amount of water.
Oh, sure, it MIGHT be a full-on septic tank with drain field, but I doubt it.
I don't think you will see one in Montana. If somebody does, please tell me where it is, and what the rules are for its use.
In fact, I would be interested in seeing a picture of the posted rules for the waste water dump shown!
toedtoes
Explorer III
Apr 16, 2015
Uilleann - not getting upset, just trying to keep things clear. While you may only be dumping 8 buckets in 3 days, I think it's important that other readers understand that they can't dump their 30+ gallon grey tank every 3 days.
uilleann
Explorer
Apr 16, 2015
Hey guys... Calm down. My camplite trailer has a 14 gal grey water tank. So on a 3 night trip we wash dishes, same as the tent guys. There may be a few showers, navy style, that would be differnent than then tenters. So once or twice during that time there will do some bucket trips to the greywater dump to keep the grey water tank from overflowing into the shower.. Maybe 8 buckets over 3 days. Then we dump whats left of the grey and all of the black water at the dump station on the way home. i was just looking for an easier method than buckets.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Apr 16, 2015
Many of those old-time drains don't even run to a septic tank or sewer. They just drain into the earth. That's why a large quantity of waste is not meant for them.
toedtoes
Explorer III
Apr 16, 2015
goducks10 wrote:
Those drains are for waste water. Could be washing dishes to washing little Johnny. I'd dump my tank into it if it meant not staying a couple days longer. What's the diff? We put a dish pan in the sink to catch soapy water. We take it over to those drains and dump it. I could just as well let the same water go into my grey tank and dump it as opposed to making 3 trips a day. I certainly also think that dumping 40-60 gals of grey water at one time would probably overload the drain system.

You identified the difference. A dish pan of water at a time versus 40+ gallons at a time. In addition, the system is old. It is set up to handle tent campers. If suddenly they are getting RVs filling up the campground and all those RVs are trying to dump their grey water, that's likely to overwhelm the sewage system.