Cold Weather Camping Tips?

After dumping the black tank we put in 2-3 gallons of water so everything will come out at the waste station. It does not reduce the tank capacity much at all and we usually have to dump due to the gray water tank filling up and not the black one.

Anything you can do to minimize fresh water use will minimize the fill rate of the gray tank. Setup protocols for your buddies so they understand the limitation and that they cannot operate the same way they would at home.

Places that have the water turned off do not necessarily close the waste station so it can usually be used nonetheless. With 3 gallons in the black tank it drains with no problems and any residual in the line is flushed out by the gray water tank fluid.

Thanks for the tips so for guys, I appreciate it and like the ideas. I'm not really too concerned about anything freezing when camping, my main concern was keeping the waste tanks and sewer line clean with a very limited fresh water supply.

Hi,

How cold is it going to get?

Need to add that if you want to leave the Porta Potti in the RV when not using it or the RV in the winter when it's below freezing temps outsode and no heat, pour/use windshield washer fluid with the antifreeze in the top rinse tank for your area. Our stores here sell the blue colored washer fluid in one gallon plastic bottles good to -30F usually but it never gets that cold here. Costs $1.39 a gal bottle here and we only use about 2 gal a week for the two of us. Cheap! That means that even diluted 2 or 4 to one with human liquid, it still wouldn't freeze until way below zero and then it would only get slushy at worst. Never even seen it get any slush in ours yet here in over 30 years of doing it.

Oh, and use powdered Borox (laundry aisle) for odor control. Some times I even throw in some Calgon so that nothing sticks to the inside of the porta potty tank. Ours is clean as a whistle and no problems with dumping toilet chemicals into a residential septic tank. You will have zero odor issues using a porta potty in November.

Since it's a guy trip you have unlimited options! LOL - ever hear of a "thunder bottle"? You know what I mean if you were ever a Boy scout. I camp a lot so I have no issue with alternative toileting practices, but some wives would balk at it. I would probably use a bottle for #1 (empty it anytime you are going near the CG bathrooms) and the bag system for #2.

I normally don't even winterize my camper until late November. The weather will be cold, but not nearly enough to freeze anything solid yet. It takes consistent freezing temps during the DAY in order to do any damage. I have even used my camper when the nighttime temps reached freezing, but it always warmed up nicely during the day.

EDIT: Oops, realized you aren't concerned with freezing anything. What have done is make sure the toilet bowl is dry and then use a large kitchen garbage bag right in the toilet. Use kitty litter to absorb odors, or the expensive Poo Powder. Alternately you can throw an opened baby diaper in the bag and "aim" for the middle. It will absorb a lot. Then remove used garbage bag and tie well and dispose of each day. Use one kitchen bag per use and store the used ones in a heavy duty trash bag.

Small, cheap porta potties are also good. Easy to empty in any household toilet. To help prevent splashes when emptying we don't put any paper in the porta potty, we just bag that well and throw out daily. That way all we are pouring out is liquid and gravity just flushes it right down the household toilet.

We use a tall (5 gal capacity Thedford Porta Potti) for both #1 & #2 during the winter months in Michigan etc and have for well over 30 years now. Takes 4-5 days to nearly fill the 5 gal potti waste tank and you can dump it in any toilet including a pit toilet. Never spill a drop or get a drop on your hands! Carries like a suitcase. Be sure to use a chemical and there's zero smell ever.

Most of our RV's I remove the OEM toilet during the cold months, takes about 5 minutes (2 nuts and unhook the water line and put a plug or on some I installed a simple plastic ball valve or a brass valve in the supply line to shut it off. How long does it take to remove 2 nuts and screw in a plug or a cap or turn a valve? Done!

I'd made an approx 4" - 5" high base riser that consists of a 2 X 4 on edge frame with a 1/2" plywood top having a 3/4" wood border nailed down around the top to assure the porta Potti can't slide around and painted it same color as the Porta Potti so it looks nice for the Porta Potti to sit on and it looks like it belongs there. It moves from RV to RV as wanted and it's over 20 years old now and still looks new as it was repainted only 3 years ago. The box brings the Porta Potti to the same heigth as the RV toilet was and covers the drain hole and hold down bolts. Any plastic lid will cover the sewer hole as you can't even see it and besides, there's NO sewage in the black tank anyway so no smells ever. If nervous, duck tape etc the plastic cover down or tape the sewer hole over with the tape. BTW, I don't like Duck Tape as it often leaves mastic particles when you remove it. I prefer Gorilla Tape, so much better! Never had the Porta Potti move around even a bit when traveling hundreds of thousands of miles over the many years in our various TT's, MH's, 5th wheels, or TC's.

In our state, the DNR allows you to dig a hole a min of 8" deep in the state forests a min of 300' from and campsite and away from a traveled pathway and dump the Porti Potti waste into it and then you must refill the hole with the same dirt and return the ground to it's previous look as much as possible. The only thing then that then goes in our gray tank is shower water and dishwashing water. Don't know about NY State or highly populated L. I. NY has some real goofy laws and I feel sorry for you.

A must to scrape off the plates and pans and even wipe food particles off the silverware etc with a paper towel before washing so virtually no food particles go into the gray tank to decay and rot and therefore there will be no smelly water or bacteria in there and you can dump it on the ground when back home. Can even add a cup of bleach down the drain or some toilet etc chemical to prevent odor. Throw NO food solids in the RV drains but rather in a plastic bag and twist tied or zip locked and into the garbage.

Remember that you'd used soaps/detergents/anti-bacterial soaps/etc in all the water that went into the gray tank so any bacteria would be killed anyway. Our gray water in winter comes out looking like fresh shower water even after 2-3 weeks of being in the tank and sure is clean enough to dump on the ground but NOT at the campsite as if most campers did it there would be a white soap scum build up showing appear in a couple years of doing it in one spot.

Just got to use that old noodle you have in your noggin and about anything is easy to accompolish. It's not rocket science!

Yea, any places to dump along the way?
a state park nearby to use the dump?
a truck stop that has dumps available?
campground along the way that rents out its sewers, many do this.

gotta be something :)

Dumping your grey water should clean out your sewer hose. Do you have an outside spray port, use that to spray out the hose.

Are there "no" dump stations anywhere between Home & destination ?