Portable waste tanks

Dick_B wrote:
two comments: water weighs about 8 lbs per gallon and I would never put black waste in a tote. It would be impossible to clean it adequately and where would you store it where it wouldn't smell up the surroundings.

I have had my 32 gallon Barker (4 wheeled) tote for over 15 (almost 20) years now and it's never smelled! A quick rinse at the dump station gets everything out, and when storing at home (in my garage between trips), the caps are on and there's absolutely no smell.

Mostly, since we go camping almost every week-end during the summer, I just keep it in the back of my pick-up (with a shell on it) all the time, unless I need the bed of the truck for something else. It does not smell.

For storage in the winter, as part of my winterizing procedure, when I winterize the camper, I take the time to pay a little extra attention to the tote. I rinse it with bleach water, then rinse it again with fresh water to get the bleach out (and yes, I'm just dumping in my own yard as all the "stuff" was dumped and flushed earlier).

After a final rinse, I'll leave the slide valve open, and the top camp open for air circulation. I slide it under my utility trailer in the garage and it sits there all winter. Smells? No!

For the OP:

At the time we purchased this tote, it was the biggest one they made. If I ever have to replace it, I'll go even bigger. Ours is 32 gallons. I am careful NOT to over fill because my 3 holding tanks are 30 gallons. Yes, sometimes I need to make 2 runs to the dump station, or just dump more often with the tote.

Here are the 2 main things you have to consider if you get a smaller tote or use smaller tanks of any kind:

1) Weight? Can you actually pick up a container holding "that" much water, if that's a 7 gallon jug or a 2 wheeled 15 gallon tote? Can you lift it. Putting a 7 gallon jug in the back is my truck bed is NOT an option. I simply cannot lift that much weight. and lifting something on 2 wheels, or manhandling a container onto a 2 wheeled dolly is just to much to handle also. At my age, I can pull something, but lifting, well ... with an artificial knee and my age, it's just not going to happen.

2) Size? Think of this? If your "tote" is smaller than your holding tank, you run the risk of over spilling the tank (Which I did quite often with my previous camper as it had a 50 gallon black water holding tank. Over spilling "poo" on the ground at the campsite is absolutely NO fun! So, get a tank that is equal size of your largest holding tank so you will NOT overfill it and spill on the ground.

For ease of moving around, I attach mine to the truck and tow it as shown in the photo below. If the tote is on sand or soft ground which is hard to pull, I toss a rope around the handle, tie the other end to the truck and pull it up to the road that way. NEVER a problem. But I've had to do that only a couple times in ... what???? 20 years?