Maiden voyage success - question about grey water tanks

Some thoughts:
You said you started at 1/3rd full. The way the sensors work, you might have been just shy of 1/2 tank. Best to start with empty holding tanks, except for a couple gallons in the black tank to avoid the "pyramid".

I'm puzzled by the gray backing up in the sink. It should have backed up in the shower?
For us, the showers can eat up the water. Wet yourself down, turn off the water, lightly suds up and a quick rinse.

Washing dishes- use disposable plates/ cups etc. it's easier to dump trash than waste water.

If you hook up at an electric/water and no drain site, you can use a lot of water very quickly, filling your gray tank. When using those sites, we stay on the onboard fresh water tank. It should run empty before the gray overflows.

Norm

All of the above suggestions and... We found a plastic tub that fits perfectly in the kitchen sink. We just dump the tub in the toilet when finished dishes. Black tank rarely gets full.

If you are planning on dumping your grey water on the ground (only do so when you are sure it is allowed and you will not offend anyone) try this. Get a sewer cap with the garden hose fitting. Take a plastic kitchen scrubber (the green rectangular ones, about 1/2 inch thick work well) and cut it to fit inside the cap. I stuck a piece of velcro on the inside of the cap to hold it in place. The pad acts as a filter and removes all food particles and much of the soapy suds, the two things that I find rather disgusting when I pull into a campsite where somebody has dumped their grey water. Use a length of garden hose to direct the grey water to an inconspicuous spot, like under a shrub. When the pad filter gets grungy, toss and replace.

Did you have city water hookup, but no sewer at the site?

You really have to find your own water conserving method that works for you.. We all have our own methods, but those usually don't work for others..

I can go 5 days on a 30 gallon fresh water tank, while others would use that much in a day.

Without knowing your water situation and what you really dumped to the tank, it's hard to say..

Good luck!

Mitch

Use paper plates 70% of the time helps saving the gray tanks levels. Do dishes in in plastic pan and then dump water into the black tank. Buy a blue boy plastic tank for gray water and then roll it to dump site. Teach the family how to take a "navy shower" 1. 60 sec. rinse body then use turn off water with valve on shower head 2. soap the body/hair 3. turn water on and rinse just long enough to rinse soap off. A normal shower can waste 10 gallons of water.

Doing dishes is a huge water-user. Best way I've found to reduce water usage is to 1) reduce dishes and 2) only wash once a day. I wash everything, drain the wash water, then rinse everything by spraying it down in the sink, rather than rinsing under running water. Using a minimal amount of soap helps to reduce rinse water needs.

We use a designated drinking glass for each person, no more than 2/day. Use paper plates. For sandwiches & snacks use paper towels, they are cheaper. Cook ahead of time and take food with you as much as possible--soups, stews, etc are convenient, and can be heated up in the same bowl you eat from in the microwave.

One thing you can do is dump the gray tank in a bucket and pour it down the toilet. Quick to do in a pinch.

Depending on where you are, some areas allow dumping gray water on the ground or have places to dump it in special sinks. The latter are mainly set up in campgrounds with lots of tent campers, for them to dispose of dishwater.

There are lots of posts on here about connecting the gray/black tanks with a Y connector and equalizing the levels. That may take a little rigging up, depending on how your tank outlets are arranged, but it generally works OK.