Wanted: Wastewater Tote Opinions/Critiques

Ralph Cramden wrote:
For The life of me I could not figure out why he needed to dump every two days, I can go at least 8 with The 33 gallon tanks on our Rockwood but mostly using The campground showers.

For my old rig (Sabre), it has a 42 gallon gray tank that was shared by the shower and the washer/dryer. My family would fill that with a load or 2 of laundry and 2 showers. Since we don't like to use campground showers and I don't mind a daily quick run to the dump station, we use our camper like normal.

In the new rig, the shower is on one tank and the washer/dryer is on another. We still have 42 gallon gray tanks. The washer/dryer tank fills with about 3-4 loads of laundry. And showers, we still only get about 4 showers (unless my wife is dealing with hair color or shower washing).

Rolling Condo wrote:
I have one. Love it. If you do a search, it's an easy mod to upgrade the wheels to pneumatic wheels.

X2, love my Barker 32 gal tote. We use it for grey water only

SoundGuy wrote:

Lantley wrote:
I have a macerator which I hate using because they are so slow. I prefer the flow of gravity and a 3" stinky slinky vs. a garden hose and a pump.

My reason for investing in a waste macerator years ago was because I wanted to service my tanks here at the house after we've returned from a trip rather than line up with everyone else on a Sunday afternoon at the campground dump station, waiting my turn. :( Therefore how long it takes to macerate & empty the contents of the black tank is irrelevant, 'though a couple of minutes is about average. Since I store this macerator in the trailer that means I then have the option of servicing the black tank while we're still camping, should it ever be necessary, the advantages being it eliminates the need to deal with a heavy tote tank or disgusting stinky slinky. Obviously I could also use the macerator to off load grey water but usually I just gravity feed 7 gal Aquatainers sitting on the ground at the back of my truck. Now this is slow, taking ~ 8 minutes to fill a 'Tainer, but since I'm camping who cares? - it's done when it's done. K.I.S.S. :B

I agree. While I dislike using the macerator it is a worthwhile tool for me because it gives me more options if necessary

Lantley wrote:
I have a macerator which I hate using because they are so slow. I prefer the flow of gravity and a 3" stinky slinky vs. a garden hose and a pump.

My reason for investing in a waste macerator years ago was because I wanted to service my tanks here at the house after we've returned from a trip rather than line up with everyone else on a Sunday afternoon at the campground dump station, waiting my turn. :( Therefore how long it takes to macerate & empty the contents of the black tank is irrelevant, 'though a couple of minutes is about average. Since I store this macerator in the trailer that means I then have the option of servicing the black tank while we're still camping, should it ever be necessary, the advantages being it eliminates the need to deal with a heavy tote tank or disgusting stinky slinky. Obviously I could also use the macerator to off load grey water but usually I just gravity feed 7 gal Aquatainers sitting on the ground at the back of my truck. Now this is slow, taking ~ 8 minutes to fill a 'Tainer, but since I'm camping who cares? - it's done when it's done. K.I.S.S. :B

Ralph Cramden wrote:
... For The life of me I could not figure out why he needed to dump every two days,...

I "might" be able to answer that question, as I dump mine ever 2 days (or sometimes, every day, depending).

First, I have 3 holding tanks: 1 black, galley, and shower-sink. All 3 tanks are 30 gallon, for a total of 90 gallons of water capacity. My Barker tote is 32 gallon.

If any one of the tanks, by themselves, was 100% full, I'd never overfill the Blue Tote.

By dumping every day, or every other day, I can dump once, all 3 tanks and make 1 trip to the dump station. I suppose I could alternate one tank one day, and the other tank the next day, but it doesn't work out that way.

We can take 6 Navy showers and then I want to dump. So, it's not a matter of the "time" between dumps, it's a matter of the water usage.

My black and grey tanks join together to one outlet. Using a Flush King attachable slide valve, I can back-flush the shower water into the black tank, even if the tank is not full. This cleans out the black tank marvelously without having to use extra water to rinse using the black tank rinser or adding more water down the toilet.

So my steps are to dump the black first. It's usually not all that much. Let it run till it completely quits. (I can see this with the clear section of pipe with the Flush King). I then close the Flush King and open the grey valve and let it florce back into the black tank for about 5-10 seconds. Close the grey again and then dump the black again. I repeat this until there is no more water in the grey tank.

Doing this after 6 showers, and I never overflow the tote. Granted, I may need to make a run to the dump station once a day, and if camping over a week-end, may not need to go at all until we leave the campground completely. But this explains why you'll see me dragging the blue thing ever other day at least.

The tote holds 32 gallon, my 3 tanks all hold 30 gallon each. That's why the multiple trips. The guy you referenced, probably has smaller holding tanks.

SoundGuy wrote:

Lantley wrote:
You also must be a fast walker in you can walk 15-20 mph.

20 mph is nothing. :W One of many reasons I so dislike these wheeled tote tanks goes back many years when we were camping at Mew Lake in Algonquin Park here in Ontario. There are no dump stations within the campgrounds themselves so to get to one you have to drive out of the CG and along Hwy 60 which is a provincial highway running through the park and which is posted @ 80 kph - 50 mph. Try towing a tote at that speed and see how you like it. :E

I have a macerator which I hate using because they are so slow. I prefer the flow of gravity and a 3" stinky slinky vs. a garden hose and a pump. Nevertheless I could always place the blue tote in the rear of the truck and pump sewage into it.
I have 4- 40 gallon waste tanks. In a pinch with the macerator I can hold a lot of sewage before I have to actually dump.

Barker rules and the others run second. No matter the new or old version Barker, bearings if it even has them, can be the weak link and the reason for the speed limitation.

A few years ago at Blackwater Falls in WV a guy came past doing 35-40 towing a Barker. Two days later he did the same. A few days after that on his third 35 mph trip I noticed the wheels wobbling. The fourth time he did not make it far, the wheel came off and he had created a superfund site with the pooplosion. For The life of me I could not figure out why he needed to dump every two days, I can go at least 8 with The 33 gallon tanks on our Rockwood but mostly using The campground showers.

The older Barkers simply had wheels with plastic hubs on a metal axle. Go too fast = friction, friction = heat, heat = melting plastic, melting plastic = wheels that fly off, wheels that fly off when doing 35 to 40 mph= poop everywhere.

Lantley wrote:
You also must be a fast walker in you can walk 15-20 mph.

SoundGuy wrote:
20 mph is nothing. :W One of many reasons I so dislike these wheeled tote tanks goes back many years when we were camping at Mew Lake in Algonquin Park here in Ontario. There are no dump stations within the campgrounds themselves so to get to one you have to drive out of the CG and along Hwy 60 which is a provincial highway running through the park and which is posted @ 80 kph - 50 mph. Try towing a tote at that speed and see how you like it. :E

ependydad wrote:
That’s exactly partly why I wanted my sewer bladder- depending on where we are boondocking, the dump station may be down a real road. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was just that- 4-5 miles of 45mph + traffic lights to get to the nearest dump station.

Sounds like "fun". :W A sewer bladder wouldn't interest me though as I see no way it could be thoroughly flushed out as can a hard wall container. Large capacity is great if you need it but even when there were four of us camping I've never needed more than a few Aquatainers for disposing of our grey / macerated black water. Now it's just my wife & I so often a couple of 'Tainers is all I need. :B

SoundGuy wrote:

Lantley wrote:
You also must be a fast walker in you can walk 15-20 mph.

20 mph is nothing. :W One of many reasons I so dislike these wheeled tote tanks goes back many years when we were camping at Mew Lake in Algonquin Park here in Ontario. There are no dump stations within the campgrounds themselves so to get to one you have to drive out of the CG and along Hwy 60 which is a provincial highway running through the park and which is posted @ 80 kph - 50 mph. Try towing a tote at that speed and see how you like it. :E

That’s exactly partly why I wanted my sewer bladder- depending on where we are boondocking, the dump station may be down a real road. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was just that- 4-5 miles of 45mph + traffic lights to get to the nearest dump station.

Lantley wrote:
You also must be a fast walker in you can walk 15-20 mph.

20 mph is nothing. :W One of many reasons I so dislike these wheeled tote tanks goes back many years when we were camping at Mew Lake in Algonquin Park here in Ontario. There are no dump stations within the campgrounds themselves so to get to one you have to drive out of the CG and along Hwy 60 which is a provincial highway running through the park and which is posted @ 80 kph - 50 mph. Try towing a tote at that speed and see how you like it. :E