Maiden voyage success - question about grey water tanks

Our grey tank usually lasts about 3 good, long showers. Long meaning in the shower until the hot water gets cold. Or, it will last 4-5 quick showers. Our sinks go to a galley tank, they usually fill after doing dishes/brushing teeth 3 days/nights.

One comment I had about it showing how full each of your tanks are - we were told from the beginning not to believe what our panel told us, especially with the black tank. Matter could get in the way of the sensor, giving a false read to how 'full' it actually is. Also, we were told not to dump our black until it is full because if 'matter' sits in it but the liquid isn't that high in it and the tank isn't full, when you go to dump, only the liquid will come out, there won't be enough liquid to carry all the 'matter' out. Also, the tank's highest point is directly under where your toilet is, and then it declines down to where it dumps, so it is at an angle. The 'matter' just sits at the top, while the liquid drains down to the bottom where you open it to drain. So if there isn't enough liquid to reach the top, then you have the same problem and the 'matter' just sits there. If you do want to dump it that often, then I would flush it that often because you probably aren't dumping everything at 1/3 full. Just my .02 cents.

rvshrinker wrote:
How do you pump grey water uphill into the truck bed?

Trick question? :R ... with a pump of course. :W

I use a FloJet Waste Macerator for servicing my tanks at home but also have it on hand while camping so I can macerate & off load black water should it ever be necessary and grey water if I want to. Most times I don't bother and just off load grey by gravity and just lift the full Aquatainer into the back of the truck for a trip to the dump station. Those who want to pump just grey water, never black, can instead use any 12 vdc water pump for the purpose, like this. Just replace your trailer's plain sewer cap with one like this with a 3/4" garden hose fitting so you can connect to the pump with a piece of garden hose.

How do you pump grey water uphill into the truck bed?

rvshrinker wrote:
I could also carry an extra tank, but how do you lift that heavy thing into the truck bed? The aquatainers is another less elegant solution.

Why is the Aquatainer a "less elegant solution" when it's a solution that completely solves your grey water problem? :h Believe it, regardless of the size of your grey water tank it's going to fill while you're still camping so you will want an effective means of off loading the contents - Aquatainers are that effective means. ;) If you don't want to lift a full 60 lb Aquatainer into your truck bed then instead pump grey water into Aquatainers already sitting in the back of the truck. K.I.S.S. ;)

When we first started camping in a pop-up without any tanks, learned water conservation fast. Used two 5 gal water containers.
When you have to carry 5 gallons of water 500 yards you don't waste a drop.
Now that we have a class C, we can usually go four days before dumping with very small tanks.

I could also carry an extra tank, but how do you lift that heavy thing into the truck bed? The aquatainers is another less elegant solution.

As others have said, showers are very quick, utilitarian things. Get wet, turn water off, soap up, turn water on and rinse. That's it. I save the long, luxurious showers for home or a really nice bathhouse. I also don't shower every day. I wash up with a sink of warm water and a soapy wash cloth most of the time.

I have a big round bowl that I use for a dishpan. An inch of hot water, a squeeze of soap, and I start washing. As the bowl is filled with washed dishes, I turn the water on just a trickle and rinse the soap off into the bowl. After the dishes are done, that bowl of soapy water gets dumped down the toiled into the black tank. I do dishes once a day.

When you wash hands or brush your teeth, turn the water off while you suds up. Think of it like the navy style shower -- get wet, water off, suds up, turn water on and rinse.

I'm still search for a Toy Hauler with as much capacity as possible. The Voltage line has one model that has something like 160 gal grey capacity, but the unit is 44 ft long. That's just too much to haul around.

The Grand Design Momentum 328m has 104 gal grey capacity but they split up the grey tanks into a 52 gal for the kitchen sink and another 52 gal sink for the shower. I'm going to investigate if it's possible to somehow have the 2 grey tanks hooked together so they can yield a true 104 gal grey capacity. I would think showering uses a lot more water than kitchen activities.

K3WE wrote:
Surprised no one has mentioned those screw on shut off valves that often can let the gray back up into the black tank.

Now, everyone duck as some folks freak out at the concept and predict disruption of the space time continuum.

Yeah, I never could understand the worry about fecal coliform bacteria backing up to the sink from the grey and black tanks being equalized when everything at home is connected to the same line that gets stopped up occasionally. If they're really worried there's nothing a little bleach down the sink drain can't take care of.

Oh, by the way, do NOT dump your grey water tank on the ground in Montana!
It is illegal throughout the entire state.