To Tote a Tote or not to Tote

I could make a rather long list of actions/activities allowed at most campgrounds that bother me much more than someone spilling a little bit of dirty water on the ground. Heck, this forum alone is littered with people complaining about everything from barking dogs and loud music to people cutting through sites and idling diesel trucks. But its almost silent on complaints of people dumping grey water. Perhaps its because nobody does it...or maybe its not such a big deal after all when it does happen.

Took the wheels off mine, put it in the pickup bed, and use a Flojet to pump it up.

mowermech wrote:
Justify it any way you wish, the fact remains that here in Montana it is ILLEGAL to dump grey (or black) water on the ground or any place other than an approved waste water disposal site.
...snip....

This is another of those threads where people think that repeating something over and over plus telling how their buddies do it, makes it okay. Sort of like the folks who brag about keeping a stinger in their hitch receiver even though their only trailer is a fifth wheel.

I have done it too, but dumping waste water on the ground, whether grey, black, green, or orange is not cool. Are you sure that your neighbor did not contaminate his "slightly soapy" water before spreading it around? That's what Gopher holes are for.

relaxin wrote:
most of the places we stay we can let out grey water, allways through a garden hose off into some bushes at a very slow trickle before any barking or howeling starts, we don't stay in parking lot style parks, only places that have generious space between sites, so we are not creating massive floods and mud holes everywhere and even park wardens have seen it and never even taken a second glance. so that aside, it keeps our grey water not an issue, as for the black if our stay is more than 4 or 5 days then we make use of the park washrooms during the day, go for a walk and make it a pitsop. just so we don't fill the black tank to quickly. the longest we have stayed in one place is 10 days/nights, most of our stays are 7 or less and we have never had a tank to full issue.

As said, a slow trickle, the valve is ever so slightly a gallon takes probley a good 10 minutes to trickle out and in most places the wet spot is no more than a half a square foot in hard soil, being that its only washing water and I don't piss in the shower(discusting) I would say the content of the water of soap is low as we don't use tons, its more that likely cleaner than the laundry water that gets pumped to an old french drain on the farm where I use to live, and that grass was so dam geen and thick and the dew worms were the size of snakes in tht area, so its obvoiusly not the enviromental devistation that some would assume. Never noticed an odor either yet I can smell the foul stench of a crappy cigar from accross the park, or poorly tuned deisels idling for half an hour or the drunk who spends half his time peeing in the bushes, the other clowns I have seen that flick their dog **** into the bushes or long grass next to the site, and the dogs that pee a few hundred times on the same tree they're tied up under for a week.......... shall I go on, there is more foul things done on camp sites than a little slightly soapy water let out slowly off the site

Justify it any way you wish, the fact remains that here in Montana it is ILLEGAL to dump grey (or black) water on the ground or any place other than an approved waste water disposal site.
Also, the fact is that most back-country campgrounds do not have dump stations, and dumping RV waste water into the vault toilets is also against the rules. A tote is useless if there is no place to legally dump it!
Be sure you know the laws and rules of the place where you are staying.
Good luck.

relaxin wrote:
most of the places we stay we can let out grey water, allways through a garden hose off into some bushes at a very slow trickle before any barking or howeling starts, we don't stay in parking lot style parks, only places that have generious space between sites, so we are not creating massive floods and mud holes everywhere and even park wardens have seen it and never even taken a second glance. so that aside, it keeps our grey water not an issue, as for the black if our stay is more than 4 or 5 days then we make use of the park washrooms during the day, go for a walk and make it a pitsop. just so we don't fill the black tank to quickly. the longest we have stayed in one place is 10 days/nights, most of our stays are 7 or less and we have never had a tank to full issue.

As said, a slow trickle, the valve is ever so slightly a gallon takes probley a good 10 minutes to trickle out and in most places the wet spot is no more than a half a square foot in hard soil, being that its only washing water and I don't piss in the shower(discusting) I would say the content of the water of soap is low as we don't use tons, its more that likely cleaner than the laundry water that gets pumped to an old french drain on the farm where I use to live, and that grass was so dam geen and thick and the dew worms were the size of snakes in tht area, so its obvoiusly not the enviromental devistation that some would assume. Never noticed an odor either yet I can smell the foul stench of a crappy cigar from accross the park, or poorly tuned deisels idling for half an hour or the drunk who spends half his time peeing in the bushes, the other clowns I have seen that flick their dog **** into the bushes or long grass next to the site, and the dogs that pee a few hundred times on the same tree they're tied up under for a week.......... shall I go on, there is more foul things done on camp sites than a little slightly soapy water let out slowly off the site

We all attempt to justify our actions especially when they are questionable. Cigar smoke, cleaning up after pets and diesel engines have nothing to do with grey water dumping.
Why not add screaming kids or noisy drunks to the list? You may find them at CG's as well but they have nothing to do with totes or grey water dumping either.
My mother taught me along time ago 2 wrongs don't make a right
In addition to the soap. I suspect your grey water has hair,bacteria,skin,saliva and spit in it just like everyone else's.

Well thanks all for your comments! Surprising, this is the longest trip we have stayed where dumping was limited but we did make it a full 9 days. galley 2/3 - grey almost 2/3 and black 2/3. The only thing I wished was to be able to have the option so Before my next adventure where limits may be an issue, I will get a tote. As far as dumping grey out on the ground, some places do allow as stated above, just check with the local ordinance, ranger, camp host etc. You can you can always tote! Again thanks for the replies. Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

most of the places we stay we can let out grey water, allways through a garden hose off into some bushes at a very slow trickle before any barking or howeling starts, we don't stay in parking lot style parks, only places that have generious space between sites, so we are not creating massive floods and mud holes everywhere and even park wardens have seen it and never even taken a second glance. so that aside, it keeps our grey water not an issue, as for the black if our stay is more than 4 or 5 days then we make use of the park washrooms during the day, go for a walk and make it a pitsop. just so we don't fill the black tank to quickly. the longest we have stayed in one place is 10 days/nights, most of our stays are 7 or less and we have never had a tank to full issue.

As said, a slow trickle, the valve is ever so slightly a gallon takes probley a good 10 minutes to trickle out and in most places the wet spot is no more than a half a square foot in hard soil, being that its only washing water and I don't piss in the shower(discusting) I would say the content of the water of soap is low as we don't use tons, its more that likely cleaner than the laundry water that gets pumped to an old french drain on the farm where I use to live, and that grass was so dam geen and thick and the dew worms were the size of snakes in tht area, so its obvoiusly not the enviromental devistation that some would assume. Never noticed an odor either yet I can smell the foul stench of a crappy cigar from accross the park, or poorly tuned deisels idling for half an hour or the drunk who spends half his time peeing in the bushes, the other clowns I have seen that flick their dog **** into the bushes or long grass next to the site, and the dogs that pee a few hundred times on the same tree they're tied up under for a week.......... shall I go on, there is more foul things done on camp sites than a little slightly soapy water let out slowly off the site

jffnkrn wrote:
Sewer Tote - Tote-along - Tote - n - Stor etc. your thoughts, comments etc. before i spend $$$. the problems, convenience, inconvenience, constructive criticism, etc. thanks in advance. Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

Big question. How you gonna tote the tote? Full depending on size it will weigh upwards of 200 pounds. Why not conserve waste water space then go to a dump site and do the dump properly?

How do people wash dishes without some organic material getting into the water? Apparently some people think it is okay to leave a mess for the next guy, as long as it is in their rearview mirror.

Lantley wrote:

Big Katuna wrote:
Pre EPA, RVs didnt even have gray tanks. Everybody ran their gray onto the ground.

Which was actually a bad idea as there were phosphates in all the soaps which then got into the ground water, lakes and rivers and harmed marine life.

So the EPA regulated dumping and then took out all the phosphate from our soaps.

So today gray water is safe enough to dump but it does smell in the heat.

If dumped fresh it doesnt smell.

Pre EPA when was that? Whenever it was there were not RV's like we know them today. Unless in very remote desert locations. You do not want RV's emptying 40-80 gallons of stagnant grey water that contains more harmful stuff than just phosphates on the ground:S

Nixon created the EPA in 1970.

Todays grey water is considered safe. Communities are using it to water gardens and vegetation.