Installing second gray water tank

Leave the dishes in the cupboard. You will be crazy surprised how much grey water you will save by not doing dishes. Depending on the situation we use almost exclusively paper plates and bowels,plastic silverware and plastic cups. At first you think it kinda sucks and then you realize everything tastes just as good off of paper and plastic as it does off of glass and almost zero dishes. If we have full hookups then who doesn't love to play house. But when dry camping throw away is the way to go. JMHO

Besides - I like messing with this stuff. Once the tank goes in I am installing a wine fridge

Ahh - cutting to the chase.

If you would be going through this expense just to hold enough gray water for a long weekend then all you probably need to do is to instruct your family on conserving water. A weekend shouldn't be any problem. Never leave water running for showers, dishes, washing hands or even brushing teeth. You could also forego a daily shower. Freshen up with a washcloth instead.

No argument there. I've been on dirtbike trips in the boondocks where 5 guys got by on 20 gallons of water for 4 days and backpacking trips where I got by on far less. I like to camp like that but my wife not so much - and being as I don't dirtbike/backpack any more we're using this trailer as a way to get time together.

So roughing it is not really the point. Even though the kids have moved out now we're both still working every day. The idea is to make this trailer a budget quasi-luxury spa experience - a nice little oasis for when we get out of town. Sounds a little goofy I know, and it's not a fancy rig, but the rear lounge plan has two nice chairs for watching movies, I've put in the largest TV that will fit, got a full-size pillow top mattress and fancy sheets and fancy soaps in the bathroom - just like the Ritz (kinda) :).

The Mrs. likes to cook fancy stuff in the little kitchen because she rarely has time during the week. This means great meals and dishes - plenty of dishes. I've scoured thrift stores for the china and glassware which all has to be washed as well. I don't mind the washing as long as she likes the cooking, and we often invite guests.

The larger tank will make for one less thing to worry about (without guests we can go only about three days now without filling up the gray tank) and considering what a similar hotel stay would run the larger tank seems like quite a bargain.

Besides - I like messing with this stuff. Once the tank goes in I am installing a wine fridge. :B

Usually, manufacturers build the tanks in around the existing frame. I would think it would be hard to find the room to add another.

If you would be going through this expense just to hold enough gray water for a long weekend then all you probably need to do is to instruct your family on conserving water. A weekend shouldn't be any problem. Never leave water running for showers, dishes, washing hands or even brushing teeth. You could also forego a daily shower. Freshen up with a washcloth instead.

Also, a 'hassle' dumping dishwater in the toilet? We've done that all the time when we boondock for 10 days or so. It really is no big deal.

jplante4 wrote:
Rather than adding plumbing, why not just replace the existing tank with something bigger?

That's something to consider, and I hadn't thought of it. I doubt the larger tank costs much more than adding a second one and the plumbing gets much simpler.

I have seen tanks configured such that one could straddle the framing member that is currently alongside the existing tank. One of those could work. I'll have to see if any of them have baffles in them - might help the sloshing thing.

The idea is to hold enough gray water for a long weekend and dump on the way out of the campground in areas without individual site sewer hookups (usually beaches, some mountain sites). We do it now by dumping the dishwater in to the toilet but it's a bit of a hassle.

Oldme wrote:
Don't forget about weight.

A US gallon of fresh water weighs approximately 8.345404 pounds, so 50 gallons would weigh approximately 417.2702 pounds.

"approximately"? :@

The old adage "A pint's a pound the world around" is easy to remember, and close enough to being true for a rule of thumb...so long as you're talking about water and not some other liquid...and so long as your world is limited to the United States and not, say, the United Kingdom.

For the original poster, you do need to have the new tank vented to the outside (such as by joining to the existing vent well above the top of the tanks), and you need to have the drain at the low point, and a continuous drop in the drain line from the outlet of the tank to the outlet from the RV, under whatever level or not-quite-level conditions you may be draining the tanks in. (Sewage doesn't flow uphill very well.)

Additionally, it would not hurt to give some thought to the connections between the tanks and what sorts of sloshing around and between them you might encounter when traveling on grades, and whether they would fill equally when in use. If the tanks are both centered laterally on the RV, the worst of the problems would be limited to forward and aft weight distribution oddities and would probably not be overly tricky to deal with. Tanks arranged laterally could have stranger behavior; going around a long corner (or a side hill) would leave the trailer unbalanced until the contents leveled out again. Likely it would not be a huge issue for a travel trailer where the tanks are fairly low down and relatively small compared to the overall size of the trailer. Sloshing in tanks is a very real concern for drivers of tankers, fire trucks, etc.

Don't forget about weight.

A US gallon of fresh water weighs approximately 8.345404 pounds, so 50 gallons would weigh approximately 417.2702 pounds.

Ron3rd wrote:

jplante4 wrote:
Rather than adding plumbing, why not just replace the existing tank with something bigger?

My thought too.

Not always feasible. My tank fits perfectly between frame rails so there is no room for a bigger tank. However there is room next to it between the next set of frame rails.

Why not just use a blue boy? I agree with the added weight.

jplante4 wrote:
Rather than adding plumbing, why not just replace the existing tank with something bigger?

My thought too.